C300: Will Canon drop the C300 Mark II Price in the near future?

[puredrifting]

I too am puzzled by the hoopla. Yesterday we could have bought the C300 MKII for $11,999.00, the CN-E18-80 for $5,225.00 and ZSG-C10 for $474.05 for a total of $17,698.05. So at this new price, the package is really an $800.00 discount in the real world. Not bad but certainly not revelatory?

 

[Doug_EX]

I too am puzzled by the hoopla. Yesterday we could have bought the C300 MKII for $11,999.00, the CN-E18-80 for $5,225.00 and ZSG-C10 for $474.05 for a total of $17,698.05. So at this new price, the package is really an $800.00 discount in the real world. Not bad but certainly not revelatory?

Simple. They play with the numbers. Like you said, the deal is 800$ off, no need to search any deeper. The price dropped in july 2016 but they still (almost a year later) threat it like a discount at 11 999$. The price drop is not for a limited time, it's there to stay or even drop more later this year. Don't be fooled guys! Marketing, marketing, marketing

 

[puredrifting]

Simple. They play with the numbers. Like you said, the deal is 800$ off, no need to search any deeper. The price dropped in july 2016 but they still (almost a year later) threat it like a discount at 11 999$. The price drop is not for a limited time, it's there to stay or even drop more later this year. Don't be fooled guys! Marketing, marketing, marketing

I'll only get excited when they drop it to $9,999.00

 

[Doug_EX]

Same here.

 

[black film guild]

Hi everybody,

i´m about to upgrade my equipment with the c300 mark ii. In the last months i saved every cent i could spare to buy the new camera. I thought, be clever and wait until NAB is over, maybe Canon drop the price on the c300 mark ii to stay competitive to new announced/releases cameras. Every day in the last week i was looking for a sign from canon but nothing. Now NAB is over and i thought maybe the community has heard something?

Want to avoid to spend my money, only two weeks before canon drop the price. Any advices?

thanks

I dont think there will be a price drop.... If you look at the number of used cameras for sell, it is non-exsistent. Maybe in a few years...Canon does not have another one man high end doc cinema camera... the C700 is for DP and AC..... We might see a price drop when we see the c300 mark II used camera shows up.

 

[DLD]

I too am puzzled by the hoopla. Yesterday we could have bought the C300 MKII for $11,999.00, the CN-E18-80 for $5,225.00 and ZSG-C10 for $474.05 for a total of $17,698.05. So at this new price, the package is really an $800.00 discount in the real world. Not bad but certainly not revelatory?

I chimed in on this thread off a different (sponsor started) thread. At first, it looked like a huge price break. It isn't.

As to future deals and promotions, a lot will obviously depend on the competition. The NAB has revealed nada.

 

[puredrifting]

by the end of this year, depending on numerous factors, I will likely be buying (in no particular order...)

1. A used C300 MKII at a price too good to pass up
2. A new C300 MKII at a sub $10k newly reduced price
3. The successor to the C100 MKII (C100 MKIII, C200, as of yet unknown moniker?)
4. The new sub $10k Panasonic mystery S35 camera

Canon, if you want to keep me, you need to throw me a bone here, I love DPAF, am heavily invested in EF glass. But need a sub $10k 4k or higher professional digital cinema camera and I would like it to have at least 4K 60p and 1080 non windowed sensor at 100 fps or better. If you don't, you'll lose me to Panasonic or heck, who knows, maybe even the Ursa Mini Pro, I like a lot about it.

 

[Jim Feeley]

Totally. If the URSA Mini Pro proves to hold up in the field, it will be a compelling camera. Same if say, RED brings out something like a Raven with doc-friendly features such as built-in NDs and less-expensive media. And whatever Panasonic's & Sony are working on... That Panasonic tease is intriguing...

 

[rob norton]

Shot an interview today with a c300 ii and the new ursa mini pro as B cam, neither were mine. I think the c300 ii would need to take a monumental dive in price for me to buy one.

Specs aside, the ursa mini pro was so insanely easy to use in this environment. The images from both are fantastic.

