Canon it's Feb. 2014, is the C100 AF upgrade available yet?

[Edward Calabig]

Anyone have a Canon 100mm macro (l or non l) that can see how this upgrade works for objects or products? Thinking about buying one of those lenses (non l preferred) and curious how well it works when the focus plane is so thin.

[Dave Partington]

Sent my C100 off for the upgrade. Getting withdrawal symptoms already :(

[Edward Calabig]

I had a chance to put this upgrade to the test at a wedding. Overall it performed exceptionally well but there are a few things to keep in mind when using it.

I tested the lens with a Sigma 18-35mm 1.8, Canon 70-200 2.8, and a Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro (non L).

I used the Sigma for the entire bridal prep and left it wide open for the most part. This is my favorite lens for this upgrade because it has the smoothest and most natural looking rack focus. The AF was very reliable for things like the bride putting on the dress and I was even able to use it for a sliding rack focus shot up close. Be aware the AF on this lens only works at 1.8.

I used the 70-200 for the ceremony and most of the reception. This lens worked almost too well with the AF upgrade because the lens focuses extremely fast. This has a much faster, but "snappier" AF than the Sigma 18-35. This is both good and bad because while it allows you to AF faster, it also means that anything that moves into/near the center frame will be focused on. I found myself using the lock AF feature almost every shot, especially during the ceremony where a shoulder would get near the center of the frame during an over the shoulder shot. Also, the AF tracked very well during the bride's entrance down the isle.

I also used this lens outside during the photo session and it tracked very well in bright sunlight. I was using both the c100's built in ND filters and a graduated ND filter for the sky. so I'm not sure how well the AF would have worked with a blown out sky. The lens was able to perform sliding shots and maintain focus easily.

The Canon 100mm macro was the least useful due to the trouble it has focusing with such a shallow DOF. The lens auto focused fine when using slow panning movements during a shot of the rings, but struggled when tracking a rolling ring moving towards the camera.

The upgrade worked fine in low light of up to 10000-12000 ISO but we were also lighting the reception with a Dedolight 150w that was about 13' up in the air. The AF worked just as well under these conditions using both the 18-35mm and the 70-200mm. I did not test the AF shooting into completely unlit areas with no light unfortunately.

Overall the upgrade is definitely worth the money from a wedding videographer's standpoint, and really takes a lot of stress away during the bridal prep and ceremony where every second counts. I will post some examples from the wedding in a couple of days for anyone curious as to how it worked.

[Andy Wilkinson]

I don't think this piece by Philip Bloom on the C100 Dual Pixel AF has been posted on here yet? Definitely worth watching if you're interested in this upgrade.

Dual Pixel AF on the EOS C100 Digital Video Camera on Vimeo

[Mark Dobson]

Thanks for posting the Bloom Dual Pixel video Andy.

He pretty well sums up all the advantages (and disadvantages) of this upgrade. I’ll be booking my C300 in to get this added in May although I’ve not totally made my mind up. I’ll be sorry to lose the contrast based Auto focus we had added at the last firmware upgrade. Although this only works with the 18-135 STM lens it’s actually produces a very nice slow focus pull, similar to how one does it manually. But having said that it does not seem to be as reliable as the new Dual Pixel AF.

The trick clearly is to use the focus lock option.

But really my dream incarnation of this new feature would be to have the ability to set the speed of the focus change, to be able to set where in the frame AF is calculated and to have a face recognition option built in. Could these feature be added in future upgrades? I’m not sure but they already exist in very closely related camera systems, the XF range of camcorders and the Eos 70D.

This video shows the flexibility of the AF on the 70D. ( a fraction of the price of either the C100 or C300 ) Some of these very sophisticated features features shown rely on a touch screen, something this generation of Cinema Eos Cameras does not have.

Canon EOS 70D - The Making - Handmade Short Film (HQ) - YouTube

[Dave Partington]

Mark, thanks for posting this. Uploading in 480p was disappointing, but it gives the idea. I'd love the touch screen feature as well, though I want a touch screen that doesn't get finger prints. Oh well.... I guess we can't have it all.

[Docea Marius]

:-) 500 USD only autofocus? Better i buy a Ninja Blade..in many tests I've seen, I do not follow a steady cam convins.E ok .. but otherwise I personally prefer manual focus

[Dave Partington]

Well, my upgraded C100 arrived back an hour ago and I've been playing with various EF lenses.

Wow, some of them are pretty noisy, too noisy to use with internal mics or even a shotgun, though the AF works pretty damn good!

