nofilmschool » c500

Canon Announcements: C300 Push Autofocus, C500 ACES Support, & New 35mm Cinema Prime Lens

Dave Kendricken — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:02:41 +0000

The days when Canon made its prized quality lenses separately for either its bizarre HDV psuedo-progressive imaging camcorders (remember those?) or its high-res digital stills cameras are gone — having bled into the present day. Now, its lenses have a significant stake in the production of 4K digital cinema, and its Cinema CN-E EF-mount line of compact prime lenses will be fully rounded out by a just-announced 35mm prime, due out before the close of the year (that makes six lenses now: 14, 24, 35, 50, 85, 135). Furthering the same professional motion picture mission, Canon has also announced free firmware/software upgrades for automated functions such as Push Autofocus, as well as professional-grade ACES pipeline support for color management. Some updates apply to different cameras than others, so check below for more details. (more…)

Canon C100 and C500 ND Filter/Sensor Dust Prevention Improvement Now Available for the C300

Joe Marine — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 23:43:53 +0000

Internal ND filters are incredibly helpful on set, especially if you’re in a situation where you are trying to move quickly. We’ve seen that the particular filters inside the Canon C100/C300/C500 are actually very specific to the cameras themselves, and they do a good job of blocking out infrared light, which starts to appear more with standard ND filters as you block out visible light. It seems Canon has had some issues with keeping this area of the camera dust-free, so they’ve made some modifications. Check out the details below. (more…)

Shane Hurlbut Talks the Art & Technology of Cinematography, Shooting 'Need for Speed' on Canon C500

Robert Hardy — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 13:00:41 +0000

Shane Hurlbut should be no stranger to nofilmschool readers. He’s one of a few cinematographers working at the highest level of the industry who consistently takes the time to share his experiences and his cinematography expertise on his awesome blog. Whether he’s talking about how to create a soft and beautiful book light, or the fundamentals of telling a story through composition, Shane is always filling the interwebs with his vast cinematography knowledge. Recently, he sat down with Paul Antico of Anticipate Media for their weekly podcast. Needless to say, Shane and Paul’s conversation is absolutely fantastic, and the pair touch on many of the key topics relevant to cinematography in the modern age. (more…)

Canon C300 Price Drops to $14K, Plus Some New 7D Mark II DSLR Rumors

Joe Marine — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 04:39:52 +0000

A little over a week ago, there was a rumor that Canon would be introducing a brand new digital cinema camera between the C300 and the C100 at NAB 2013. At that time, the C300 was retailing for $16,000 and the C100 could be had for $6,500. In terms of the price difference, it was feasible for there to be a camera in-between (even if spec wise it doesn’t make much sense). Now, Canon has dropped the C300 price by $2,000 until April 30th for both EF and PL models, and it very well could be a permanent price drop. We’ve also got a rumor of a replacement 24 Megapixel camera for the aging Canon 7D. So what does that mean for the rest of their product lines? (more…)

Is Canon Introducing a New Cinema Camera Priced Between the C100 and C300 at NAB?

Joe Marine — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:59:08 +0000

While the internet seems to be looking for a specific camera from Canon that they haven’t quite delivered yet, their digital cinema cameras — specifically the C300 — fly off the shelves and are consistently the most rented (if you don’t believe me, ask anyone who runs a rental house). That, of course, won’t stop the company from releasing new models, and it seems we may see a brand new camera along with some new cinema lenses at the yearly NAB show in April. Click through for more details and analysis. (more…)

Choosing Neutral Density Filters with Infrared Protection: Necessary or Overboard?

Dave Kendricken — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 00:30:19 +0000

At this point, solid state image sensors have matched or exceeded film in a lot of ways, including light sensitivity, responsiveness to shadow detail, and overall dynamic range — but that doesn’t mean our chips aren’t susceptible to certain problems previously avoided by the nature of emulsion. Indeed, ‘sensitivity’ nowadays means something different altogether — and with the virtual necessity of neutral density filters as a result, this often means vulnerability to infrared pollution. Unless you like shooting at f/22 or you’re already using the Aaton Penelope Delta, you may also require an IR filter with your ND. AbelCine has recently shared a great rundown of which cameras suffer the most from IR pollution — and what filters work best to correct each. (more…)

Working with Canon C500 RAW and the Convergent Design Gemini 4:4:4

Joe Marine — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 22:07:06 +0000

With each new camera comes a slightly different workflow, and the situation is no different with the Canon C500. We already talked a bit about the interesting way in which Canon is producing a RAW image with that camera (aside from being completely uncompressed), but we didn’t get into what you’ll actually need to do in order to begin working with this footage. Click through to check out a great video from Andy Shipsides of AbelCine on importing footage that has been recorded with the Convergent Design Gemini 4:4:4. (more…)