 

[NorBro]

Yea, I agree...I think $12K is extremely overpriced now, so $10K wouldn't make that much of a difference to me.

A good starting point would be $6,999 or $7,999 like the other cameras eventually went down to. (They are lower now or discontinued...C300, C500, 1DC.)

 

[Run&Gun]

I don't want to slam a camera that I've never personally used. But where I am on the east coast, no one is asking for it. Everyone that bought the original 300 is still working it and most 4K work is being done with Sony's(I'd have to look, but I feel like I'm about 50/50 on my C300 and F55 for s35 work so far this year). I was on a shoot last week that the client brought their mkII on and some of it was shot using 4K. And I know of one person in the market that bought one(actually he may have 2), but he didn't get on the original wave of the 300(and he already had an Alexa).

It's easy for me to say that the price is still too high, because I don't need or want one. And honestly, I don't foresee myself ever buying one. But if you have a client or the demand for one that will bring a lot of work, $12K isn't a lot of money, if you're talking single man day rates in the $1800 range. It's basicallly paid for in 12 shoots.

 

[Doug_EX]

by the end of this year, depending on numerous factors, I will likely be buying (in no particular order...)

1. A used C300 MKII at a price too good to pass up
2. A new C300 MKII at a sub $10k newly reduced price
3. The successor to the C100 MKII (C100 MKIII, C200, as of yet unknown moniker?)
4. The new sub $10k Panasonic mystery S35 camera

Canon, if you want to keep me, you need to throw me a bone here, I love DPAF, am heavily invested in EF glass. But need a sub $10k 4k or higher professional digital cinema camera and I would like it to have at least 4K 60p and 1080 non windowed sensor at 100 fps or better. If you don't, you'll lose me to Panasonic or heck, who knows, maybe even the Ursa Mini Pro, I like a lot about it.

I'm in the same situation and looking at the same camera choices. Use to have Panasonic camcorders (DVX100 and HPX250) and wouldn't mind going back to them. Ursa mini pro looks great too but for what I do I need more flexibility and havong a camera that max out at 1600 ISO is a big no no for me.

 

[Doug_EX]

I don't want to slam a camera that I've never personally used. But where I am on the east coast, no one is asking for it. Everyone that bought the original 300 is still working it and most 4K work is being done with Sony's(I'd have to look, but I feel like I'm about 50/50 on my C300 and F55 for s35 work so far this year). I was on a shoot last week that the client brought their mkII on and some of it was shot using 4K. And I know of one person in the market that bought one(actually he may have 2), but he didn't get on the original wave of the 300(and he already had an Alexa).

It's easy for me to say that the price is still too high, because I don't need or want one. And honestly, I don't foresee myself ever buying one. But if you have a client or the demand for one that will bring a lot of work, $12K isn't a lot of money, if you're talking single man day rates in the $1800 range. It's basicallly paid for in 12 shoots.

Same here...if someone has the demand then a C300 mkii is a no brainer. Will pay for itself in no time. For me, I need a flexible camera that doesn't cost much because my clients only ask for HD and don't care about neither 4k or for a specific camera. If the image is good, then that is what matter. Also, I began shooting my own documentaries (producing, shooting and editing), so a camera like my C100 is a good choice.

 

[Ben_Ericson]

Totally. If the URSA Mini Pro proves to hold up in the field, it will be a compelling camera. Same if say, RED brings out something like a Raven with doc-friendly features such as built-in NDs and less-expensive media. And whatever Panasonic's & Sony are working on... That Panasonic tease is intriguing...

My work has two C300ii cameras. I work with these a lot. I think if you're utilizing every feature, the price is definitely worth it. The auto focus is really really nice to have. If it had 4k/60p, I would probably buy one.

It is almost impossible to make the colors look bad, (compared to the FS7 which just looks off.) It looks really really good in mixed light, no light, harsh light, etc.

It is a work horse. I have shot interviews in 97+ heat in the sun for an hour straight. No issues. I'm not sure how the URSA Mini would do in that situation. Infact, I have been on probably 100 shoots with it and I have never had problems.

