Anyone hearing anything about a C100 MKIII announcement yet?

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Dan Brockett

When I think back or even go through my garage shelves, I look at all of the cheap matte boxes, FFs, tripods, lighting and together, it adds up to significant money I wasted when I should have been buying good stuff.

I only bought one matte-box, for $22. It runs about three times that now. It's useless except for show (I recently used it a commercial shoot for a camera prop). I could never justify the matte-box when a set of NDs and Polarizers at 82mm and step-up rings would do the same job cheaper and easier.

I had one Follow Focus, the Redrock Micro FF Blue. I used it until I sold it because I didn't need a FF anymore with DPAF. If I was going to buy one today, no question it would be the Bright Tangerine Revolvr Atom.

Tripods I was very lucky on. I have used my primary tripod since 2008 (a mid-range Manfrotto).

The first lighting I ever bought was the Westcott uLite kit. Still works, use it on jobs that just need light for exposure. Then I had the F&V LED units. I was talking to a shooter who still works a lot today and uses those. They were good, but I ended up wanting more power to compete with windows in the Texas sun, so I went to Aputure Lightstorms. I have four of those, very happy with them.

I do a lot of research, and not only that, but imagine the use cases of the items I buy. I have definitely purchased things I didn't need, but I feel like I've kept that as to as much of a minimum as could be reasonably done in one's life.

I've had a full C300 MKII package sitting in a shopping cart numerous times but the overall cost keeps causing me to not pull the trigger.

I just didn't think about the cost. I did a Canon lease because I needed something that would give me an amazing image quickly and easily and had the advanced DPAF features that would allow me to do shots on my own that would normally require a crew. I have done a walk to camera while zooming out shot that the C300 Mark II focused for me perfectly. I have done Ronin and jib shots where the camera went from close to infinity focus. I have done parallax shots with one operator where the camera maintained the focus as it moved back and forth on the Dana Dolly. All of these would have been otherwise difficult to impossible to pull off without more of a monetary investment from the client or pulling in a bunch a favors over and over again.

There are definitely better spec'd cameras for the money, but the C300 Mark II gets me shots I couldn't get with those, and so it's been worth every penny.

[Dan Brockett]

Originally Posted by Gary Huff

Seems less expensive to go to the C300 Mark II than to keep switching camera systems.

Ha, ha Gary, I think I am showing my age. I made most of my buying mistakes pre-Internet era or when the Internet was around but little of the gear we obsess about was pored over and posted about in the detail about like it is now. Back then, I would buy out of the B&H Catalog, call them and give them a credit card number. It's easier to avoid the mistakes today if you do your research, with the Internet, watch YouTube Reviews and sometimes get some hands on at a trade show or open house. Back then, it was, "Wow, it looks good in that catalog picture, I'll order it!" Just getting good input from other people in our business was more challenging too back then with no social media and perhaps just an occasional phone call to discuss.

Wow, four Lightstorms, nice I have two and really like them, they are a lot of light for the money, the wireless remote comes in handy and the good CRI makes them easy to color correct.

I am totally sold on the C300 MKII, I rent it every month or so when my clients want 4k delivery. But when i put it in my cart with enough batteries, CFast cards, Zacuto Recoil V2 rig, new tripod, new camera case, etc. It always comes up to about $20k to $25k for everything needed to make it all work. I have kind of sworn off of buying expensive cameras after owning a Betacam, DSR-500, BVW-D600WS, back in the day. Once budgets took a dive, I vowed to only rent cameras above about $10k and own the cameras below. The C300 MKII is getting close and if they drop it to $10k, I would probably go for it.

