New Canon EOS C100 Camera, New Primes

This morning Canon released a slew of updates across their Cinema EOS system, including the new Canon C100 camera and two new prime lenses, the 14mm T3.1 and 135mm T2.2 EF. These cinema style lenses are compatible with all of Canon’s standard sensor sizes including Super 35mm and will be available in early 2013. Canon also announced a $30,000 price point and an October release date for the 4K shooting Canon C500.

C100 First Impressions

After months of speculation, the Canon C100 is finally announced, and at first glance it’s pretty impressive. Similar to the C300, it carries the same sized sensor and built-in ND filter while also managing to be about 15% smaller in size. Initially, prices were indicated to be at around $8000, just under the Sony FS700 in price comparison, but it appears that CreativeVideo.co.uk is taking pre-orders for £4995 including tax, which is a very bold move by Canon.

While the C100 is technically at the bottom of the totem pole for Canon’s Cinema EOS system, it has a few welcome surprises: including the Canon Log Gamma, which increases latitude and dynamic range, and uncompressed HDMI out for optimal image quality. Combine that with an EVF and the popular EF mount and Canon has created a feature rich and affordable cinema camera.

When it comes to the design of the camera I have mixed feelings about it’s modular style. Based off the C300, it looks like a hybrid between a DSLR and a prosumer HD camera. It has buttons galore (which can be a good or bad thing depending on the placement) and is constructed with a water resistant magnesium alloy body. I can’t obviously test it out myself yet, but I’m a little skeptical as to whether or not it will be comfortable to use.

I like the inclusion of the handgrip and the vari-angle screen but the overall design just seems outdated. A lot of people like the design of the C300. Canon even mentions in their announcement that there was a lot of user feed back incorporated into the building of the C100, but I’m just not that excited about the look. Luckily it’s not a deal breaker by any means, and I’m excited to see what the footage looks like the most.

Unfortunately though, there were some compromises made and the biggest one is the codec. Canon decided to go with a standard 24Mbps AVCHD codec (H.264 wrapper) and with that comes the oh-so-bland 4-2-0 color profile. It’s a let down for sure but I guess it’s not as bad as the old H.264 encoding from Canon’s older DSLR’s. The lack of HD-SDI isn’t as surprising but it means that most professional external video recorders will be rendered useless. This is fine for most independent filmmakers, but an annoyance to professionals who work in that type of system. Finally the most disappointing thing to me is the lack of 60p. With so many bells and whistles on this camera, how did it get stuck with 50/60i? AVCHD 2.0 was introduced last year and supports 50/60p and yet Canon decided to go with an even older version.

I guess it comes down to competition within it’s own line of products, and honestly it’s a bit frustrating, but at the same time completely predictable from a Canon standpoint. They hold out on a few big things to get you to upgrade to a much more expensive camera with a much higher margin of profit.

I had been feeling nervous about the direction Canon was moving in for some time now, but today I can rest a little easier: They haven’t totally forgotten about us. While I like most of their products, and have recommended them to many people in the past, it seemed that they were spending way too much time catering to Hollywood and almost purposely ignoring independent filmmakers. I understand their reasoning for walking that path, but it doesn’t mean I have to agree with it. This is however a step in the right direction for Canon and an attractive choice for independent filmmakers.

The Canon C100 will be released in November and will more than likely be on display at Photokina in September.

This is turning out to be a very exciting year for independent filmmakers. With the Blackmagic Cinema Camera shipping in less than two weeks, the Kineraw S35 Arri  Alexa clone being priced at $6300, and the hotly anticipated GH3 set to be announced next month, Canon definitely has some competition this year.

Are you interested in the new Canon EOS C100 Cinema Camera? Tell us your thoughts.

Special Request Canon Camera Classes

Can’t make it to our scheduled events? Call us and schedule a one-on-one Canon Boot Camp! We understand that with your busy schedule, it’s not always easy to plan a month in advance or to be in town when we have a workshop. For the past couple months, we’ve re-introduced private sessions at the request of our students. We’ve taught 5D Mark III one-on-one sessions, as well as C300 one-on-one sessions taught by DP Polly Morgan.

The private workshop takes about three to four hours at our office located in Burbank, CA. The Chief Instructor, Fletcher Murray, goes over the same coursework and data as he would at our Pro Level I Canon Boot Camp (the Saturday session). Thanks to our sponsors such as Zeiss Lenses, Alzo Video, Manfrotto, Marshall Electronics, etc, you will also have hands-on demonstrations of rigs and equipment.

