Canon announces development of 4K digital cinema cameras, lenses

Brett Sherman · April 14th, 2012, 11:36 AM

"Sexy" is saving me $7000 over the C300.

Jim Martin · April 14th, 2012, 12:09 PM

I think one should look at the 700 as a souped up FS100...still the avchd codec and it appears to not be a full 4K chip....but possibly a up rezzed chip to 4K.....can anyone find out? I'll stop by the Sony both to nail it down....either way, it is not the camera the C300 is and should not be compared with.

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

Brett Sherman · April 14th, 2012, 01:52 PM

Well if I'm wrong to compare the two, then I'll just be wrong. The C300 will undoubtedly have better image quality. But that is not the only point of comparison. Being someone who shoots, edits, produces, manages there is a whole lot more that goes into the evaluation. Does the improved image quality make my videos more effective? Which is easier to manage on a run and gun shoot? Is having a servo zoom important in some situations? How useful will the slow mo capabilities be? Can I justify the extra expense of the C300 to my bosses? What about file size and speed of going from shoot to finished product. Of course as a rental/sales person you may not think of all these factors, but equipment selection is not as simple as picking the camera with the best image.

Jim Martin · April 14th, 2012, 02:10 PM

I think and use all these factors you mentioned everyday....the keys that I put out there are what is repeated to me everyday by our clients, my friends in town that are working all the time, as well as my experiences on the set. When trying to decide which camera to buy, it's important to prioritize the important features, ones that you use every day, vs. the one you use once in a while (slo-mo is a good example). #1 for me is the picture taker (chip) and the codec.

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

BTW, everyone on our sales staff has been, and still are working in the camera side of things here in town. The owner is a past president of the SOC & a top aerial DP for many years...and one my fellow workers is a 25+ year local 600 camera operator/DP and teaches cinematography at USC among others...

Brett Sherman · April 14th, 2012, 04:00 PM

I have no doubt you and your staff are quite familiar with these questions and balancing your customers needs. However, I think you are also primarily in the Hollywood world also, which is only a small portion of those producing video. When you look at things from an institutional video world the balance of priorities is different. I may love the picture of the C300, but does it really (I mean in a broad aesthetic sense) improve my video. For example when I hire crews - I'd rather hire a good shooter with an EX1 for $1000 than a good shooter with a PMW-350 for $1600. I just don't need the extra bump in quality and don't want to spend my budget on it. I know in the end the videos will be equal in effectiveness - as the shooter and editor (me in this case) are more important than the camera. This is not to say I have ruled out the C300, I haven't. But, it will be a stretch to get it and I'm not sure I want to fly around the country with a $16,000 camera.

I can understand why you love Canon and the C300. You are the customer base they've focused all their energy on. There are other customer bases out there. I love my T2i and T3i and my $3000 worth of Canon lenses. They just aren't reliable enough, so I'm looking for a large sensor camera this year. I'd love to buy Canon. I'm just not sure I can with the offerings they currently have.

Jim Martin · April 14th, 2012, 06:16 PM

Good points.....and I'd add that of the many C300 we've delivered, the first 4 went straight to features of various budgets ($1 mil to $5 mil), about 10 went to small production companies (around the country), another 10 went to small ad agencys (around the country), another 10 or so went to small ad agencys that shoot there own ads, HBO's "LUCK" (since cancelled), "AX MEN", and a few other shows & features I can't name at this time.

Anyway, everything is good and I'm off to NAB!

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

Monday Isa · April 14th, 2012, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Martin

I think one should look at the 700 as a souped up FS100...still the avchd codec and it appears to not be a full 4K chip....but possibly a up rezzed chip to 4K.....
Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

What makes you say this Jim? I'm very curious how you came to this conclusion.

Nigel Barker · April 15th, 2012, 03:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brett Sherman

I don't mean to suggest the C300 is not a great camera. In fact I'll evaluate it alongside the FS700. However, on the feature list they are fairly equivalent in my view. Pros and Cons with each for my usage. Price is the one thing that will likely force me to the FS700 side.

I was contradicting your assertion that those who were in the market for a C300 would now buy a C500 instead. I obviously haven't handled an FS700 yet but on the basis that it's only a slightly beefed up FS100 then I think that I am safe in saying that the C300 is a much nicer camera to hold & use. The fact that it is simple to operate & self-contained delivering a broadcast HD CODEC with no extra boxes or wires is a a big plus. It's designed to use Canon EF lenses & doesn't need use an unreliable 3rd-party adaptor. If you have been using DSLRs for video the C300 just immediately feels 'right' in your hands.

Mark Kenfield · April 15th, 2012, 05:50 AM

I'm also a big fan of the C300's form factor and general ergonomics - I think the C500 is perhaps most interesting for that reason - in that it should offer a lightweight, intuitive form factor for capturing seriously high-quality images (assuming the external recorder it needs isn't a monster).

Lighter weight camera gear - and the flow on affect that has on support gear, really can make a meaningful difference to the speed and ease with which you can shoot - and anything that saves time on set is a good investment as far as I'm concerned.

