C200: The new Canon C200 with 4K

B&H specs are incorrect sometimes with new products...they eventually update them.

I see what looks like a mic under the badge, but maybe someone who knows for sure can confirm.
 
I'm at a bit at a loss why so many posters believe that the Panasonic Eva "embarrasses" the C200.
I pre-ordered the C200 before the Eva was announced on the basis that I knew exactly what the Eva would offer.
Frankly nothing in the Panasonic announcement surprised or impressed me.
TBH I thought the specs were pretty underwhelming in comparison to the C200 offering.
I feel like the C200 doesn't make me compromise what I wanted in any way, whereas the competition, namely the Panasonic Eva, the Sony FS7/FS5 or the Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro do.
So it appears that I am in rare company, being completed satisfied with the specs of the C200 (knowing that it will likely outperform its specs as the previous iterations of the C-series have done) over and above the competition. I simply cannot get over the negativity on here, EOSHD and Facebook in regards to the Canon C200. If you are prepared to spend the money to shoot raw internally this camera just can't be beat.
 
Yeah, there are a lot of kneejerk Canon haters out there on the internet. The best thing to do is to pick up the camera for yourself and do your own tests and see if the camera works for you or not. When I first used the C300 Mark I many years ago, I realised that so much of the discussion and comments I had read online about the camera's specs were all rubbish. Cameras are so much more than just specs on an infographic.

The one thing that sets the C200 apart is its touchscreen autofocus. It's going to be revolutionary for solo-operator filmmaking and content creation.
 
xntrggr said:
Yeah, there are a lot of kneejerk Canon haters out there on the internet. The best thing to do is to pick up the camera for yourself and do your own tests and see if the camera works for you or not. When I first used the C300 Mark I many years ago, I realised that so much of the discussion and comments I had read online about the camera's specs were all rubbish. Cameras are so much more than just specs on an infographic.

The one thing that sets the C200 apart is its touchscreen autofocus. It's going to be revolutionary for solo-operator filmmaking and content creation.
Click to expand...

To piggyback on what you said, I cannot figure out why camera buyers are such Lemmings. Why would I spend such an extraordinary amount of money for a camera purchase just based upon if other anonymous people on Internet forums like it? I make my purchases based upon 25 years in the business, owning over a dozen professional cameras ranging from $2,000.000 to $100,000.00 from several manufacturers as well as renting dozens more that I didn't own. I agree with your suggestion to rent and test or you can live dangerously and just order. If you buy either the C200 and don't like it or wait for the Panasonic in the Fall and buy it and don't like it, big deal keep it for a week or two and then sell it. Yes, you'll lose a little but chalk that up to experiential exploration, the same as rental charges if you rent one to play with it and shoot with it. I also agree with what you say, camera buyers have become spec crazy. Sure, there are projects and levels of work that require the best specs. But specs take a back seat to talent, skills, concept, glass, post production. I constantly see exemplary work from users who are shooting with a "sub-par" camera because it doesn't hit the mark on what Internet spec hounds think it needs to have. Conversely, I have seen plenty of work shot by users with REDs, Arris, Varicams that is distinctly unimpressive in execution and concept because they care more about specs that talent. Specs are just a means to an end and the end isn't to have boasting rights about specs.

I was shooting from a small Boston Whaler off of Marina Del Ray yesterday, pretty big swell, moving subjects and the boat I was shooting off of was moving. I tried MF first and it was impossible. Then went to one touch AF on my C300, still could not lock onto the subjects fast enough. I ended up trying continuous AF, which I never use and it was the ticket, about 90% of my shots ended up in focus and I was impressed that the AF didn't hunt around or freak out under really tough conditions. I thought about if I would have only had a MF camera under those conditions, I would have been hosed as far as usable shots. Even the last generation DPAF was a life saver. The C200 with it's next generation DPAF and the touch screen would have worked extremely well out on the waves. My point is, you should buy the camera that best supports your work style and priorities. I think the EVA codec specs are really impressive, I am less impressed with the C200s codecs, but I am also in love with DPAF, it let's me capture footage that I really could not with any other camera. If I am in a studio on a tripod with a large monitor to focus off of or have ACs, who cares about DPAF? There is no perfect camera, so you choose what is most important to you and your work and live with the compromises.
 
For all the people that have gotten to handle the c200 so far. I have only found one footage sample. The canon one. And that did not really resonate with me. Anyone else seen other footage? Preferably straight from the camera?
 
If someone put a C200, an FS5, an EVA1 and my FS7 on a table to shoot a wedding -> I'd take the C200

(as a former C100 owner and having used the C300ii many times -> I'm making the assumption that being a Canon, once delivered it'll work the way one expects it to)


I do see why people would complain as much. In Canada the camera is $10k, and unless you want raw (I would almost never use it), you're shooting the same 8-bit 420 Canon has been offering since forever, when everything it competes with does higher.

Most people who want raw on a budget will go BMD because Canon is too expensive. People who want raw, and have money, will go RED.

Selling a C200 to people who use the C100/C300 barely hits the mark -> They aren't after raw, and Canon crippled the codecs to 2009 levels
$10k on a camera to wedding/event people is too expensive considering C100 prices and the c200 codecs/frame rates.
$10k on a camera to music vid / people who want raw -> enough money that I should just buy a Raven.

I'd use a C200 for a wedding -> Would I buy one? No.

