C100: New user c100 , some question

tom1

Well-known member
Hi I just get second hand c100 , I have some simply question .

1. My reset hour meter shows :
12:02:07:07 P
what does it means ? just only 12h , am I right ?

2. In low light wide dr is very noisy , iso just 3200 gives bad noisy in shadows. I think that is happen because black level is rise up too high and it is just 8bit / 4:2:0 . I am going to try lower it . What can I do else ? Could you recommend me any good picture profile for low light situation . Thanks .
 
12 years, 2 months, 7 days, 7 minutes. Apparently the previous user used time travel to have the camera on for longer than it has been out for. The good news is is that since it's just a computer it can be left on for years and still work.

Wide DR at ISO 3200 is twice as bright as Canon Log is at ISO 3200, I believe because Wide DR is already raising the gain in other ways than ISO. So if you are using Canon Log you will need to raise the ISO higher to 6400 to get the same exposure, and will probably get similar levels of noise then for proper exposure. This leads to the false perception that Canon Log is significantly better (at least twice as good) in low light since it can remain clean at higher ISOs such as 6400, but that's not really the case. Across different profiles and different cameras you can't really judge "clean at such and such ISO" as much of a reference without knowing how that ISO relates in general to other cameras and exposures.

My opinion is that Canon Log looks like junk both before and after grading unless you want to deliver a flat image (and who wants that?), but that opinion is only held by perhaps half of C100 shooters if that.
 
12 years, 2 months, 7 days, 7 minutes. Apparently the previous user used time travel to have the camera on for longer than it has been out for. The good news is is that since it's just a computer it can be left on for years and still work.

Wide DR at ISO 3200 is twice as bright as Canon Log is at ISO 3200, I believe because Wide DR is already raising the gain in other ways than ISO. So if you are using Canon Log you will need to raise the ISO higher to 6400 to get the same exposure, and will probably get similar levels of noise then for proper exposure. This leads to the false perception that Canon Log is significantly better (at least twice as good) in low light since it can remain clean at higher ISOs such as 6400, but that's not really the case. Across different profiles and different cameras you can't really judge "clean at such and such ISO" as much of a reference without knowing how that ISO relates in general to other cameras and exposures.

My opinion is that Canon Log looks like junk both before and after grading unless you want to deliver a flat image (and who wants that?), but that opinion is only held by perhaps half of C100 shooters if that.

I've been needing to hear this. So do you just usually shoot in Standard? I've been trying to shoot in Log and it hasn't been going the best for me
 
There are also a lot of great custom color profiles out there that are sort of a combination of the two.

Also check to see if noise reduction is on in your color profiles. Just stay below five for the most part and it'll help without reducing sharpness.
 
I've been needing to hear this. So do you just usually shoot in Standard? I've been trying to shoot in Log and it hasn't been going the best for me
No, Standard, listed in the Custom Profile menu as "C7: EOS Std." is actually a sexually transmitted disease. It's a result of a Canon 5D mating with a C100 and having a deformed child which looks like a 5D but was actually born from royalty. Only use this if you want your nice C100 camera to mimic a lower class of camera by crushing the dynamic range and over saturating the colors. It's tough to grade as well.

I use Wide DR for everything. I leave Noise Reduction at 3 just about always; default is at 0, so I'd recommend changing it to 3. Then I use the Custom White balance shift a lot to correct for various lighting situations; in good light I leave it at two away from green (M2) as the C100 tends to have a green cast to it from the start.
 
C100 tends to have a green cast to it from the start.

Thanks , that was first what I saw . Specially with energy saver bulb . I set rgb parade and twist with custom white balance as long as I fix it .

1. My reset hour meter shows :
12:02:07:07 P
what does it means ? I just want to know how many hours camera was used .
thanks
 
Use the "Status" button on the left side, then use the joystick and click down until you get to page 7 or 8. It will say "hours since reset" and "total hours" (or something along those lines).
I've had mine 2 years and have 850 hours on it.
 
Eric.. I'd bet more than half disagree :)

you expose a Log scale different than a more linear scale. That's why it's Log and that's why it looks darker than other profiles. It's built for post production work.

However.. My experience is that anything over 1250 ISO gets pretty noisy no mater what camera profile you are in. When I'm forced into WDR I usually bump internal noise reduction up to around 4 or 5 and that keeps it fairly clean up to 1250 and usuable a little higher.
 
