New Canon EOS Cinema Camera Coming!

[Dan Brockett]

Hearing from multiple sources, including a Canon Rep to "Watch the website Tuesday". Have been hearing chatter about the same from other sources as well. They are obviously trying to steal some thunder from Panasonic's new camera that they will announce at Cine Gear on Saturday. C100 MKIII? C200? C300 MKIII? Guess we'll find out soon if these rumors are true.

[Dan Brockett]

Unless these are fakes, it is confirmed. The C200 is here.
Guess Canon didn't decide to go with the shoulder mounted mini C700 form factor. Bummer. Those of us with Franken rigs will have to still keep using them. Zacuto and Wooden Camera will be happy. I see SDXC slots, nice. It does look like a baby C300 MKII.

[Gary Huff]

I just used my C300 Mark II with an EasyRig for the first time on Saturday. Definitely the way to go. I think shoulder-mounts are over-desired. You usually have to make the thing heavy to balance out all the gear and now all that weight is on your shoulder. It's not good from a health perspective. Here in Austin, everyone has gone gaga over the Alexa Mini, which is more like this form factor anyway, and even with shoulder-mounted cameras, like the Alexa itself, I see EasyRigs used all the time.

Save your back. Stop this obsession with shoulder-mounting.

[Dan Brockett]

Originally Posted by Gary Huff

...Save your back. Stop this obsession with shoulder-mounting.

Just goes back to I am a doc/BTS shooter mainly and have years of experience with a Betacam, Varicam, F900, DSR500, HPX300 on my shoulder. Shoulder mount is the only way to shoot a day with a camera in your hands for ten hours with lots of stand up interviews on the fly. Looking like an alien cyborg wearing an EXO skeleton/Easy Rig is not an option in my circumstances. For narrative production, music videos, commercials where the talent is expecting to see a camera shoved in their face, those are great. For what I and tens of thousands of other doc/real life shooters do, funny looking, big support rigs aren't practical. Can't follow a subject leaving their house and hopping into their car while wearing an Easy Rig and I get that shot quite often lately. Can't shoot a subject walking backwards through low doorways and passage ways in a punk club wearing an Easy Rig. I constantly shoot in situations where an Easy rig would be in the way and would snag or crunch into things.

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Dan Brockett

I constantly shoot in situations where an Easy rig would be in the way and would snag or crunch into things.

I think that's more of an assumption. I have seen EasyRigs used in situations you describe. For those single shots, it can be dismounted. They aren't perfect, but they aren't as "in the way" as you describe. The rest of your issue seems to be with the visuals of it, which doesn't matter at all.

Working here, I see EasyRigs far, far more than shoulder-mounted.

[Gary Huff]

Plus, how much headroom do you think you have? You can adjust the pole and make it mere inches above the top of your head, definitely about as much clearance as how tall a shoulder-mounted camera can be over your head. If you're not adjusting an EasyRig after it had been in use by other shooters, you're doing it wrong.

[Dan Brockett]

Originally Posted by Gary Huff

Plus, how much headroom do you think you have? You can adjust the pole and make it mere inches above the top of your head, definitely about as much clearance as how tall a shoulder-mounted camera can be over your head. If you're not adjusting an EasyRig after it had been in use by other shooters, you're doing it wrong.

Have only tried the Easy Rig once, it wasn't mine so I didn't set it up so I had no idea, a colleague just put it on me and said to go try shooting some b-roll with it. Will always prefer shoulder mounted, goes back to shooting my Arri SR2 for years also in the old days. As far as how it looks, have none of your clients ever told you to "Make sure you are as low key as possible"? Ever shoot undercover, in a war zone, in a hot spot, or guerilla-style in a restaurant or retail establishment where you are not really supposed to be shooting? I do quite a bit, it's common on documentaries.

An Easy Rig, Steadicam, EXO Skeleton is not low key looking. The looks may not matter to you but it definitely matters to our clients, especially when we are shooting BTS for multicam shows like Homeland, Prison Break, 24, etc. For them, the smaller and more streamlined, the better. They don't want the talent looking at us, us being in talent's eyeline, etc. so at times, I even have to take the camera off of it's shoulder rig and shoot handheld with just the camera tucked into my chest or even leave it placed on set, unmanned for certain scenes. But 90% of the day is shoulder mounted, running all over set, trying to stay off camera, out of talent's eyeline, out of the show's cam ops way, etc. For the doc I just shot in Brazil, had to follow our subject into a restaurant, sit at their table and shoot a conversation at the table without anyone even knowing I was doing it. C100 stripped, peaking up over the tablecloth. Talent kind of saw I was shooting, but then just ignored me and we captured some spontaneous, magical conversation.