I'm all about the business equation. If I can book a project that will have a few weeks of day rate for one, I will buy it. The project I just booked was looking like a 4K two week doc shoot in South America. But after going through media needs with the producer who wants to shoot 4-5 hours a day for two weeks, we wisely decided to shoot it on 1080 using my C100 and Ninja Blade instead. The media management for shooting that much at 410 Mbps would not have worked without a full time data wrangler and renting a BIG pile of CFast card. We are there as tourists, not as a big crew, so we need to be low key. We need to shoot massive amounts of footage in many tight and cramped locations like interviews in a helicopter, taxis, limo as well as gimbal shooting on the streets. So smaller and lighter is better for this project. This would have paid for about a third of the camera package in rentals but then I would be scrambling to try to pay off the other 2/3 of the cost before Canon possibly comes out with something supposedly almost as good for significantly less money in the Fall. That's why I am on the edge of buying, just hanging out and waiting for the right opportunity. When the work will pay for most of it in one shot, that's the time for me to buy it, that's how I paid for my last three cameras, one project paid for the whole thing, it's then a pretty low risk and you get into profit on your next project rentals with it to your client.

This year has been weird, I have been very busy but not shooting a ton, just a few here and there. Producing more 3D animation at the moment, show development, than shooting other than this two week doc shoot but the doc will have some shooting here in the US as well but I don't know how many days yet.

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Dan Brockett

I made most of my buying mistakes pre-Internet era or when the Internet was around but little of the gear we obsess about was pored over and posted about in the detail about like it is now.

I cannot even imagine a world like that. I got into shooting in 1999, and by the time the DVX100 came out, I was well aware of it from what the Internet was like then.

Just getting good input from other people in our business was more challenging too back then with no social media and perhaps just an occasional phone call to discuss.

No anyone around the world is just a quick FB message or Tweet away. It's crazy even to me, and I got the Internet at 16.

Wow, four Lightstorms, nice I have two and really like them, they are a lot of light for the money, the wireless remote comes in handy and the good CRI makes them easy to color correct.

I don't find I have to correct for them. I am getting excellent results setting my C300m2 to the daylight preset with them.

I am totally sold on the C300 MKII, I rent it every month or so when my clients want 4k delivery. But when i put it in my cart with enough batteries, CFast cards, Zacuto Recoil V2 rig, new tripod, new camera case, etc.

My setup is 1 A60, 3 A30, 4x 128GB Sandisk CFast cards. My tripod is now a 540 Manfrotto head with the standard legs and the mid-level spreader. That works just fine. My "camera case" is a Pelican 1560. I have a smaller case that is the Tenba Roadie II. I could get by with just the Pelican, easily. It has been my camera case since the C100 Mark I, back in late 2012. I think the Recoil is a waste, better to use that money for an Easy Rig MiniMax if you need handheld support as the camera is built more for that than shoulder and the goal should be to keep it light and get the weight off

Once budgets took a dive, I vowed to only rent cameras above about $10k and own the cameras below.

I am hoping the C300 Mark II is the last camera like this that I actually own.

But after going through media needs with the producer who wants to shoot 4-5 hours a day for two weeks, we wisely decided to shoot it on 1080 using my C100 and Ninja Blade instead. The media management for shooting that much at 410 Mbps would not have worked without a full time data wrangler and renting a BIG pile of CFast card.

In this instance, I would think that a C300 Mark II makes more sense. First, with the C100 and Ninja Blade you have two sets of media and two sets of batteries to wrangle. That's more space. You don't have to shoot 410Mbps on the C300 Mark II. You can shoot 1080 at 160Mbps and 50Mbps, both of them are 10-bit 4:2:2. The difference is that the 160Mbps is Intra and thus easier on your system to decode, while the 50Mbps is LongGOP. For documentary work, I bet you could hardly tell a whole lot of a difference, plus Rec.709 on the C300 Mark II is WideDR and looks better than WideDR on the C100.

We are there as tourists, not as a big crew, so we need to be low key.

Way more noticible with the C100 + Blade with the batteries and cables hanging off than the single 3.2lbs C300 Mark II with no handle on it using the EVF. People still think it's a stills camera. I did a shoot in Mexico like that, but for that one I used the Sony A7R Mark II because that looks even smaller.

I would be scrambling to try to pay off the other 2/3 of the cost before Canon possibly comes out with something supposedly almost as good for significantly less money in the Fall.