Underexpose in camera and then raising the exposure in post creates a lot of noise, particularly on an 8-bit camera. Just hop on over to the GH4 forum and see how disappointed a lot of people are with V-log, shooting flat 8-bit video and expecting it to be "built for post production work" but finding it's not. Highly compressed 8 bit means get it right in-camera. That's my opinion based on various tests I've done comparing C-log to Wide DR both before and after grading, of which I always yield better results before and after grading with Wide DR.

But I'm not going to disagree with the "I'd bet more than half disagree" hence why I said "if that." :)
 
It's not "under exposing".. it's knowing where to expose correctly for a true log profile.

And it's having enough light to be able to expose correctly... which I understand in doc and some event work isn't always the case so your ISO ends up in a range where pulling up the mids gets noisy. But at native 850 and C-Log, running to a external recorder I have never had a single problem with noise.
 
I've never used an external recorder, so I'm speaking particularly related to using the internal codec which is what the OP is using. I can't comment directly in relation to using an external recorder or a C300 which both have better codecs than the C100 internal codec.

You said Log is darker than most other profiles which would lead me to assume that the image needs to have the levels raised in post to look normal assuming you expose it "darker" in-camera. By "under exposing" I don't mean exposing incorrectly, I simply mean exposing in a way that requires raising the exposure in post, which in my experience with using the internal codec, creates noise.

Most of the tests I've done comparing Wide DR to Canon Log were shot on lit sets at ISO 850.
 
The Abel Cine C100 profiles are very useful. I used JR45Video today on a shoot that was going straight to the web for the release of the iPhone 6S. All shot outdoor in harsh morning light, which was brutal to deal with. But the profile worked well, client loved the look. It is supposed to emulate the Panasonic Varicam, generally regarded as one of the best looking images from the first generation HD cameras.
 
Use the "Status" button on the left side, then use the joystick and click down until you get to page 7 or 8. It will say "hours since reset" and "total hours" (or something along those lines).
I've had mine 2 years and have 850 hours on it.

Thanks my camera has just only 72h , so it is like a new .
 
The Abel Cine C100 profiles are very useful. I used JR45Video today on a shoot that was going straight to the web for the release of the iPhone 6S. All shot outdoor in harsh morning light, which was brutal to deal with. But the profile worked well, client loved the look. It is supposed to emulate the Panasonic Varicam, generally regarded as one of the best looking images from the first generation HD cameras.

Thanks I will try . So far wide dr is very nice ,specially in the day time . I found even in higher iso gives pleasant look . I start to really like this small camera .
 
Thanks I will try . So far wide dr is very nice ,specially in the day time . I found even in higher iso gives pleasant look . I start to really like this small camera .

I did a live shoot today with three C100s and a Go Pro. I rented a pair of the 70-200II 2.8 IS L. Wow, is that a gorgeous lens on the C100. Used JR45Video, looking at the footage now, it looks great.
 
Want low noise? Shoot in C-Log, and EXPOSE TO THE RIGHT. Then bring down in post. I can get clean 6400 This way, while shooting at 800 with a normal/low exposure actually gives me more noise.

Key is, give the camera as much light as possible and leave with a bright rich image to bring down.

C-LOG + ETTR

Plus Neat Video if needed does magical NR in post.
 
I am seriously thinking about getting one. . .has anyone had luck calibrating the viewfinder to be more accurate? It's notoriously quite "blue" on this cam compared to what the image is really doing. I would think there would be menu settings you could adjust?
 
The C100 LCD is inherently inccurate although it is fine for focus with peaking and magnification. If you want color accuracy, buy a monitor, the C100 LCD isn't going to be accurate/calibrated no matter how it is adjusted. Get an Atomos Blade, Assassin and the Datavideo Color Calibration device. For less than $500.00 (Blade new price) you will have an accurate monitor that also happens to be an excellent 4:2:2 10 bit recorder as well. Nice for shooting green screen or higher end stuff for compositing on Prores HQ.
 
I don't know much about widedr, had my c100/300 permanently set to c-log with view assist turned on. Even if your not compositing or doing heavy post work I suggest going with an external recorder though. It will make composition, focus & exposure decisions much easier, and the external footage out of the cinema line will retain a natural grain when captured in a 10 bit codec.
 
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