C300: To Canon- for the C300 Mk2 can we add... (via firmware)

[klk]

1. RAW Lite? If the C200 can do it, why not the C300 Mk2, and for that matter the C700? Update the whole line- why not? Why leave the more expensive models out of the RAW Lite Internal Party?
2. C200 touch screen monitor. The whole mounting system is a step above the C300 Mk2 system- a carry over from the C300 Mk1. While we can't get internal XLRs on the C300M2 I'm already thinking about the MA400 cause the hotshoe on my monitor unit is loosening up. Another FYI Canon- did a 5 camera C300M2 shoot and 4 of the cams came from Adorama Rental. ALL of the rental monitor units were loose- some easily had 20 degrees of play in them. It's a poor design Canon, you need to change/address it ASAP cause there's way to much competition eager to grab your market share these days.
3. On the ZSG-C10 zoom control you need to add one or two FUNCTION buttons.

Since I'm asking;
-faster autofocus "cine" zooms. The $5500 price bracket is ok for this technology. If the two Canon zooms sell well I'd think Sigma would add a "cine" version of their autofocus Art series to the market. At a lower price point than Canon. I wish...
I've never used the Sigma Art f1.8 zooms- but now I'm very curious about them, and how well would they work with the C300M2.

 

[cpreston]

I'm not Canon, but here are my expectations:
1) Impossible without a chip and card writer change.
2) I bet it will work. The touch screen may not function, but there is no reason the rest of the monitor won't have the same control cable wiring. I will buy one just for use on a gimbal even without touch screen.
3) They really do need an update on that controller including a right angle cable.

The 18-35 f/1.8 is a near perfect zoom and would be worth buying rehoused. The 50-100 f/1.8 has focus breathing that is worse than you would imagine. Otherwise, it is already near parfocal and could be useful rehoused. The zoom range is so small, however, that it negates some of the uses of these lenses as a servo zoom series.

 

[klk]

1) Impossible without a chip and card writer change.
2) I bet it will work. The touch screen may not function, but there is no reason the rest of the monitor won't have the same control cable wiring. I will buy one just for use on a gimbal even without touch screen.
3) They really do need an update on that controller including a right angle cable.

The 18-35 f/1.8 is a near perfect zoom and would be worth buying rehoused. The 50-100 f/1.8 has focus breathing that is worse than you would imagine. Otherwise, it is already near parfocal and could be useful rehoused. The zoom range is so small, however, that it negates some of the uses of these lenses as a servo zoom series.

-chips are cheap- the desire may not be there. Why new card reader? I would "think" the throughput of the C300M2 reader is on par with the C200. But who knows besides Canon.
-I understand the monitor will display, but the touch screen will not work. You know, I was just chatting with the Canon guys at the NYC Local 600 event- should have asked about plugging in the C200 monitor into the C300M2 that was sitting there. The EVF-V70 works with all three C series cameras so I do think the monitor aspect of the different units are compatible, just not all the functions.

I imagine the Sigmas as vari-primes. No servo for them. I did my first slow zoom in the other day- director wanted it otherwise I tend to use zooms as vari-primes. Slow dolly (slider) push-ins would be typical. Now that I have autofocus and production may hire an ac that can't really pull focus (happened on two week long shoots last year)- it's a whole new thing- in a good way for production. Not so good for skilled first ac's when some of these "new school" producers simply refuse to add an experienced (ie- too expensive) focus puller.

BTW the Canon reps said the #1 request is to add that touch screen monitor to the C300M2. Fingers crossed.

 

[kohl-sudduth]

-chips are cheap- the desire may not be there. Why new card reader? I would "think" the throughput of the C300M2 reader is on par with the C200. But who knows besides Canon.
-I understand the monitor will display, but the touch screen will not work. You know, I was just chatting with the Canon guys at the NYC Local 600 event- should have asked about plugging in the C200 monitor into the C300M2 that was sitting there. The EVF-V70 works with all three C series cameras so I do think the monitor aspect of the different units are compatible, just not all the functions.

BTW the Canon reps said the #1 request is to add that touch screen monitor to the C300M2. Fingers crossed.

Was just at the Local 600 event as well. How great was that Rodrigo Prieto Master Class this morning. Man... master craftsman and very skilled teacher as well. A rare combo.

Agreed that the touch screen monitor upgrade for the c300 mk ii would be very very useful. Fingers crossed over here as well.

