Have Canon bitten off more than they can chew with this camera ?
For all the hype over the last two years with the DSLR being used on various programs from corporate to broadcast it’s become very apparent as I predicted a year ago that the video DSLR would take a nosedive in favour of the large sensor video cameras being produced by Sony, Canon, Panasonic, JVC and BlackMagic.
This was very apparent last month when I was able to glance in a glass cabinet in my local Calumet to see a Canon 5D Mk111 for sale, not something I was expecting to see with the recent introduction of this camera.
With seven cameras to choose from sporting 2k to 4K the video manufacturers have not let us down…why are we still getting hybrid photographic/video cameras such as the Nikon D4, D800 and Canon 5DMk111.
Simple…Dual purpose = more money… professional photographers are seeing this explosion of the dual purpose camera and as they are upgrading to a D4 or D800 they are expanding their opportunities delivering TWO for the price of one and a half.
Let me explain, professional photographers are snapping up various corporate jobs like photographing a new complex being built from start to finnish, why not offer the client HD footage for a little bit extra giving the photographer two bites of the cherry after all the camera is capable of both so why involve the expense of a video company if you can do it yourself.
The same principal is now seen regularly on newspaper web sites they have the ticket to get into a press conference why not get an interview while your getting the snaps at the same time, makes complete sense for web content and keeps costs to a minimum.
So to conclude the market has now changed from everyone being able to afford a hybrid DSLR to almost fit for purpose expensive cameras being produced affordable by the upgrading pros yet Canon decide to produce the EOS 1Dc 4K camera for $15,000 against the 4K Scarlet-X AL Canon mount collection at $16,165.
I think the days are now numbered for the ergonomics of the DSLR, it was a test bed when we had no large sensor video cameras and was the catalyst for Sony and Panasonic to produce video versions, that we can be eternally grateful for the DSLR.
With less than professional grade connectors the Canon 1Dc at $15,000 affords you ONE 3.5 mini jack for audio which is NOT a professional sound connector, a mini HDMI output and no swivel LCD.
I can’t see where the EOS-1Dc fits into all these new cameras as everyone seems to be catered for and are professional cameramen/women really going to choose a 1Dc over a C500 if 4K is your goal…I don’t think so.
Having left filming weddings (mostly) and local events, it would be interesting to see how the wedding “videographers” (hate that word) are managing these days… are the wedding photographers also filming parts of the day to also offer a dvd of the wedding as well as the photos … OR should the videographer offer stills from the video and upset the photographer ..now there’s a nice thought!!
This field is going to suffer the most in the coming years, weddings have by tradition employed photographers long before video was invented. If the savvy photographer wants to make a killing then he/she will offer both photography and video but on the whole the production will suffer.
Photographers are “setup and framing” by default, not used to dealing with movement nor capturing the audio of the day, nor are they qualified in the field of video which is twice as demanding as stills photography.
You can’t do both jobs on the day yourself so the photographer has to choose between great stills which he/she is qualified to produce or get a lackey to film the wedding with a DSLR for them…this will lead to poor production values and a poorer end result for the wedding couple.
Here is one answer:
The EOS 1Dc is a high quality small format cinema camera only.
It has a place as the 5DMK2 has in the past as a mute action or tight location cinema camera.
“They are great for shooting additional angles that give film editors more options for creating powerfully immersive and kaleidoscopic views of action scenes,” Seamus McGarvey (Cinematogapher, The Avengers)
They’re not supposed to be Indie Film maker cameras. They’re supposed to compliment a C300 or C500 where smaller “mute” cameras are required.
Most indie productions worth distributing will have offboard audio recording (please oh please let it be better than a Zoom H4N, but I digress). I look at the audio input of most digital cinema cameras to be less than optimal. When RED equips its flagship camera with 1/8″ TRS jacks as their audio inputs, it’s clear they don’t have the first clue about cinema audio.
On the upside, I’m expecting that the 1D-C won’t sound like a jet engine when it’s not filming. The RED workflow is also really, really maddening, unless you also have additional scratch to throw at an offboard ProRes recorder.
That said, I am still awaiting the actual product to be available for purchase (since I wasn’t at NAB to have a look at it) before giving it the thumbs up or down.
Just hope they(CANON) will certify CF cards for it.
Just bought Canon XF305 with 15 Lexar400 and Lexar300 and none of them work more then 20 minutes.
Even SANDISK Extreme can record only about 30 minutes.
I can only use SANDISK Extreme PRO or Lexar 600. Wasted $2,000 on cards.
avrofilmvideo, I would guess that there is likely something wrong with your XF305 as SanDisk Extreme CF cards are on the Canon approved list & work fine in my XF305 & XF105 (I have a bunch of 16GB & 32GB).
Lexar X400 are not on the Canon ‘blessed’ list & only 4/8/16GB Lexar X300 cards with the caveat that they do not work for Slow Motion.
I suggest that you restrict yourself to only using the exact models of CF card that have been tested & certified by Canon http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/news/CF_card_compatibility_for_XF305_and_XF300_pro_camcorders.do
As a recent RED user on a variety of projects, I can say that all of the audio considerations are moot. The RED’s audio capabilities are severely lacking, not to mention it’s noise issues, which when turned down often lead to overheating. Still. I’m not saying it’s a great camera for certain situations, but no ideal, especially if you work in the docu or journalistic worlds. I was actually very disappointed with the form factor and amount of gak we had to kit the red out with to make it a workable camera for a recent documentary. It became cumbersome, and I found myself longing for 2-3 5Ds or 1Ds.