C100 Mark II -- Mostly About Waveform

[Michael Thames]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

That should change soon when they bring out the MII of the c300, probably the reason why they upgraded the c100 first is because they sell a boatload of these.

It begs the question why anyone in their right mind would buy a C300 over a C100 mk II/Blade, for twice as much. Everyone is expecting 4K in the new C300, I doubt it. That would mean they would basically have to discontinue the C500...... perhaps not a bad idea? Who knows what Canon is thinking.

Everyone is biting their nails in anticipation of the new C300, it pretty much has to be revolutionary at this point.

[Michael Thames]

An after thought: The DSLR world has been thriving in the last few years. Do you guys think that the market is now shifting towards cameras like the Canon C100 and C300, the Sony FS7's, or is the DSLR thing pretty much over?

Personally, I and probably everyone here else has a good DSLR or two or three. After using DSLR's are you into collecting more of them, or does the thought cross your mind to move up to a more functional video camera.

[Richard D. George]

With these, I feel I can "cover the entire waterfront" for both stills and video:

Sony RX100 iii
Sony RX10
Sony A7s (with E and FE mount lenses)
Sony ____ (FE mount full frame camera, name yet to be revealed. Pro mirrorless. 2015 release)
Sony X70 camcorder

Sony FS7 (which I should be able to rent for around $420 for 5 days, once the units start shipping, and I will be able to use all my E and FE mount lenses on it)

All at SUBSTANTIALLY less weight and bulk as the Canon gear I am trading in, except for the FS7.
All with very-good-to-great codecs.

[Michael Thames]

Well forgive me but that seems like an awful lot of gear to haul around when one C100 mk II/Blade would basically cover everything.

[Richard D. George]

Michael:

You have missed a few key points:

1) I shoot stills more than video, and need that capability (usually) simultaneously.

2) At any given time (project), there would only be a PORTION of the gear listed in use. It will depend on the project.

3) For any given time (project), my new gear at that time (project) will weigh less and be less bulky than my existing Canon gear would have been, save when I might be renting an FS7.

You seem intent on convincing me that I am headed off in the wrong direction. I will be fine.

Good luck on your projects. I have always liked Santa Fe.

[Michael Thames]

Richard, you were helpful in my decision to get the C100 instead of the GH4...... I'm just testing you to make sure yer making the right decision, I shall cease from any further discussion knowing you are making the right choice.

If you find yourself in Santa Fe sometime stop by and say hello.

[Noa Put]

I'm just testing you to make sure yer making the right decision

You are taking that brand loyalty thing much too seriously, all these camera's are just tools, it doesn't matter if you go the sony, canon, panasonic or whatever brand route, you just choose the tools that work best for your kind of production and budget.

That's a nice list of new gear Richard, I have the rx10 and consumerversion of the x70, the ax100. My favourite camera by far is the rx10, I still don't like it's too slow zoom and the fact that we Europeans still get to deal with the 30 minute recording limit but it's the best camera I have used that bridges the gap between dslr and a videocamera in terms of functionality and image quality.

[Michael Thames]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

You are taking that brand loyalty thing much too seriously, all these camera's are just tools, it doesn't matter if you go the sony, canon, panasonic or whatever brand route, you just choose the tools that work best for your kind of production and budget.

Noa, tell me something I don't already know! Brand loyalty has more to to with familiarity than anything else. For instance I would never change from Apple to a PC for obvious reasons. However, I do want a Pany XL100 someday.

When you are invested in the amount of gear Richard has it is a big deal, as Richard himself alluded to.

I have no idea what kind of video Richard does...... hobby, professional, flowers going in and out of focus, weddings, action thrillers etc.

My point was it seems like a hell of a lot of gear to trade off for the convenience of one camera that basically does everything at your finger tips, all for a codec that no one will notice a difference in except pixel peepers. At the same time pixel peeping is the name of the game here, what else is there to talk about.

I just can't think of a real video camera that offers as much as the C100 mk II, for $5500.00.......call that brand loyalty if you like, I call it the facts!

