Canon C300 - framerates firmware update!

[Mat Thompson]

I am very fond of my C300 but I am getting pushed away from it by the lack of a decent framerate firmware upgrade. I shoot a selection of doc and wildlife with the camera but its lack of flexibility when it comes to higher framerates is meaning I constantly have to think about other cameras.

Come on Canon move with the times and what your users want - 1080 50p and maybe a 100fps at a lower resolution ? Is this too much to ask?

Mat

[Justin Molush]

I would hope that Canon had in mind a potential future firmware upgrade into the world of 1080/50/60p and, lets cross our fingers and hope, that they didn't ship it with hardware that wouldn't be able to shoot these framerates regardless of firmware updates.

Would 1080/50/60 be possible over single link SDI on the C300s to external recorder? That might be a way for canon to offer it.

[Phil Douglas]

i think that this new firmware for the c300 (hopefully back any day now) is awesome, takes care of a nice chunk of the camera's shortcomings - except the big one.

i'm with justin on this one and will happily hook up an external recorder for the odd time I would like use faster frame rates (without the reduction in resolution), if it's not possible internally with the current hardware.

[Mat Thompson]

So do we know its not possible with the current internal hardware ??

Mat

[Drew Curran]

I watched an old video today containing Rodney Charters that was recorded just after the C300 was announced and he mentioned that Canon sought the advice from pros on the needs of the professional filmmaker and camera man. I wonder if 50/60p was ever mentioned? During the discussion there was a sense that the C300 was designed to take on and better the Sony F3 which didn't originally have 50/60p but now does with a firmware update I believe.

I'm mystified as to why it seems that Canon are not seeing the FS700 has competition. I freelance for a company that owns one and the image it produces is very good so Canon cannot claim victory on that one. I own a C100 and would happily pay for 1080 50p if given the option.

[Mat Thompson]

Well I will be jumping ship soon I'm sure. I like the build of the C300 and as a camera for shooting Doc sync its very good but its just not flexible enough to continue with when theres lots of cameras starting to offer more options!

[Omar Nabulsi]

For $14,000, I except a camera to have at the very LEAST 120 fps in full HD. The fact that Canon does not offer this in any of their cinema cameras is unacceptable to me and the lack of high speed is ultimately why I sold my C100. I agree that the Canon EOS cinema cameras have the perfect form factor for documentary, but when you have to carry around two cameras everywhere to get any decent slo mo, that advantage is made much less desirable. When I did my last doc in the middle east, I took two cameras with me everywhere, which not only got heavy and annoying to have to switch out, but also meant that I had more equipment that could potentially get damaged or stolen, not to mention having to risk paying duties when crossing borders and having customs agents seeing two video cameras. MUCH harder to pass as a tourist with two cameras rather than one.

Canon, you make damn good cameras in every way possible except frame rate. I simply don't understand why you willingly choose to stop short in this department. Keep in mind that everything you don't offer will be sought through the help of other brands.

[Al Bergstein]

As a C100 and xf305 owner, I agree that I would be hard pressed to pay the extra for a C300 without slo mo. It's annoying enough in the C100 at it's price point. I agree with Omar that if I had to do a significant documentary on the road in a problematic foreign country, I'd try my damndest to carry one camera. If I felt I needed slo mo, it would be a different camera.

[Mark Dobson]

I've never even had the desire to film in Slo-Mo so this is really not an issue for me but I can't imagine it would require that much of a firmware re-write to get it fixed for the C300. This issue was one of the biggest complaints when the camera was launched.

We've just had the biggest firmware release since the camera was launched and I wouldn't hold your breath for another one soon. However if they decide to offer full Auto Focus for the C300 I will definitely be interested in that.

What I think, and for me confirmed by Dan Chung's recent interview with Canon Cinema EOS global product manager Yoshinari Onda, is that Canon have a very segmented or conservative view of what features are required for each of their products. They might well think that what they perceived as their core customer base just didn't require these frame rates.

Another issue might well be how their corporate structure operates with very clear divisions between the broadcast and photographic departments and unfortunately the Cinema Eos range of cameras straddles these categories.

Sony seem to be much quicker in responding to customer requests, but then they don't make the C300!

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Canon has shown the willingness to upgrade hardware of the C100 for dual pixel AF. So if needed, then take our C300s, upgrade it and give us slow motion at 1080p. And I need the slow motion programmed to be enabled by pressing a button and not through the menu. Carrying two cameras is not physically possible in lot of situations.

I hope Canon is listening.

[Thierry Humeau]

Yep, programmable one-button slomo would be great, wouldn't it?

[Mat Thompson]

Yes that would be a great feature!! It is a complete pain at the moment to go the 720 50 and back again during a fast shoot and very easy to just change to 720 25 and not 720 50 !!

But I'll take the 1080 50p first :-)

[Jim Martin]

I'm not going to write what I've written before on the C300 & SloMo...................alright, 1 last time and if people would just use the search function, they'd find it........Direct from the Canon Engineers who designed and manufactured the C300.......at the time when they started the project (Early 2009), the best "engine" they had was the then new Divic III. By the time the camera came out (Jan 2012), there was the Divic IV but they could not rip out the old engine and stick the new one in. Things don't work that way. They did do extensive interviews with shooters/DPs that bought the camera and 60p and 120fps were/are high on everyone's list. I initially thought they could do a firmware update that could do that but I found out from the engineers that the engine wasn't up to it, so I look forward to the next version of the C300 to include those and more features. When is that going to happen, i don't know but if Canon sticks to their usual cycle, the end of next year would be when a C300 MKII or C300s would show up.
You have to trust me and Chris on this.....Canon here and in Japan religiously read this blog(and others)..... and they know what everybody wants on their camera. Also, the old way to SloMo still works just fine. Shoot in 60i, convert in post to 60p and then percentage up and down for slow or fast motion. And And And......slow motion should not be first on one's list in buying a camera. It should be chip, codec, functionality, and reliability. In lighting alone, the C series cameras will save you time and money. You will use roughly a 1/3 of the lights needed with many other cameras which mean, especially in a narrative situation, more set ups per day. Sell 5 days and get it done in 3! ....... so patience young Skywalker

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

[Mark Watson]

... and yet slow mo is number one on my list right now. I've been looking for a good, affordable high-speed capable camera for two years now. Not a Canon fan-boy but do have lots of Canon glass I'd like to not have to replace. I wonder how many Sony FS700 cameras have been bought for their high-speed. It looks like the obvious choice. Since it's my money, I get to choose what features are most important, if nobody agrees with that, well, "Frankly Charlotte..." Maybe Canon SHOULD get on the ball and put the feature in their cameras already before the fad sputters out.

Mark Watson

[Pete Bauer]

I wish the C300 had at least 1080p60 as well. But as Jim points out again, it doesn't and won't. Maybe in the next product cycle...

The current Cinema EOS choices for higher frame rates at full HD or more are the EOS-1D C at about $12k (up to 60p) or the C500 at about $23k plus the cost of an external recorder (up to 60p at 4k and up to 120p at 4096 x 1080).