5 things about the C300

[Jim Martin]

Hey everyone, we just put up a new video on the C300:

5 Things You Should Know About the Canon C300 on Vimeo

Later, we'll have a video done by our colleague & long time camera operator here in Hollywood, Philip Schwartz. He shot in & around Santa Monica at night & early morning.....

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

[Chris Hurd]

Nicely done, Jim -- the crisp, sharp look of this piece is overshadowed only by your excellent on-screen presence and delivery. Good on ya!

[Jim Martin]

Wow, I guess this means I'm buying your drinks in Vegas at NAB!

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

Cool video, Jim. I actually think it's a pretty well-designed camera. Thanks for sharing!

[Alister Chapman]

While I very much like the C300, some aspects of it's design and ergonomics I think are not well executed, see my review. A Week With The Canon C300. | XDCAM-USER.COM

The monitor unit is one of the things I really dislike and audio appears to be a complete after-thought. It does have slight moire issues and the dynamic range is no better than the F3. Don't get me wrong it is a great camera, but you do need to look past the hype.

There is also a PL to EF adapter specifically for the C300 coming. :-)

[Jim Martin]

Great piece Alistar!.......BTW I have never hyped anything in my life!?!

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

[Alister Chapman]

Hey Jim that wasn't a dig at you or anyone in particular. I just hope people actually look at all the different cameras that are available and select the right one for their needs as opposed to whichever camera that has the best marketing.

There are lots of great choices right now, each with strengths and weaknesses. Not one is perfect.

[Robert Sanders]

Awesome. Thanks Jim.

[Thierry Humeau]

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

While I very much like the C300, some aspects of it's design and ergonomics I think are not well executed, see my review. A Week With The Canon C300. | XDCAM-USER.COM

The monitor unit is one of the things I really dislike and audio appears to be a complete after-thought. It does have slight moire issues and the dynamic range is no better than the F3. Don't get me wrong it is a great camera, but you do need to look past the hype.

There is also a PL to EF adapter specifically for the C300 coming. :-)

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...). I understand some of your frustration not having dedicated switches for Gain and Shutter but within a few days, I learned to master camera controls through the use of assigned buttons which I now find more convenient than dedicated switches which offer limited choices. On my C300, Assign #1 is ISO and assign #4 is Shutter. Grip/camera side control wheel is Iris. The reason why I like this so much is that it is very easy to quickly navigate through the entire range of ISO, Shutter and Color Balance K settings (you can also do conventional A/B WB if you wish). Since using 5Ds, I really fell in love with being able to dial Color Balance to my liking and I am glad the C300 lets you do this. I wish I could assign a different function to the grip and camera side scrolling wheels but I am sure Canon will take note that this is a must add feature. The C300 color viewfinder and LCD are very well calibrated and almost an exact match that can be trusted for color rendition. As you rightly said, the audio controls are a bit of an after though (frankly, level pots laying flat on top of camera, how convenient is that.....) but hopefully, we will see a third party audio module that will provide better audio controls and I/Os when in need to keep the camera to its leanest form factor which I very much like too. i like the detachable monitor though, it is very good looking and the scopes are great.

Happy filming!

[Alister Chapman]

Originally Posted by Thierry Humeau

.......the first Super 35mm camera that works very well right our of the box without add-ons such as rigs, lens adaptor, EVF, etc...). ......... but hopefully, we will see a third party audio module that will provide better audio controls and I/Os when in need to keep the camera to its leanest form factor which I very much like too.

I rest my case. Adding boxes to fix deficiencies in the basic design is what I want to get away from.

I really dislike not having dedicated gain switches. Your on a shoot and the lighting suddenly changes, you need to change the gain..... flick a single switch with most pro cameras or press one assigned button then move your hand to the joystick or dial to change the setting on the C300. One single operation or a two step operation that necessitates you either looking in the EVF or having all your overlays on your monitor. The Sony EX's have direct menu where you just tap the thumb stick to change gain/shutter only requiring one control to be operated.

On the F3 I have both options. I can use the switches and/or go into the menu or a PP to change any of my gain/wb settings.

I would rather have a wide range of lens adapters so I can use the appropriate lenses for the job, maybe PL for my commercials and DSLR for low budget, rather than being stuck with lenses that I can't do a smooth iris change with.

As I keep saying the C300 is a great camera, I have one and it will be my go-to camera for some of the stuff I do, but for me at least it's as frustrating as it is good. I just wish Sony would put 50Mb/s in the F3.

[Mike Marriage]

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

I rest my case. Adding boxes to fix deficiencies in the basic design is what I want to get away from.

I couldn't agree with you more!

The last few years has seen incredible leaps in video technology and equally incredible back steps in regards ergonomics and design. A good quality viewfinder, in the correct position is an essential, not something that should require 3rd party workarounds.

I really want to buy a S35 camera before the end of the tax year (5th April) but the C300 and F3 just have too many compromises and the Alexa is too much for my market. JVC seems to get the ergonomics spot on but trails on the technical side. The tech (and market) exists today to make a S35 sensor camera in a compact shoulder mount with 10bit internal recording, usable EVF and interchangeable lens mounts. Built in selectable variable ND and 1080p50/60 would be great too! I would rather pay a little more to have a properly designed camera, not something based on DSLRs and EX1s.

I want to be able to pull a camera out the bag and shoot - not spend 5 minutes plugging in an HDMI viewfinder, attaching an external recorder and XLR breakout box.

Rant over.

[Thierry Humeau]

There is really no convenient lens adapter for Canon EF lenses on the F3 so, from the get go, Canon EF lens owners are much better off with the two iris controls wheels on the C300. And once Canon allows one of these control wheels to be set to control ISO, then, you'll have instant tweaking of the full range of both, aperture and ISO. I don't know any other camera that offer this kind of control. Also, I find the Image Stabilization feature of most Canon EF lenses to work extremely well on the C300, that is again a huge plus. And that's coming from a long time EX camera user and owner of two F3s...

[Antony Michael Wilson]

Originally Posted by Mike Marriage

Rant over.

Well said, Mike. Believe it or not, I am seriously considering going back to JVC and the HM700/750 for the CCDs and the ergonomics in spite of the low light, small chips, 720p native res and the difficulty sourcing a decent lens (all kit lenses are terrible IMHO)...

[Alister Chapman]

Thierry, I have several issues with the Canon iris control. The first is that it steps and this can be seen in the pictures. While I don't have to change aperture all that often during most shots, the fact that I can't, I find frustrating. The C300 is the first camcorder that I have ever owned where I can't change iris mid shot without spoiling the shot (unless I use Nikon lenses or the PL version). The sun coming out from behind clouds now means a spoilt shot, whereas I'm used to just riding the iris to compensate.

Then there is the placement of the iris controls. The wheel on the hand grip is nice, but assumes that you are operating while gripping the hand grip. The wheel on the back is..... well... on the back. So if you have to take you hand well away from the lens to operate the iris. I'm used to being able to do little iris tweaks with my thumb while focussing, or just sliding my hand back along the lens to the iris.

These things won't be an issue to photographers. Frame, expose, focus, click. No problem, each is a separate and individual step, but video is different. Fluidity is key to smooth operation and the C300 sometimes appears to fight against this. For me, it's just too DSLR like.

[Steve Benjamin]

Would not be ideal but you could use the lightcraft 4x4 fader ND in your matte box for some fine adjustments to changing light conditions at least it would be to hand.