Hello, I’m Jonah with Magnanimous Media,
and this is the Canon C100. The C100 has the same
single-CMOS Super-35mm sensor used in the C300 and 500,
and delivers an HD image with 12 stops of dynamic range.
Unlike its big brothers, the C100 utilizes the AVCHD codec,
which uses a variable bit rate to maximize shooting time
while maintaining a high-quality image. The C100 utilizes the bear pattern,
but does not use traditional D-bearing. There are 2 green,
1 red, and 1 blue photo site per pixel. The result of this
is a crisper image and less noise at a high ISO.
The C100 is an excellent documentary or event camera. It can also be used for indie film,
music video, or anything web-based.
If you’re a DSLR shooter, you’re going to easily and quickly move into the advantages
of the C100. While AVCHD maxes out at 24 megabits/second,
it still holds on to quite a bit of detail, and you can still do a fairly decent grade.
Although, with 420 color space, secondaries and green screen
are not going to be quite as sweet as with the C300. The C100 can be
considered a better documentary camera than the C300 for three reasons:
First, you get the same low-light performance as the C300 or 500,
but you also get built-in noise reduction. Now, because AVCHD is highly compressed,
doing your noise reduction before actually baking into the codec
would be more effective than doing it in post after it’s already compressed.
Second, the layout is more intuitive. It puts more buttons at your fingertips where it should be,
so making changes on the fly is more effective. Third, AVCHD allows for
shooting times of nearly 12 hours with two 64 GB cards.
That means you can shoot longer with more inexpensive media. However, if you
plan on shooting high-speed, you probably want to go with the C300, as the
C100 shoots at 24,
30p, and 60i. If you’re looking for a broadcast solution, you can take
advantage of the C100’s
8-bit 422 output, and use a recorder such as the Atomos Ninja.
And that’ll give you a high-quality, broadcast-ready image.
The C100 has all the gamma settings of the C300,
but also includes the new wideDR gamma, which is slightly similar to C-Log, but has
slightly higher contrast and saturation,
while maintaining maximum dynamic range.
Normal 1 is typical contrast and saturation for a TV monitor.
Normal 2 is similar, but highlights will clip faster.
Normal 3 expands the tones in the shadows.
Normal 4 is similar to 3,
but retains more details in the shadows.
Cine 1 is meant to simulate film, with a crisp and vivid image.
Cine 2 is similar,
but with less contrast.
The sweet spot for the C100 is 850 ISO,
and what that means is that your neutral tone, your gamma, sits right in the middle
of your 12 stops of dynamic range.
3200 ISO is generally held as the highest acceptable ISO with the C cameras.
However, the C100 has built-in noise reduction, so you might be able to
go higher, depending on what your composition is.
Now, as you go up past 3200 ISO, your gamma is going to stay relatively unchanged.
However, as you go down,
past 850, you are going to lose room in your highlights
and gain room in your shadows. Most non-linear editors are either equipped to ingest AVDHC
or edit it natively, but you want to check out Canon’s C100 page
for new utilities or downloads. In order to utilize audio inputs and controls,
you’ll need to attach the proprietary grip.
The hand grip attaches by inserting it into the shoe mount and threading in the 1/4 inch bolt,
then attaching the EX1 connector to the camera to utilize the audio inputs.
The grip is adjustable and removable, but quite necessary to navigate the menu and change settings.
The battery provides up to 4 hours of shooting time, depending on power demands.
The camera is powered up via the switch on the left side, and you can select media
or camera mode. Selecting the lock mode will lock out any setting changes, but allow you to record.
Press the menu button on the rear of the camera to access the primary menu.
You toggle the menu options with the joystick on the hand grip;
make selections by pressing the joystick.
The C100 utilizes up to 2 SDXC
or SDHC cards at a time, providing nearly 6 hours of full-quality recording
per 64 GB card. To format the card, go to the
“other” category in the main menu, and select “initialize media.”
The C100 has an HDMI output, which outputs an 8-bit 422 uncompressed signal.
This means that it can make use of uncompressed recorders, such as the Atomos Ninja.
The 3-pin XLR inputs are found in the right side of the hand grip,
and the controls on the left. To adjust audio settings, go to audio setup
in the main menu. The C100 is only available in EF mount
and works seamlessly with Canon L-series lenses as well as Canon Cine lenses
and EF-mount Zeiss glass, to name a few.
Some C300s experienced failure when removing the lens while the camera
was still powered on.
To eliminate this risk, you should power down the camera before swapping glass.
Settings such as ISO, shutter speed,
white balance, and aperture are displayed in the lower-left corner of the monitor and viewfinder.
If you are using EF lenses with electronic aperture control,
you can adjust the aperture using the control dial on the hand grip.
Accessing settings like white balance, shutter speed, and ISO
is done by pressing the appropriate button, then using the joystick to toggle the setting.
White balance can be set to a number of presets and auto-selected,
or dialed in by making use of the white balance button.
ISO or gain selection and increments, iris increments and zoom compensation,
and shutter mode and increment can be adjusted in the main menu
under camera setup. Image control, exposure assist,
and focus assist can be activated and deactivated from the left side of the camera body.
The C100 has magnification, peaking, zebra,
waveform, and vectorscope. Settings for zebra and peaking can be found in the main menu
under LCD viewfinder setup. Viewing options for the waveform monitor
can be found under the “other functions” submenu. The numbered buttons on the camera body
can be customized in the menu under “other functions” and “assign button”
Neutral density filters can be toggled via the ND
wheel, located on the front left side of the camera. The C100 provides up
to 6 stops of ND
in 2-stop increments. Pressing the status button and using the joystick to toggle through the display
allows you to view all current settings. Exit this view by pressing status again.
The start/stop, or record button,
is located on the front-right of the camera body, as well as the grip unit.
You can access and set custom picture settings via the button on the left side of the camera body.
Picture presets like Wide DR and Cinema are mostly locked,
but those gammas can be utilized in other profiles. Within custom picture,
you’ll find the noise reduction option. Increasing the amount of noise reduction
generally has the effect of softening the image. Settings such as data rate,
resolution, and time base are found in the “other functions” category
on the main menu. True 24p, pre-record, and interval record
are also set and activated in this menu. Be sure that you set the desired time base
under frame rate before activating any of the special record functions.
So that’s the C100: certainly an excellent camera with many uses,
and it can definitely take your production to the next level without
killing your post-production budget.
For more news and tutorials, check us out at magnanimous.biz.