You can shoot handheld with a 24-105 and strip away everything, you can shoot with a monopod and the screen, etc. It can be rigged for a lot of different situations. I don't think there is a better doc camera, due to the auto focus and color. The features aren't exciting like the FS7, but again, it is a pro work horse camera. You can throw a Canon lens with IS and get very rich looking colors at high noon.

Here is some Log 2 I shot last summer. Nothing ground breaking, but solid colors in a run and gun situation with a producer. Again, it all depends on what you're using the camera for. I wouldn't want to be fumbling through menus with the Sony or spending hours and hours trying to get the green to look right in SLOG3...

 

[Matt Turner]

I find this interesting about pricing:

A Sony FS7 M2 + XDCA-FS7 costs $1 less than a C300 MKII

(adding the XDCA is to equate them in terms of raw out, timecode and genlock which the C300 already has)

With the Sony you get frame rates + some features, with the Canon you get autofocus + some features.

Yet the Canon is too overpriced for everyone and the FS7 is the current favourite.

 

[puredrifting]

I find this interesting about pricing:

A Sony FS7 M2 + XDCA-FS7 costs $1 less than a C300 MKII

(adding the XDCA is to equate them in terms of raw out, timecode and genlock which the C300 already has)

With the Sony you get frame rates + some features, with the Canon you get autofocus + some features.

Yet the Canon is too overpriced for everyone and the FS7 is the current favourite.

I noticed that too when Sony previewed the FS7 MKII, the price has inched up there to match the competition. It'll be even more interesting if Canon drops the price on the C300 MKII to $9,999.00 this year, although who knows if the drop will come this year? I can say in the LA Market, I never see FS7s and always see C300 MKIIs. Of course, the varies by market and market segment. But in LA, for EPK, BTS, documentary type shooting and even for some bigger projects like Frankie and Gracie that are shot on the C300 MKII, just never see FS7s. I see a lot more F55s in LA.

 

[DLD]

FS7 has problems with Raw due to its bit allocation and the DR. Its sweet spot is the external ProRes recording.

FWIW, I decided to look up some URSA Mini Pro footage last night on YouTube and the best of those looked pretty nice. Its reviews are good and it is doing very well in sales (B&H has it right after GH5 and A7RII).

 

[IanTheM]

I think if Canon comes out with a C100 III/200 that takes better advantage of it's DPAF (ie smarter programming, and an included 5 inch touchscreen) then they'll make a killing. There's already so many convenient things with the camera, and basing it around DPAF will make it have a huge usability advantage over most cameras, which is already something Canon does well.

 

[puredrifting]

I think if Canon comes out with a C100 III/200 that takes better advantage of it's DPAF (ie smarter programming, and an included 5 inch touchscreen) then they'll make a killing. There's already so many convenient things with the camera, and basing it around DPAF will make it have a huge usability advantage over most cameras, which is already something Canon does well.

Make that 5" touch screen 1500 nits so you can shoot in bright sun without a hood and they would dominate this market segment.

 

[puredrifting]

FS7 has problems with Raw due to its bit allocation and the DR. Its sweet spot is the external ProRes recording.

FWIW, I decided to look up some URSA Mini Pro footage last night on YouTube and the best of those looked pretty nice. Its reviews are good and it is doing very well in sales (B&H has it right after GH5 and A7RII).

I was discussing the Ursa Mini Pro today with the producer of the documentary I am shooting. We both love the images and the ergonomics look pretty good. It's just the topping out at ISO 1600 that kills it for us. We did a shoot in a VERY dark jazz club in Rio a few weeks ago, it was just a quick pop in because it had historical significance to our story. No way to light it and it was what it was. With the Ursa Mini Pro, we would have nothing. With the C100, I cranked the ISO up to 6400 and the footage, while doesn't look "good", looks usable. BMD needs to work on an Ursa Mini Pro II with the same kind of ISO capability as the C300 MKII. It will then be a pretty amazing little camera and I would heavily consider buying it.