[Edward Calabig]

Had a chance to try this with a 100mm 2.8 L IS. Worked great as long as you set the distance switches properly.

Unfortunately the lens' manual functions did not work properly so I had to return it!

[Wayne Avanson]

Dave
could you list which lenses are noisiest possibly? Im thinking of sending one of my C100s away for the upgrade and would like to know more about what you think.

Another thing that occurred to me was, when I use both my C100s on a shoot, and set them up the same with perhaps a 24-105 on one and a 24-70 on the other, I end up with images that are identical in terms of exposure and colour balance which is VERY helpful in the edit. Do you think adding the upgrade will mess this up?

I'd love to see it in action before I decide, and you're only a couple of hours away from me. If you're free for an hour sometime maybe I could impose on you for a look at yours in action? PM me if you're up for it.

Cheers

Wayne

[Dave Partington]

Originally Posted by Wayne Avanson

Dave
could you list which lenses are noisiest possibly? Im thinking of sending one of my C100s away for the upgrade and would like to know more about what you think.

Actually, I was thinking of doing a video for youtube with the various lenses and how they react, with on camera audio to capture the sound and maybe another camera looking at the focus scales on the lens.

It does seem like it focuses very quickly on a subject (which is good), but then if the camera is moving towards a subject, or perhaps the camera is stationary and the subject is moving towards the camera, it seems to zone focus rather than tracking them smoothly.

What I mean by that is maybe the subject is at 12 feet and all is good but then as the subject moves (i.e. walks) towards the camera it seems to hold that focus position until the subject is maybe 9 or 10 feet then it makes a big adjustment (with associated lens focus noise), like the subject is about to move out of this focus 'zone' and in to the next. Does that make sense? The subject stayed in focus, but there are jumps every so often which are most apparent in how the background (to the sides) appears is in focus rather than the subject itself. It's certainly not as smooth in tracking as my XF for instance.

[Wayne Avanson]

Well I sent mine off on Tuesday and it's done and on its way back. Should have it monday morning. Only doing the one camera for now. I think its too expensive to do them both and Probably wouldn't get much use out of it on both cams. Looking forward to having a play with it early next week.

[Matt Davis]

I 'took my C100 to the vet' on Monday, and it's back - so I did some tests with the 18-135mm STM lens.

BTW, Sigma 50mm 1.4 - works at all apertures, but is a DOG - seems to only do contrast detection, and even then it does it very inaccurately. It behaves just like it did on a 7D and 550D - frustratingly badly in AF. Save yourself a bar bill and snap off the 'AF/MF' button in MF mode. Canon 24-105 - a bit slow, but it does the business. Canon 70-200 L f4 - slow, but accurate. Noisy, especially with IS engaged!

But stuff all that - how does it work with the newer STM lenses? Short answer: good.

Canon C100 Dual Pixel Auto Focus - the chicken test on Vimeo

If you think this is a sort of 'cat video' but with birds, please note that I'm testing - and it doesn't always work. Feathers are good for checking focus accuracy, birds move around and have no 'face detection', and pay attention to what's in the middle of the frame *when* it comes to focus.

There is a latency of just under a second where the software is tuned to say 'okay, yes - you have looked at this for long enough for me to do a focus pull'. This is important.

So, I have been doing other tests (which I will share when I'm not supposed to be 'working') where I've used the One-Shot AF - hey, this button WORKS! Seriously, that's how it's going to work for me. WHen you have a clear shot of the subject 'in the sights' so to speak, dab the button'; Instant. Now you can re-frame for the 'negative space' or 'looking room'. One Shot AF was a bit of a waste before Dual Pixel AF, and now I think it's my favourite mode.

Disclaimer: 80-90% of the time, we use manual focus. There are times - shooting children, chickens, even consenting adults in unrehearsed and unrepeatable moments - when a good solid AF is really useful. The Canon upgrade isn't 'tap to focus' or 'zone focus' (which is really cool), but it does help me get one step further to replacing my EX1s for certain types of observational videography.

[Docea Marius]

if canon can enable us to move center focusing with joistik,I do this update on C100.It is difficult to keep a video frame and track and center focusing.there is a delay when you lock focus to a point after the start and focus?

Thanks Matt

[Matt Davis]

I think the one-shot AF mode may help here. But yes, the next logical step is for the AF area to move like the Magnification area. Hey Canon, we don't compose with the centre being the key area of interest - not the last few centuries at least! LOL