C200C -> Get rid of the CFast and raw, and sell it for $3000 cheaper. Anyone with a C100, or wanting to upgrade from an A7s/DSLR/GH4/Mirrorless, etc etc will buy it.
I'd buy it for my event work and keep the FS7 for corporate (and then upgrade that to something that does raw if/when my business gets there).

C200D -> Cripple any SD recordings to proxy only, and have dual CFAST and for Raw shoowting. $2000 cheaper, BMD people (or people considering UrsaMini, etc) would go for that.
 
Last edited:
I'm in the process of making decision to purchase two cameras for a production company I work for and as they are using C100 today a move to the C200 would be pretty straight forward. But I think the C200 isn't ideal. It's not as nibble as the C100 and misses out on no 10-bit recording but it might be the right camera in the end. I'd rather take an updated C100.
 
chappelldigital said:
C200C -> Get rid of the CFast and raw, and sell it for $3000 cheaper. Anyone with a C100, or wanting to upgrade from an A7s/DSLR/GH4/Mirrorless, etc etc will buy it.
I'd buy it for my event work and keep the FS7 for corporate (and then upgrade that to something that does raw if/when my business gets there).

C200D -> Cripple any SD recordings to proxy only, and have dual CFAST and for Raw shoowting. $2000 cheaper, BMD people (or people considering UrsaMini, etc) would go for that.
Click to expand...

But neither of these scenarios are going to happen. If the camera is shipping in August, it's finished, so these are just fantasies of what you want, not what you can buy.
 
puredrifting said:
these are just fantasies of what you want, not what you can buy.
Click to expand...
Correct!! heh

But seriously.. they made a pretty sweet upgrade to the C100 (frame rates, 4k, autofocus, more nds, same crappy codec, etc) , but then added in raw that jacked the cost up over what that market would want.
And people who want raw aren't typically in the market for 8bit recordings/autofocus, etc
 
Last edited:
It's a 4K/60p camera from Canon -- that is enough for many people to stop reading and thousands of units will be sold.

Love Sony, but many people do not and would happily take this camera over one of them (or something else).
 
Canon maneuvered this camera into exactly what it wanted it to be (or was allowed it to be). The only thing - I know, this is a refrain on my posts here - that it could do is to add 10-bit XF-AVC and/or a more compressed Raw Light (let's call it Raw Lighter).

As to weddings and such, C100 seems like a better bet and might remain such for a long time to come.

Or until people figure out that, while the 8-bit 4:2:2 may not be ideal, it suffices for the camera with 4K Raw.

Or until CFast prices come down even further (and, unlike Raw Heavy and Overloaded, Raw Light just might work with the lower grade CFast)

Or until someone can rig the CFast-to-SSD adapter for C200 (which will likely appear at about the same time as the camera itself)
 
avian said:
this solution isn't likely to work because of the door over the cfast slot, often you'll get a card door is open message.
Click to expand...
Isn't the door plastic and without the electronic contacts?

So, someone will 3Dprint the plastic cover door facsimile and connect it to the end of the cable.
 
DLD said:
Isn't the door plastic and without the electronic contacts?

So, someone will 3Dprint the plastic cover door facsimile and connect it to the end of the cable.
Click to expand...

on the c100 the camera knows when the sd cover is open and won't record anything.

I'm not saying there can't be a work around but it won't be as easy as with blackmagic.
 
The activation/sensor (opening and closing) is internal.

I'm all about cheap lenses and cheap accessories (other than media) if you truly don't have the budget, but these CFast adapters are such a pet peeve of mine.

Just continue to save a bit more and buy high-quality solid media if you will be owning this camera. You're already paying so much for it and your work is important!
 
avian said:
on the c100 the camera knows when the sd cover is open and won't record anything.

I'm not saying there can't be a work around but it won't be as easy as with blackmagic.
Click to expand...
BMD CFast slots have no covers but I don't think a plastic door will be much of a hindrance. In fact, I'd be surprised if the major (Zacuto, Wooden Camera, etc.) accessory manufacturer didn't jump on the ship because C200 is likely to be a huge success.
 
NorBro said:
The activation/sensor (opening and closing) is internal.

I'm all about cheap lenses and cheap accessories (other than media) if you truly don't have the budget, but these CFast adapters are such a pet peeve of mine.

Just continue to save a bit more and buy high-quality solid media if you will be owning this camera. You're already paying so much for it and your work is important!
Click to expand...

Perhaps by this time next year, we will have 1GB CFast 2.0 cards selling for $500.00? That would make the Cinema RAW Light workflow actually do-able, especially if FCP X, Premier Pro and AVID can all ingest it natively.
 
Maybe...I think we have to wait and see which cards will work. Like DLD mentioned above, if the RAW format isn't too rough on the cards, you may be able to use some lower-cost media.

Two-three years ago, Lexar discontinued their 3400x cards and I guess someone bought them in mass quantity (or could have been a guy working for the company in China) and was selling them on eBay for super cheap. You could get a 128GB card for around $70-$80 and BM camera users were grabbing them in handfuls because they still worked with 4K/24p and 4K/60p (Dual-Card Mode).

Then the guy caught on and soon the same cards were $300-$400, haha.
 
NorBro said:
if the RAW format isn't too rough on the cards (...)Then the guy caught on and soon the same cards were $300-$400, haha.
Click to expand...
I've read that Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve will support EOS C200's Cinema RAW Light natively, does it means that it's straight from the CFast Card or still need to be transcoded in ProRes with Cinema Raw Development application?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top