Don't think there's any way to tell if the chipset can handle Raw Lite without proprietary sensor spec data that will never be published. My conjecture after a fair number of hours shooting with the raw on the 5D3 w/ ML (and now 3K 10 and 12 bit raw) is that I'd be a bit surprised if the c300 mk ii chipset couldn't handle the fairly reasonable bandwidth of 1Gbps. Only conjecture however... so what do I know.

And per the previous post regarding the monitor hot shoe, agreed it's a serious weak point. Taking my camera in tomorrow to the Canon Service Center to get the monitor hot shoe tightened/fixed after shaking loose the screws that ended up getting lost. 2nd time in a month, the last fix only last 4 weeks. Will try to get spare parts so I can just fix it myself next time. Talking soon with a machinist friend to maybe hack together a more secure mounting solution. Would really prefer not to do that though...

 

[DLD]

Was just at the Local 600 event as well. How great was that Rodrigo Prieto Master Class this morning. Man... master craftsman and very skilled teacher as well. A rare combo...

Prieto is being discussed - indirectly - in the Stone/Putin thread.

The verdict is that it's not his best work.

As to C300, there's speculation that MKII will be updated into MKIII at about the same time C200 gets its promised XF-AVC update. Whether or not anything will be offered to the existing MKII owners via an upgrade is anyone's guess. On top of the speculation.

Insofar as zooms go, Canon obviously doesn't want to cannibalize its cine line and thus far have little competition forcing them to do so.

 

[klk]

Insofar as zooms go, Canon obviously doesn't want to cannibalize its cine line and thus far have little competition forcing them to do so.

No, they don't want to do that. But the Canon guy actually asked me about the 18-80 and what focal length would be ideal- so I told him. 18-135 and faster at the same price. Autofocus enabled. One can only ask...

Sigma, Tokina- they have the autofocus technology- and full manual cine lenses now. Manufacturers chase the money, so hopefully this pseudo-cine lens thing will catch on and more manufacturers will offer functional autofocus cine/video lenses.

 

[klk]

Was just at the Local 600 event as well. How great was that Rodrigo Prieto Master Class this morning. Man... master craftsman and very skilled teacher as well. A rare combo.
.

Agreed. I actually thought Prieto was one of the best lecturers they've had in these events. Very personable, engaging, and informative.

 

[klk]

The 18-35 f/1.8 is a near perfect zoom and would be worth buying rehoused. The 50-100 f/1.8 has focus breathing that is worse than you would imagine. Otherwise, it is already near parfocal and could be useful rehoused. The zoom range is so small, however, that it negates some of the uses of these lenses as a servo zoom series.

These are rehoused by Sigma for manual focus no? $4K a pop at B&H. I'm referring to autofocus cinema "style" lenses.

I know I've been going on and on about functional autofocus. I'm like a kid that just discovered a new flavor of ice cream and has to tell everyone about it. "Come on- gotta try it..."

 

[kohl-sudduth]

Prieto is being discussed - indirectly - in the Stone/Putin thread.

The verdict is that it's not his best work.

Ha! Interesting. Haven't seen the film yet. Will have to decide for myself.

However, given the extraordinary number variables that I'm sure Mr Prieto had to attend to in shooting the film, I will say that, with all due respect, I'll take opinions expressed on dvxuser with a substantial grain of salt.

But the Canon guy actually asked me about the 18-80 and what focal length would be ideal- so I told him. 18-135 and faster at the same price. Autofocus enabled. One can only ask...

That is an awesome response.

Now I'm wishing I would have leaned on the Canon rep and told him that a Still/CN-E hybrid version of the 17 55 at f2.8 would be excellent. Missed opportunity.

 

[cpreston]

These are rehoused by Sigma for manual focus no? $4K a pop at B&H. I'm referring to autofocus cinema "style" lenses.

I know I've been going on and on about functional autofocus. I'm like a kid that just discovered a new flavor of ice cream and has to tell everyone about it. "Come on- gotta try it..."

The 18-80 has both autofocus and IS. The Sigma Cine Zooms just have speed on their side. I also wouldn't buy a rehoused cine lens with the AF stripped out since the DPAF on the Cinema Cameras is incredibly useful. That said, the 18-35 has great AF. The 50 - 100 AF tracking is unusable due to the focus breathing. Every time the AF kicks in, it looks like you are making an adjustment to the zoom. It is even noticeable when you aren't locked down on a tripod or blocked off shot. The focus breathing makes it obvious every time the AF kicks in. I only use the 50-100 for interviews in which I need a low depth of field.

 

[Matt Turner]

...the touch screen will not work.

