With both camps having updated their Super 35mm cameras some would say Sony have upscaled while Canon have definitely downscaled but both at a similar price bracket.
With both cameras recording AVCHD the Sony has the edge with 28Mbps 1920 x 1080 50p while the Canon is only 24Mbps 1920 x 1080 50i.
Two features that the Sony has over the Canon is the 10x Full HD slow motion and the upgradable 2-4K sensor.
To be frank I think the C100 is £2K dearer than it should be to stand a chance against the FS700 but remember slow motion albeit 10x Full HD is a gimmick and to date no one has seen the 4K capable picture from the FS700.
If you are a C300 owner like myself a smaller C100 might just be a cracking B camera, not having an HD SDI socket is stupid and the C100 is 4:2:0 colour space might not be as punchy as the C300.
If you own Canon lenses the C100 would be the better choice plus the Canon is of a higher build quality than the plasticky FS700.
I actually like the thought of a smaller “C300” and depending on picture quality would be a far more practical camera for run and gun.
Q. If I had the choice between the FS700 and the C100
A. That will depend on picture quality, if the C100 almost matches the C300 and the familiarity of the two cameras would draw me towards the Canon. The FS700 has its own issues and one of them seems to be a compromise between the 2K and 4K chip set being a tad more noisy than the FS100. The 10x super slow motion would be useful but not essential.
My heart tells me the C100, my professional practical side tells me the FS700 but its all down to picture quality in the end, I personally have not seen the picture out of the FS700 nor the C100. Picture quality is upmost and is going to make or break the C100 for C300 owners !
Final word : I think Canon have underestimated the pulling power of the FS700 especially having the 10x slow motion feature, you can use your Canon glass on the FS100 using a Metabones adapter but the crucial mistake for me is the 4:2:0 colour space, even the XF305 has 4:2:2 and matching both cameras (C300/XF305) can be a pain so my bet is that the C100 won’t be as spectacular picture wise as the C300 which is a shame.
We all new Canon would bring out a watered down C300 at some stage and personally I do like the new look, especially the XLRs and taking the LCD off the top of the camera, we now have more large sensor cameras than I ever thought possible…is there a market for 9 competing cameras !
No 50P recording in 2012 is a BIG mistake.
Canon are like Sony now:
They cripple their cameras well 🙂
I think so, C100 will be 4:2:2 8 bit via HDMI out, as C300 quality.
C100 with external recorder will have same as quality of C300.
Sony, Canon, Panasonic… all are making yesterday’s cameras. The Blackmagic Cam is the “5D mark 2 ” in 2012. Listen up BIG GUYS, you can extend the life of HIGH DEFINITION if you add 2.5K (2560×1600 or thereabouts) to the format. LET THE STUDIOS HAVE 4K, 5K, and 8K cameras for now, but filmmakers-on-a-budget will flock to the first productline from a major manufacturer to put out the first MAJOR UPGRADE to the HD format since it’s inception – 2.5K plus RAW VIDEO. STOP MAKING 5D CLONES and make a forward looking camera – just give us a 2.5K native camera that outputs RAW (cinemaDNG would be great!!) and downrezzes to a cleanly compressed 1080p. The HIGH EFFICIENCY VIDEO CODEC (HEVC) makes this more possible than ever. It would also fill that MAMMOTH HOLE in the marketplace between HIGH DEF and 4K. The enormous success of such products is a sure thing if ever there was one. IMITATE THE BLACKMAGIC!
There are a few things that professional shooters really appreciate that don’t get star billing. Things that are on the C300 and F3, but notably absent on the FS100 & FS700:
– Clear-scan shutters (so you can tame the flicker of computer screens and some LED devices)
– Cache record, when you’re waiting for THE shot
– Display of shot duration – amazingly, this is something the FS100 and 700 do not do! Every shoot with a presenter, they’ll always ask ‘how long was that?’ FS100 drove me nuts until I purchased a PIX recorder
– I use timelapse on pretty much every job, slomo hardly ever. Interval record is sorely missing on the FS100 and FS700
If the C100 answers those needs, I’m switching. It will become, in effect, the EX1 of the Large Sensor cameras. But with interchangeable lenses. But it’s solid, easy to hold and doesn’t need adaptors for L glass.
Thanks so much for mentioning those. Very good to know!
let me tell you something 87orville9… first of all you have no idea about what you are saying. No one is imitating the black magic. 5d clones? haahaha you see.. it looks you dont actually work on this. see 5D compare to c100, c300, nex700, nex100, f55, f3, f5………. if you want to compare for real u will see it is a jocke. Please before you say all that bullshit again. study, work, understand. do u need 4k? may be not. however it doesnt mean that some projects need this. and please please dont say: you can extend the life of HIGH DEFINITION if you add 2.5K cos it makes no sence dude…
Is the C100 4:2:0 or 4:2:2? The article seems a bit confused on this
Alex, the C100 is 4:2:0, but can do 4:2:2 through a Ninja or Odyssey. It’s still only 8bit though.