The video below is a grading test of the Canon C100 using it’s internal codec (which is a 4:2:0 color space at 24Mbps AVCHD) so how far can that codec be pushed? I shot this clip with the Rokinon 14mm Cine lens, in Canon LOG and graded it in SpeedGrade, I balanced the shot then applied the SpeedLooks C300 Camera Patch and the then SpeedLooks Clean F.cube LUT. I pulled a quick secondary on the blue in the sky and added some saturation. Nothing terribly complex and I didn’t touch the blacks which could be lifted a bit as there is still information in there. The additional compression on Vimeo doesn’t really do the clip justice. But I do think it shows that just because on paper the C100 looks awfully inferior to the C300 and other 4:2:2 camera’s, the quality of Canon’s sensor and color science is still there.
This is primarily a corporate and documentary camera, and I have to say that it has got to be the most intuitive camera I’ve used in a long time. Some have lamented the quality of the LCD screen as not being as good as the one on the C300, but I don’t really care. It has peaking, the exposure bar, zebras and the waveform monitor… it doesn’t have to have the best monitor in the world, all of that stuff means I can rely on what those things are telling me, that I’ve got a proper exposure and am recording the most image information that sensor and codec combination can handle. It’s just fun to use and isn’t a chore like most of the DSLR’s out there. The bottom line is that a lot of people get all caught up in the spec’s, in the numbers, but at the end of the day they don’t really matter as long as the image you are getting on screen is pleasing to your eye and is suitable for the type of project you are working on. The size, the weight, the ease of use, the dynamic range and low light performance of this camera and the incredible sharpness of the sensor all mean that for a lot of professional project work, this camera is pretty darn awesome.