Anyway, back on point, the new C200 also has a CFast card as well as the SDXC cards. Hope it can shoot some 10-bit internal and that it isn't 8-bit handicapped. Looks like they put a user adjustable mounting screw for the handle, smart, people hated the Allen screws for the C300 MKII handle. Hope it doesn't creak and move like the C100 handle though. Looks as if the EVF is user detachable, that's a first other than the C700.

[Christopher Young]

Originally Posted by Dan Brockett

Shoulder mount is the only way to shoot a day with a camera in your hands for ten hours with lots of stand up interviews on the fly.

+1, 100% agree. Try running around pit lane on a 12 hour endurance race all day where the camera can be at ground level one moment tracking in single handed for a shot and the next moment two handed over over your head. Sometimes with the camera resting on your arm on the car body and sometimes pushing the camera right inside the car window for a driver change shot. I've tried the Easy Rig for those sorts of shots and soon ditched it in favor of going back to the flexibility and freedom of movement you get when hand held. I'm seeing more monopods now then ever before at race meets as cameras get smaller but not Easy Rig type kit..

A common case of motor sport shoulder mount handheld shooting is where you have the camera on your shoulder and a live link back back. The pack plus all the battery power for camera and link makes it virtually impossible to use an Easy Rig. This is true run-n-gun shoulder work and in these situations I've never see an Easy Rig used and I've shot countless motor sport bike and car scenarios, not F1 but similar scenarios to this.

Martin Brundle's Sky F1 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix Grid Walk - YouTube

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

[Brian Rhodes]

Canon C200 leaked pics

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Dan Brockett

HAs far as how it looks, have none of your clients ever told you to "Make sure you are as low key as possible"?

Yes I have, and you know what that meant? Hand-held, not shoulder mounted. Shoulder mounted cameras call attention to themselves, make you look like a news crew. The total opposite of being "low key".

C100 stripped, peaking up over the tablecloth.

i.e. not shoulder-mounted.

[Dan Brockett]

Originally Posted by Gary Huff

Yes I have, and you know what that meant? Hand-held, not shoulder mounted. Shoulder mounted cameras call attention to themselves, make you look like a news crew. The total opposite of being "low key".



i.e. not shoulder-mounted.

I get it, you love the Easy Rig. I don't, I found it restrictive, as I find anything with a vest to be restrictive to spontaneous movement. FWIW, this may be a Texas thing, in LA you do not see Easy Rigs at media events, EPK, red carpets, on documentary shoots, on BTS shoots on sets, the stuff I shoot. No biggie. My point was that IMHO, shoulder mounted is the easiest way to be able to quickly, seamlessly and spontaneously drop the camera to the ground or up above your head or to be able to contort your body to fit into extremely tight spaces like the front seat of a Prius. When shooting in cars, which I have been doing a lot of lately, my Zacuto VCT Pro baseplate fits on my knee, thigh, top of my head, many other places besides my shoulder.

That's the beauty of choice, you can shoot with your Easy Rig, I can shoot shoulder mounted or handheld. Cameras will continue to come out that are shoulder mount friendly like the Amira, Ursa Mini Pro, Varicam LT, FS7 MKI and MKII and cameras will continue to come out that are not shoulder mount friendly like all Canons except the C700, REDs, Alexa Mini, the new Panasonic mystery camera (so it appears). It would be boring if we all didn't have choices.

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Dan Brockett

I get it, you love the Easy Rig.

It's not that I love the Easy Rig, I think it's good to consider the health impacts of using a shoulder-mount setup regularly. If one is stuck only and ever wanting to use shoulder-mounted cameras, back issues can put an immediate end to that. Considering I plan to do this for as far into the future as I can see, I want to make the proper choices now instead of being forced to do to factors outside my control.

My point was that IMHO, shoulder mounted is the easiest way to be able to quickly, seamlessly and spontaneously drop the camera to the ground or up above your head or to be able to contort your body to fit into extremely tight spaces like the front seat of a Prius.

It's a spring loaded clip and a single strap buckle to get out of it, about 5 seconds.

[Barry Goyette]

Back to that new mini C300II -- anyone notice the rear view shot shows it without an EVF?

now back to the important stuff. I shoulder-mount when it's the look I want. I "ready-rig" when I have a gimbal. Lately I just roll my rig around on a Scout EVO cart (had knee surgery and am not carrying much of anything for the near future).

[Chris Hurd]

Please understand that I had to move this thread from News to Area 51 since the official press release isn't out yet.

Feel free to discuss it here, but look for a new topic in News (and the closure of this one) as soon as I publish the press release... which will be "imminent." Thanks all,

[Barry Goyette]

I knew you were lurking around here somewhere, Chris. Looking forward to the officially sanctioned chatter soon!