Canon 1DC for serious 4k shooting

[Vishal Jadhav]

Being a canon user for long time have got lot of canon glass. Currently using 5d miii as my cam ,for 4k I use panasonic gh4 ,however I thought of upgrading to the canon 1DC simply since it's a system iam used to and it's specs suggest 4k at 8 bit and 4:2:2
Is it worth the investment ?

[Peer Landa]

Originally Posted by Vishal Jadhav

Is it worth the investment ?

Apart from its measly 8-bit video, I've always had my eye on this camera. But since it recently got a $4000 price drop, I think it's fairly safe to assume that Canon will soon release a new version or a replacement -- perhaps as early as NAB. Maybe the 1DX and 1DC will merge and get 10-bit 4K video..? (In any case, I will sit on the fence a bit longer to see what's in the pipe for a most likely exciting NAB 4K-feast ;-)

-- peer

[Kyle Root]

Yeah, if you don't NEED it right now, I'd wait and see what's coming. This camera is already "old" and with all the $1,000 4K cameras being released this year, I'm sure Canon will have something that's at a lower price point... to compete with the Sony FS7 kind of thing. Surely.... but maybe that's the new 4K C300. lol

[Noa Put]

What kind of production do you plan on doing that would require a 1DC? Is the 4K capability of the GH4 not serious enough?

[Vishal Jadhav]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

What kind of production do you plan on doing that would require a 1DC? Is the 4K capability of the GH4 not serious enough?

Noa,
I shoot majorly wildlife , since my glass is canon it would help me a bit fast focus with power focus function .

GH4 is nice and i am currently using it with a ND Throttle Adapter which allows me to control the light, however GH4 some how is a poor performer in low light, wildlife needs shooting in low light even at night with some external light , 1DC may be able to make this part very well.

secondly 1DC has 4K internally at 8 bit 4:2:2 rather than the 4K internal of GH4 which is at 4:2:0

Peer Landa,
I am just afraid of the motion Jpeg format of Canon, if they get a 10 bit on this camera i guess on a 32GB card they may only get 4 minutes :) currently i feel they can do 8 minutes Plus on a 32 GB card.

I am not in a hurry and none of the investments should be made in a hurry so will wait for the NAB to see what comes around.

best regards
vishal

[Noa Put]

I doubt if you will see the difference between 8 bit 4:2:0 and 8bit 4:2:2, unless maybe for green screen work? Also bear in mind that the gh4 actually has a benefit of doubling it's focal length compared to full frame camera's with it's 2,3 cropfactor which is I believe something that would benefit a lot when shooting wildlife.

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Vishal Jadhav

GH4 some how is a poor performer in low light, wildlife needs shooting in low light even at night with some external light , 1DC may be able to make this part very well.

Well, the first question would be what ISO do you expect to shoot at and what ISO are you routinely shooting at now?

[Vishal Jadhav]

Noa,

I know the 2.3 helps and i love it and do tend to use it , however now being in wildlife for so many years i manage to get lot near to the birds than before which results me in not using the 500 and trying to get it on the 100-400 . i love both these and there is no alternative to a zoom when you do videos. A super tele restricts you in more ways than one, even tough it does give amazing videos.

Hence i am not looking to desert the GH4 , i have the 5D MIII which is somehow not in the same range for video and thats what i am looking at replacing with the 1DC if that is possible, i know the price difference is big.

Gary,

Some of the places i shoot are deep under the canopy and yes there is shooting frogs and snakes in the night , these can be done on 5D with ISO upto 1600 or 3200, i have seen GH4 really cry at the 1000 mark with low light with all that mosquito noise.

i am hopeful of the c300 replacement soon but is canon really serious of 4k since they just dont look to be serious enough.

vishal

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Originally Posted by Vishal Jadhav

Noa,
I shoot majorly wildlife , since my glass is canon it would help me a bit fast focus with power focus function .

best regards
vishal

Don't expect AF while shooting video with the 1Dc

[Vishal Jadhav]

Originally Posted by Sabyasachi Patra

Don't expect AF while shooting video with the 1Dc

Sabyasachi,
I won't expect AF while shooting video but it will help me doing AF first to start the video. Later on its all manual , now got used to that

vishal

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Vishal Jadhav

Some of the places i shoot are deep under the canopy and yes there is shooting frogs and snakes in the night , these can be done on 5D with ISO upto 1600 or 3200, i have seen GH4 really cry at the 1000 mark with low light with all that mosquito noise.

What aperture do you use when you're shooting at 3200 ISO on the 5D?

I find that if the GH4 is properly exposed, higher ISOs, especially 1600, aren't that bad. Trick is to turn down the Noise Reduction to -5 so that denoising later works better. Gives you a finer noise pattern as opposed to the codec errors it introduces by doing a crap job at it.

But, again, the real trick when shooting high ISOs is to simply not underexpose as much as possible.

[Al Bergstein]

Gary, the 5d mkiii can go quite a bit higher with less noise. Or maybe the story is better noise? As to the 1D, if you have a job and need it, go for it, but yes, I guess that the price drop is to move the remaining inventory before they announce a new camera. There always is the alternative, which is that Canon has dropped this wonderful 4k right into the high end of the 4k pack of cameras without manufacturing a new camera. Buys them another year with it getting a return on their R&D.

I would put money on them announcing a C300 with 4k at NAB.

If you don't have to buy a camera today, hold off until you see what NAB brings.

[Vishal Jadhav]

Originally Posted by Gary Huff

What aperture do you use when you're shooting at 3200 ISO on the 5D?

I find that if the GH4 is properly exposed, higher ISOs, especially 1600, aren't that bad. Trick is to turn down the Noise Reduction to -5 so that denoising later works better. Gives you a finer noise pattern as opposed to the codec errors it introduces by doing a crap job at it.

But, again, the real trick when shooting high ISOs is to simply not underexpose as much as possible.

Gary,
Mostly i shoot f4 sometimes need 6.3 as i am too close to the subject and DOF is a major issue as the subjects sit right on my MFD boundary :)
that said i have not tried the -5 on NR , i will give it a try. i am pretty unhappy with the noise on this camera at 1000 ISO.

Al,

I guess i would hold the horses till NAB to see whats new ,

thanks for the advice.

vishal

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Al Bergstein

Gary, the 5d mkiii can go quite a bit higher with less noise. Or maybe the story is better noise?

Al, there was a point to asking about the ISO level. And it is as such:

Originally Posted by Vishal Jadhav

Mostly i shoot f4 sometimes need 6.3 as i am too close to the subject and DOF is a major issue as the subjects sit right on my MFD boundary :)

With micro four-thirds, you can open up more and have the same DOF characteristics due to m4/3's smaller sensor. So when you need 1600-3200 ISO for and aperture of f/4 through f/6.3, due to m4/3's less pronounced DOF, you can shoot at a lower ISO and open up the aperture. So instead of shooting at f/4 or 6.3, you can instead shoot at 1.4 and 2.4 respectively and maintain the same DOF as on your 5D, meaning your ISO will be lower to compensate.

Now, if you may not find a setting at 1600 ISO that looks good to you, and that's fine. I think 1600 looks fine, and I've even made 3200 look "okay". And this is coming from a C100 Mark II where I have to shoot 20,000 ISO for certain gigs (and boy am I glad I didn't pick the GH4 for that one!). But trying to equalize the ISO needs between full frame and m43 without taking the useable, faster apertures available on m43 into account is why I wanted to know where you were on the ISO dial on your 5D.