Jim Martin · April 18th, 2012, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monday Isa

What makes you say this Jim? I'm very curious how you came to this conclusion.

I was talking about the 1st preliminary spec sheet I saw that only mentioned the 4K upgrade down the road....If it had a real 4K chip in it, I would expect Sony to tout it at the top of that spec sheet.

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

April 14th, 2012, 11:36 AM	#16
Brett Sherman Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mount Rainier, MD Posts: 428	Re: Canon announces development of 4K digital cinema cameras, lenses "Sexy" is saving me $7000 over the C300.

April 14th, 2012, 12:09 PM	#17
Jim Martin Major Player Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Burbank, CA 91502 Posts: 949	Re: Canon announces development of 4K digital cinema cameras, lenses I think one should look at the 700 as a souped up FS100...still the avchd codec and it appears to not be a full 4K chip....but possibly a up rezzed chip to 4K.....can anyone find out? I'll stop by the Sony both to nail it down....either way, it is not the camera the C300 is and should not be compared with. Jim Martin Filmtools.com

April 14th, 2012, 01:52 PM	#18
Brett Sherman Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mount Rainier, MD Posts: 428	Re: Canon announces development of 4K digital cinema cameras, lenses Well if I'm wrong to compare the two, then I'll just be wrong. The C300 will undoubtedly have better image quality. But that is not the only point of comparison. Being someone who shoots, edits, produces, manages there is a whole lot more that goes into the evaluation. Does the improved image quality make my videos more effective? Which is easier to manage on a run and gun shoot? Is having a servo zoom important in some situations? How useful will the slow mo capabilities be? Can I justify the extra expense of the C300 to my bosses? What about file size and speed of going from shoot to finished product. Of course as a rental/sales person you may not think of all these factors, but equipment selection is not as simple as picking the camera with the best image.

April 14th, 2012, 02:10 PM	#19
Jim Martin Major Player Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Burbank, CA 91502 Posts: 949	Re: Canon announces development of 4K digital cinema cameras, lenses I think and use all these factors you mentioned everyday....the keys that I put out there are what is repeated to me everyday by our clients, my friends in town that are working all the time, as well as my experiences on the set. When trying to decide which camera to buy, it's important to prioritize the important features, ones that you use every day, vs. the one you use once in a while (slo-mo is a good example). #1 for me is the picture taker (chip) and the codec. Jim Martin Filmtools.com BTW, everyone on our sales staff has been, and still are working in the camera side of things here in town. The owner is a past president of the SOC & a top aerial DP for many years...and one my fellow workers is a 25+ year local 600 camera operator/DP and teaches cinematography at USC among others...

April 14th, 2012, 04:00 PM	#20
Brett Sherman Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mount Rainier, MD Posts: 428	Re: Canon announces development of 4K digital cinema cameras, lenses I have no doubt you and your staff are quite familiar with these questions and balancing your customers needs. However, I think you are also primarily in the Hollywood world also, which is only a small portion of those producing video. When you look at things from an institutional video world the balance of priorities is different. I may love the picture of the C300, but does it really (I mean in a broad aesthetic sense) improve my video. For example when I hire crews - I'd rather hire a good shooter with an EX1 for $1000 than a good shooter with a PMW-350 for $1600. I just don't need the extra bump in quality and don't want to spend my budget on it. I know in the end the videos will be equal in effectiveness - as the shooter and editor (me in this case) are more important than the camera. This is not to say I have ruled out the C300, I haven't. But, it will be a stretch to get it and I'm not sure I want to fly around the country with a $16,000 camera. I can understand why you love Canon and the C300. You are the customer base they've focused all their energy on. There are other customer bases out there. I love my T2i and T3i and my $3000 worth of Canon lenses. They just aren't reliable enough, so I'm looking for a large sensor camera this year. I'd love to buy Canon. I'm just not sure I can with the offerings they currently have.

April 14th, 2012, 06:16 PM	#21
Jim Martin Major Player Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Burbank, CA 91502 Posts: 949	Re: Canon announces development of 4K digital cinema cameras, lenses Good points.....and I'd add that of the many C300 we've delivered, the first 4 went straight to features of various budgets ($1 mil to $5 mil), about 10 went to small production companies (around the country), another 10 went to small ad agencys (around the country), another 10 or so went to small ad agencys that shoot there own ads, HBO's "LUCK" (since cancelled), "AX MEN", and a few other shows & features I can't name at this time. Anyway, everything is good and I'm off to NAB! Jim Martin Filmtools.com

April 15th, 2012, 05:50 AM	#24
Mark Kenfield Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 470	Re: Canon announces development of 4K digital cinema cameras, lenses I'm also a big fan of the C300's form factor and general ergonomics - I think the C500 is perhaps most interesting for that reason - in that it should offer a lightweight, intuitive form factor for capturing seriously high-quality images (assuming the external recorder it needs isn't a monster). Lighter weight camera gear - and the flow on affect that has on support gear, really can make a meaningful difference to the speed and ease with which you can shoot - and anything that saves time on set is a good investment as far as I'm concerned.