5 things about the C300

[Dylan Couper]

Originally Posted by Thierry Humeau

Alister,

I agree with most of what you say in your review, very good points. I think however, not enough emphasis is put on the fact that what makes the C300 very special is that it is the first Super 35mm camera that works very well right our of the box without add-ons such as rigs, lens adaptor, EVF, etc...).

(cough) Sony F3. (cough) FS100 (cough)

[Chris Hurd]

The C300 needs at least one add-on to make images... that being an EF or EF-S lens.

[Daniel Epstein]

Chris,
That is true of all camera bodies sold separately. Does Canon have a lens kit bundle for C300? You can buy an F3, FS100 and AF 100 without lens packages as well. The Bundle lenses with the F3 aren't too bad for the price. The FS 100 and AF 100 cameras have inexpensive Lens options which are okay not great.

[Robert Sanders]

Maybe the quote should be "C300 very special is that it is the first Super 35mm camera that works very well right our of the box" THAT I WOULD BUY.

[David Heath]

And it's the first one that doesn't need an external recorder, but can still claim a fully acceptable codec out of the box........

[Colin McAuliffe]

Originally Posted by Dylan Couper

(cough) Sony F3. (cough) FS100 (cough)

have you ever tried to shoot handheld with either of those cameras without a rig?

[Dylan Couper]

Yes I have. Are you saying the C300 is handholdable out of the box but the FS100 isnt?

[Alister Chapman]

The C300 is a heavy camera. Stick a 24-70 L series lens on it, along with the monitor unit and its a hefty, front heavy beast. Take off the monitor unit and it's much lighter, but now you have to work out how your going to do your audio as there's no XLR's on the body and no level control except via the menu. The C300's design is not the best for a shoulder rig as your iris control will end up hard to access at the rear of the camera.

I have both an F3 and C300. I can use either handheld, neither is perfect. C300 is very short, so tends to be particularly front heavy. The hand grip however is comfortable to hold. The F3 is not quite so front heavy, but the hand grip is not adjustable. C300's EVF is pretty good, F3's is rubbish, but I don't need to have a very heavy and bulky monitor unit attached to the F3 if I want t use an LCD screen or XLR's. The C300's greatest strength is the internal 50Mb/s codec, without that key feature I would not still have mine. Still looking into the Green pixel artefacts from the C300.

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

None of the modern cameras look like they can be shot shoulder mounted without a rig. I wonder why every manufacturer has decided to abandon the broadcast camera design, except the Alexa, of course.

Here's a vision: A JVC APS-C 2K camera in an HD110/200 body.

[Mike Marriage]

Originally Posted by Sareesh Sudhakaran

Here's a vision: A JVC APS-C 2K camera in an HD110/200 body.

Exactly what I always rant on about! Although I'm fine with 1080p personally.

[Dylan Couper]

Originally Posted by Sareesh Sudhakaran

None of the modern cameras look like they can be shot shoulder mounted without a rig. I wonder why every manufacturer has decided to abandon the broadcast camera design, except the Alexa, of course.

I'm not sure how long you've been in the industry, but manufacturers have been making pro cameras in the non-shoulder form factor for decades. Shoulder rigs have only been "mandatory" since the DSLR revolution.

[Charles Papert]

Dylan, which pro cameras are you referring to? I can think of exceptions, but for what I would think of as pro video and film cameras, the overwhelming majority were designed to be shoulder-mounted when required, not held in the hands.

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Dylan Couper

I'm not sure how long you've been in the industry, but manufacturers have been making pro cameras in the non-shoulder form factor for decades.

And users have been complaining about this fact for decades!

Film cameras evolved into the shoulder form factor from user input, and it carried over into pro video cameras from U-matic onwards. Along came the first "prosumer" cameras and such as Sony and Panasonic decided to model them on consumer cameras. Anybody who thinks that's a good idea should compare them with the JVC equivalent range (at least ergonomically)

[Mike Marriage]

Originally Posted by David Heath

Anybody who thinks that's a good idea should compare them with the JVC equivalent range (at least ergonomically)

Yes! Can we please see some ergonomic consideration go into these cameras! And I don't mean, "how can we make this a bit better than a DSLR?" That is NOT the professional benchmark!

[Charles Papert]

Here's how simple it could be: Amazingly, we have managed to bring forward a standard from the film world without any inexplicable modification, which is the 15mm mini-rod configuration that can be found on virtually all baseplate systems. That form factor has been established and promoted by companies such as Redrock and Zacuto long before the F3 and C300 came out. It should be well understood by the manufacturers that if they are going to bring out cameras that are incomplete in some way and rely on third parties to provide the missing parts, they should design with that in mind. Yet both cameras have important controls on the rear of the camera, which means that there must be an air gap between the camera and any rear-mounted accessories to allow for fingers and eyeballs to get in there. The result is a camera system that is anywhere from 4 to 6 inches longer than it needs to be because of this air gap. As pointed out above, JVC alone has understood the advantage of the shoulder-mount design and their cameras actually are designed to be extended at the back for this purpose, so kudos to them.

A few years back when the RED One was in the design phase, I was invited to visit Jim and co. at the factory to brainstorm with them about ergonomics. I told them (amongst other things) to study the 30 year old Aaton form factor and make a camera that would perch on the shoulder in a balanced fashion. It obviously didn't take.