Martin Scorsese Loves Canon, but Proves You Should Choose the Right Camera for the Job

Joe Marine — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 11:05:29 +0000

As digital cameras get better and better, it’s becoming less about specs and a lot more about what specific cameras can do for you in certain situations. For example, you may need a small camera for a particular shoot, and other times, that small camera might not be good enough or might not give you acceptable image fidelity if the project requires something more heavy-duty. Martin Scorsese, whose narrative feature films have been shot on celluloid his whole career up until Hugo, has been championing digital cameras in partnership with Canon. He also proves another point we’ve talked about before: not every camera is right for every situation — even those from Canon. (more…)

Canon C500 4K Short Film 'ALEX' Puts the Camera Through Its Paces

Joe Marine — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:37:20 +0000

Aside from the short film Man & Beast shot by Jeff Cronenweth, ASC, there hasn’t been much footage showing off what the already shipping Canon C500 is capable of. Since it has the same sensor and identical internal recording, footage shot right on the cards within the camera should be similar, if not identical to that of the Canon C300. What most people (including me) really want to see, however, is more footage that has been recorded externally using the superior RAW output of the C500. That’s exactly what DP Nino Leitner has done with a new short film, ALEX. Click through to check it out. (more…)

Canon C500 is Shipping, but Canon's RAW Implementation is Unlike Any You've Seen Before

Joe Marine — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 21:51:12 +0000

There has been a lot of talk about RAW lately. With Sony’s announcement of a RAW recorder for the F5/F55 cameras, and RED’s recent price drops (including a $4,000 RED ONE MX), it’s certainly on everyone’s minds. Canon, who has been making a name for themselves recently in digital cinema, has begun shipping the C500 (which is retailing for lower than was originally announced back in August, just like all of their digital cinema products). The C500 is practically the same camera as its sibling the C300, except for the ability to output full 10-bit 4K RAW up to 60fps. This all sounds great in theory, but Canon is doing something interesting in the name of quality that just might make you think twice about going through the extra expense just to use it. (more…)

Canon C500 4K Camera Gets Price and Release Date, New Cinema EOS Lenses Announced

Joe Marine — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 18:24:04 +0000

The lower-cost and somewhat less featured version of the C300, the C100, was not the only announcement from Canon today. We’ve also got a list price and release date for the new 4K shooting C500: $30,000 and October. While the actual price could be lower — much like the higher initial list prices of the C300 and C100 — this camera is more than likely going to be a rental for a lot of people. Canon also announced new EOS Cinema lenses, a 14mm T/3.1 and 135mm T/2.2, and (re)announced two cinema zoom lenses, a 15.5-47mm T2.8 and 30-105mm T2.8. (more…)

Want to Watch the Canon C500 Projected in 4K? Go Check This Out if You're in LA

E.M. Taboada — Sat, 05 May 2012 19:55:56 +0000

Curious about Canon’s EOS C500? Wondering what the footage actually looks like projected in 4K, and what the post-process workflow is like? If you’re in the L.A. area you should sign up for this free event being held by Canon — it’s a workshop geared around scratching just those kinds of questions. They’ll screen the C500-shot Man and Beast, previously shown alongside The Ticket at NAB, and have C500′s on-hand. Here are the details:
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NAB 2012: Final Recap - Was This Really the Year of 4K? (Blackmagic Proves Otherwise)

Joe Marine — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:43:54 +0000

I’m still trying to catch my breath from this year’s NAB show, but all this week I’ll be posting more videos and a few more thoughts on what I saw there. This had been dubbed the year of 4K by many, but I’m not so sure we can call it that. 4K is still a couple more years from becoming mainstream, but there’s no doubt that manufacturers are pushing their televisions and cameras into the world of 4K2K and QuadHD. Even though there were a few devices capable of shooting in that frame size announced at NAB, none of them are currently shipping (though the FS700 is the closest – even though it won’t technically be shipping as a 4K camera). It was a big year for announcements, but a few companies stood above the rest, while others missed the mark. (more…)

The Canon C300 (DeVito) Gets a Genetically Superior Twin, the 4K C500 (Schwarzenegger)

Ryan Koo — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:12:17 +0000

A $15,000 DSLR? Now we’ve seen it all. No, wait — we haven’t seen it all, as Canon is just getting started with their Cinema EOS line. And they’re also just getting started with 4K acquisition: their latest addition is to be the Canon C500 (pictured), which is essentially a 4K version of the C300. (more…)