The C300 MKII already receives button press signals over that connector, how can it be that hard to send a tap at X/Y signal? Surely its a case of interpreting the inputs at a firmware level, not a new hardware configuration. Plus they'd up sell a lot of touch screen monitors to C300 MKII owners.

 

[klk]

The C300 MKII already receives button press signals over that connector, how can it be that hard to send a tap at X/Y signal? Surely its a case of interpreting the inputs at a firmware level, not a new hardware configuration. Plus they'd up sell a lot of touch screen monitors to C300 MKII owners.

You'd think so right? It's up to Canon to make it happen...

 

[klk]

The 18-80 has both autofocus and IS. The Sigma Cine Zooms just have speed on their side. I also wouldn't buy a rehoused cine lens with the AF stripped out since the DPAF on the Cinema Cameras is incredibly useful. That said, the 18-35 has great AF. The 50 - 100 AF tracking is unusable due to the focus breathing. Every time the AF kicks in, it looks like you are making an adjustment to the zoom. It is even noticeable when you aren't locked down on a tripod or blocked off shot. The focus breathing makes it obvious every time the AF kicks in. I only use the 50-100 for interviews in which I need a low depth of field.

Have you tried Sigma's Art primes?
Does Tokina have an interesting autofocus zoom?
This is all new territory for me.

 

[puredrifting]

I'd definitely buy a CNe 18-135 IS T3.5 for the the same price as the 18-80.

 

[cpreston]

Have you tried Sigma's Art primes?
Does Tokina have an interesting autofocus zoom?
This is all new territory for me.

Sigma's primes should work with AF and they have a dock for firmware upgrades when Canon goes and messes with their AF programming. Every lens, including Canon's, acts differently in terms of how the AF engages so some pull focus more naturally than others. Tokina's zooms all use a screw drive AF that is pretty loud. They also don't have full time MF override so you have to engage the AF whenever you want to use it an then disengage it if you want to do any manual focusing.

 

[bighaug]

Oh, i hope they adress the magenta-smear that appears with dark and light contrasts. I can't belive they haven't already!!

 

[mizzar]

I mean, if we are asking, I'd most love to have 4k 60p that can be switched on and off with a single assignable button. In fact make the assignable button cycle between 4k 24p, 4k 60p, and 2k 120p, all full sensor readout!

1. RAW Lite? If the C200 can do it, why not the C300 Mk2, and for that matter the C700? Update the whole line- why not? Why leave the more expensive models out of the RAW Lite Internal Party?
2. C200 touch screen monitor. The whole mounting system is a step above the C300 Mk2 system- a carry over from the C300 Mk1. While we can't get internal XLRs on the C300M2 I'm already thinking about the MA400 cause the hotshoe on my monitor unit is loosening up. Another FYI Canon- did a 5 camera C300M2 shoot and 4 of the cams came from Adorama Rental. ALL of the rental monitor units were loose- some easily had 20 degrees of play in them. It's a poor design Canon, you need to change/address it ASAP cause there's way to much competition eager to grab your market share these days.
3. On the ZSG-C10 zoom control you need to add one or two FUNCTION buttons.

Since I'm asking;
-faster autofocus "cine" zooms. The $5500 price bracket is ok for this technology. If the two Canon zooms sell well I'd think Sigma would add a "cine" version of their autofocus Art series to the market. At a lower price point than Canon. I wish...
I've never used the Sigma Art f1.8 zooms- but now I'm very curious about them, and how well would they work with the C300M2.

 

[klk]

I mean, if we are asking, I'd most love to have 4k 60p that can be switched on and off with a single assignable button. In fact make the assignable button cycle between 4k 24p, 4k 60p, and 2k 120p, all full sensor readout!

Yeah- that too. But I image the above would be a hardware upgrade. I'm not too greedy- I do want to maximize the camera via firmware upgrades asap.

 

[DLD]

I'd definitely buy a CNe 18-135 IS T3.5 for the the same price as the 18-80.

This has moved onto its own thread but I wonder if Canon could put a small rocker on the camera body, thereby removing it from the lens itself? That might save a few bucks on a lens, while keeping it entirely within the Canon ecosystem, if not within the 18-80 price tag.

 

[puredrifting]

This has moved onto its own thread but I wonder if Canon could put a small rocker on the camera body, thereby removing it from the lens itself? That might save a few bucks on a lens, while keeping it entirely within the Canon ecosystem, if not within the 18-80 price tag.

This lens would be useful for about 80% of my stuff so after thinking about it, I would gladly pay $7,500.00 for it if it could be made and sold for that much?