Next year: uncompressed HDMI output on Canon 5D Mk. III

[Chris Hurd]

Uncompressed HDMI output for the Canon 5D Mk. III is coming... but not until NAB2013.

Full details at Uncompressed HDMI Output: New Firmware for Canon EOS 5D Mk. III at DVInfo.net

[Dom Stevenson]

With the C100 around the corner it's hard to see what this camera offers video folks. I have a 5dmkii and am looking forwards to getting a camera with all the benefits of a "proper" video camera, and a DSLR.

Having said that, if you're doing a lot of stills too this will be a welcome upgrade.

[Chris Barcellos]

5DII too Canon ???? Would love to get it feeding my Shuttle II.

[Nigel Barker]

Uncompressed HDMI Output Support without overlays will be really nice but we will have to wait at least another six months for it to arrive. The 5D3 has only been on sale about six months & the Magic Lantern folks have already delivered really significant improvements (zebras, punch-in focus while recording additional on-screen info e.g. how much free space left for recording etc etc) for the 5D3 by reverse engineering the firmware so it's a mystery why the Canon engineers with access to the source code need another six months to deliver just these two new features.

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Dom Stevenson

With the C100 around the corner it's hard to see what this camera offers video folks. I have a 5dmkii and am looking forwards to getting a camera with all the benefits of a "proper" video camera, and a DSLR.

The 5D3 already has a lot of advantages over the 5D2. The C100 will be 80% more expensive than a 5D3.

[Jim Martin]

Yea but when you buy all the stuff to make the 5D3 function as a video camera, you're either at or above the price of a C100......

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

[James Huenergardt]

But, a lot of us already have all that other gear shooting with the 5D II, so upgrading to a 5D III is a lot less $$ than the C100. I'm already used to/using that workflow.

Secondly, a lot of us want a full frame 35mm sensor which the C100 doesn't have.

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Jim Martin

Yea but when you buy all the stuff to make the 5D3 function as a video camera, you're either at or above the price of a C100......

There is no stuff needed to make the 5D3 function as a video camera beyond maybe a loupe & from reports of the C100 we will still be needing the loupe for that as the EVF is so awful.

[Jim Giberti]

Precisely our consideration Nigel. We (most production teams) have all the rigging we need to set up any camera. The whole point of the C line, as we understood it, was to give us the full package in each camera. Yet another C camera that got us excited only to find it was missing essentials.

Is this type of stuff a deal killer? For us it is.
We'd be buying this and the C300 if they actually delivered what their competition is, along with the great new sensor. Even without 60p, if the C100 at least had the C300 EVF and the codec they've put in their $3000 cameras for a while, I'd love to get a pair. And we'd cover multiple frame rates with the FS700. But this is all disappointing to us.

I write this only because I'd like Canon to know that some of their very loyal professional partners are disappointed in a few unnecessary, cheesy compromises they made to this otherwise great line.

I don't like feeling like I'm being nickeled and dimed on cameras I'm going to spend $7k on in 2012. Put the MXF codec in it and put a professional EVF on it and I'll gladly pay you more. I don't think Canon quite understands a big part of their market.

[Philip Lipetz]

I know they don't understand the market for the C100. I talked to their marketing manager and he was shocked that I was not a DSLR shooter. he could not conceive that I was a cross grader and that the C100 was not the best camera I used, They see this only a a small step up from the 5D, not as a pro platform.

[Jim Giberti]

Right. And just like the 5DII was used at virtually every level of production from commercials to feature film work, so much talk around the forums is around using the C100 with it's HDMI out for professional work.

They're trying to be too cute with their segmenting, stingy with their codecs, all while jumping into a new tier of pricing.

If it's got the C500 sensor then the only reason it's not seen by them as a professional tool is because they've decided to position it as such by restricting features that they already include in less expensive cameras they've sold for a while.

Very transparently manipulative, at least to me as a long time user.

[Lee Mullen]

Looking forward to seeing 5D3 and C100 comparison tests.

[Tim Polster]

I can give you a preview... "The 5DMKIII is noticeably softer than the C100".

It is great that this feature will be added to the 5DMKIII but what Canon needs to do is wave the magic wand and increase the real resolution of the video image. 4:2:2 of under resolved video is still under resolved video.

The competition is surpassing Canon in this segment and that is a direct result of trying to protect the their line of cine cameras. (No problems, that is their choice as a company and they do not owe anybody anything). A five month lead time for a firmware update is a little telling of their current situation imho. They created this segment and are now watching it slip away.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Friends,

For those that choose the Canon 5D Mark III and install the new firmware in April 2013, we have our nanoFlashes ready to record the full uncompressed HDMI video stream at many bit-rates from 18 Mbps to 280 Mbps, in either Long-GOP or I-Frame Only, in either Quicktime (".MOV") or MXF.

The Canon 5D Mark III uses an HDMI Mini (Type C).

We now have HDMI Mini cables, for connecting a camera with Type C to the Type C input on the nanoFlash, in 9", 12" 18" and 24" and these fit very tightly.

[Jim Giberti]

Originally Posted by Tim Polster

A five month lead time for a firmware update is a little telling of their current situation imho. They created this segment and are now watching it slip away.

Exactly, they're about to lose one small company's 20 year loyalty and $ to Sony and a few Metabones adapters.