Now you're chasing gear and that's always a losing proposition. Canon may or may not announce a C100 successor next month, but definitely not a C300 Mark II successor. That's the C700, already been announced. Not really interested, because I give up size for little spec gain that isn't a big deal to me.

[Nick Fotis]

Was eyeing the C100 mk2 myself, but the lack of AF support for all my EF lenses reduce my enthusiasm.

Probably a mk3 will have full AF support for my L glass, and maybe 4K recording, but I suspect thay it cost will be hard to justify for the few projects I am doing these days.

N.F.

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Nick Fotis

Was eyeing the C100 mk2 myself, but the lack of AF support for all my EF lenses reduce my enthusiasm.

It's only Face Detect that doesn't work. DPAF itself with the centered targeting reticule works with all EF lenses.

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Dan Brockett

We are due for the C100 MKIII... by the calendar and previous releases, it would be logical for them to intro at NAB 2017.

Just wanted to point out that the press release date for the original C100 was 29 August 2012:

Canon USA Adds EOS C500 And C100 to Cinema EOS System at DV Info Net


And the press release date for the C100 Mark II was 21 October 2014:

Canon USA Announces Second-Generation EOS C100 Mark II at DV Info Net


In my experience, plotting a new release from Canon based on the dates for previous models is a guessing game that sometimes works... and sometimes doesn't.

[Nick Fotis]

Originally Posted by Gary Huff

It's only Face Detect that doesn't work. DPAF itself with the centered targeting reticule works with all EF lenses.

Continuous AF does work?
I mean, tracking an object as it moves back and forth.
Or should I press each time the AF button?

N.F.

[Gary Huff]

There is no object tracking on the C-series. Only Face Detect and center-frame targeted DPAF on the C100 Mark II (the C300 Mark II has a moveable DPAF targeting bracket). The C100 Mark II will DPAF on anything within the center targeting brackets with EF lenses, while Face Detect is limited to very specific STM lenses.

[Nick Fotis]

Thanks, so the camera isn't what (I think) I need.
The XF series form factor is ok, but their sensor is way too small, the XC are not suitable for long form events (these Cfast cards are no fun, and the ergonomics are wrong).

Maybe the combination of an 1-inch sensor with a fast zoom lens in the XF form factor is what I want (Sony NX100 comes to my mind). C100 was interesting because I have alot of L glass.

N.F.

[Dan Brockett]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Just wanted to point out that the press release date for the original C100 was 29 August 2012:

Canon USA Adds EOS C500 And C100 to Cinema EOS System at DV Info Net


And the press release date for the C100 Mark II was 21 October 2014:

Canon USA Announces Second-Generation EOS C100 Mark II at DV Info Net


In my experience, plotting a new release from Canon based on the dates for previous models is a guessing game that sometimes works... and sometimes doesn't.

From what the rumor sights are saying and some unofficial chatter I have heard, it's not happening at NAB anyway. Heck, Chris you are probably under NDA with Canon and know but can't say ;-) Totally get it, I've been under NDA with various companies. Let's just say at some point, possibly this year, Canon might come out with a new pro camera, could be a C100 MKIII and could be something totally new and different that is not.

[Walt Wallace]

Even if they annouce a mk 3 for the c100 and it has 4k the color space is going to be 4.2.0.

[Chris Hurd]

Sorry guys, I think this is going to be it for NAB this year:

Canon announces new 70-200mm Compact Servo zoom lens at DV Info Net

and

Canon USA announces Canon Log upgrade for EOS 5D Mark IV at DV Info Net

[Dan Brockett]

Cool lens but that's a pretty boring NAB for Canon. Too bad, they really need a sub $10k 4k camera.

[Chris Hurd]

Here's the full rundown on the CUSA booth at NAB this year:

Canon U.S.A. Hosts Live Production Environments, Hands-On Demos, Education and Workflow Presentations at NAB 2017 -- at DV Info Net

We'll be there to cover the C700, the new CN-E 70-200, C-Log into 5D4, the new EF-S 35mm STM IS Macro and more.

[Steve Burkett]

I suppose it is only a matter of time before a Mark III C100 is released. Just not sure why Canon are holding back on it.