[Noa Put]

I"m actually also curious what type of productions Richard does and because he talks about renting a fs7 I"m sure he's not the average homevideo shooter, there is always a a lot of talk about gear but it's always much nicer to see what people actually do with it.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Michael Thames

I call it the facts!

Of course it's a fact because it works for you, but it doesn't work for Richard so for him it's a fact that his camera choices work better for him.

[Richard D. George]

Happy Thanksgiving

Michael - For the last time.... I will be fine.

Noa - For video it is all voluntary work (except for personal travel and outdoor adventure videos). I have been fortunate in life, and wish to give back. I started out just recording events (church, schools, charitable organzations) with one camcorder. That grew to multi-cam shoots, where I would rent additional XF100's and XA20's with other volunteers helping. At first, I hired out the editing, but I have been working with FCP-X to be able to do all the editing myself. I now have a "Darth Vader flower pot" (Late 2013 Mac Pro) with external Thunderbolt2 RAID array drive enclosures. The volunteer video projects are now starting to include planned and prepared shorts, typically less than 5 minutes each, to be shown during church services or during organization meetings to either summarize something, or to make people aware of something important, or to move people to do something. Telling a story, as they say. This is in addition to just recording events.

For stills, I do volunteer shooting (again, for church, schools, youth sports, charitable organizations) and I donate all of the prints and flash drives. I also do "fine art" shooting, often landscapes. Finally, I do personal shooting and video, often including travel and outdoor adventure. Heli-hiking in Canada this past summer, as one example.

The Sony RX10 is a "sleeper" and now has an updated 50 Mbps XAVC codec. The Sony RX 100 iii is a "sleeper" for video. The early reports on the X70 camcorder are positive, and the Sony A7s is stunning now (for HD). I will skip buying a Ninja now, because I don't need it, and save up to buy a Shogun instead. I believe my new gear lineup will adapt to the future quite well.

[Michael Thames]

Originally Posted by Richard D. George

Happy Thanksgiving

Michael - For the last time.... I will be fine.

Happy thanksgiving to you as well. Yes, I wasn't trying to talk to out of it, just explaining to Noa my reasoning for the discussion.

[Michael Thames]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

Ofcourse it's a fact because it works for you, but it doesn't work for Richard so for him it's a fact that his camera choices work better for him. It only looks like you are the only person that keeps finding that hard to believe :)

Well, you are talking DSLR's that shoot some video I'm talking actual video cameras. I do think I'm safe saying for the money the C100 mk II is the best of it's kind on the market right now. What's close the FS-100?

I respect Richard's needs and choices. It's just that during the last few weeks Richard was one of the biggest proponents of the C100 mk II. Now he's not, I'm just trying to wrap my head around it..... I'm fine with it.

In some ways when people talk about getting new cameras here, I tend to live out the drama personally though them.... a voyeur of sorts, a glimpse into their reasoning..... in the end, I learn form it as if I bought it myself.

Really who doesn't enjoy hearing about someone's new camera purchases?

[Gary Huff]

This is the C100 with some improvements. As C100 owners/operators, there is plenty to discuss, especially the topic of whether or not these improvements are worth of upgrading to (they are).

Frankly, I think the C100 Mark II makes this camera nearly perfect as a 1080p cam. You get slo-mo, a truly articulating LCD screen AND EVF, better internal recording options, Vectorscope and so on. The only concern is whether you want 4K or the 1080p derived from 4K look without having to spend time downconverting all the footage manually.

[Troy Moss]

Gary, you're right on target! If anyone is a C100 owner, the C100 MK II is a no brainer (it just makes sense). They'll be plenty of opportunities for multiple 4K cameras in the near future. I recently sold my C100 and plan to upgrade to the MK II next month! Simple work flows with this camera and none of my clients have complained about any of the images coming from the C100.

To everyone, enjoy the holidays with your families and keep shooting with WHATEVER camera works for you!