At our private Canon Boot Camp, you will have the undivided attention of Fletch as you go through your camera menu settings, drills, lighting demonstrations, and more. You’ll have an opportunity to customize the training to your specific needs and leverage Fletch’s decades of filmmaking experience.

Interested? Email us or call 818-841-9660 for more information.

Anyway, Mitch actually has an on the spot comparison in the video (3:29) above where he switches from DSLR to his Logitech webcam and there's quite a difference in that the webcam portion is very washed out. Not that it couldn't be fixed by covering his window where a lot of light is coming in, but it's an interesting comparison. Whenever I use my webcam I have to fiddle around with the lighting, and a little bit of light can make a big difference.

There's some great tips in the comments/conversation after this article and video on Mitch's blog as well.

Have you tried using your DSLR as a webcam? We'd love to hear your experience, tips or warnings. Comment below and tell us about it.

Thanks so much for sending in your story. We're excited to hear about your progress and projects in the DSLR world. Your success is important to us and we'd like to help promote your film projects on our blog.

So please keep in touch. Stories and comments are generally reviewed and approved within 72 hours of submission. Once your story has been approved, you'll receive an email encouraging you to share your published story on Facebook. Every story you share on Facebook will enter you into that month's drawing for gear and other prizes from our sponsors.

We have decided to expand our services beyond just training you in the Canon HDSLR. We’d like to elevate your importance (and ranking) on the internet. To accomplish this we want to publish stories about each of our boot camp grads on our site, which is one of the top sites in the world for Canon DSLR training. All we need is your story.

Could you take a moment and just write a couple of paragraphs about how your filmmaking has been going since you took the Canon Boot Camp? We will publish it and let you know it’s out there. You can also send links to your videos and we’ll include that too to be placed in our graduate’s gallery. Lastly, we started the Canon Boot Camp because we saw our fellow filmmakers in the business going out business when the economy crashed a few years ago. So this initiative is simply an extension to get you work now that you’ve completed the training. We look forward to your story.

All the best -

Fletch and the Canon Boot Camp team.

P.S. Make sure to check the box below that allows our system to notify you when your story is published on our blog. Once your story is approved we’ll send you information on how to win free gear or other prizes from our monthly contests.

When you’re training filmmakers on 5D, you need a lot of the most recent data to pass along. Mitch Aunger’s Planet5D site is one of the top three spots I visit to stay current on the gear coming out for the Canon HDSLR.  Mitch seems to be able to give you the straight scoop instead of the corporate BS marketing hype.  While he does have ads down the side of his Planet5D blog, I find most of those links are actually interesting new products and not just everything on earth that’s for sale.  Where else would I have found out there is a steadicam for the iPhone? But seriously, we not only are interested in providing all the data our filmmakers need to achieve Canon Certification, we want them to know their options.

We met Mitch back in the frontier days, when the Canon HDSLR was just taking off.  He was doing his interviews and trying out the gear on display in person, not phoning it in.

When the Alaska gold rush was in full force, there were lots of supply stores at the bottom of the mountain happy to sell the miners everything they could.  Most of it was overpriced and a lot of it was not even needed.  I feel the Canon HDSLR also set off a gold rush and there are lots of people ready to make a quick buck off it.  The hand-held rigs are the most amusing.  There must be over a hundred rigs that “do it all.”  But inevitably, when you finally get your hands on them something weird occurs or you find you don’t need most of the features because they don’t make any sense when you actually get into production.

Mitch’s videos show you what happens when the rubber meets the road.  This is the data we like to pass along in our DSLR Filmmaker Bootcamp, which is officially called the Canon Boot Camp.  This features training in the Canon DSLR 5D, 7D and 60D.  We don’t talk about anything we haven’t tested and proved for ourselves.  There are only three exceptions, Shane Hurlbut, Gayle Tattersall and Mitch Aunger.  If they give something the thumbs up, we pass it on and attribute it to the source of the data.

A lot of Canon information is hard to pry loose prior to the release of their new products. Mitch is one of the guys Canon lets peek behind the curtain.

We compile a reference manual of HDSLR issues and gear.  If you’d like your own free copy, here is the link to the download page on Facebook.

More and more business people are realizing the value of social networking.  But often they don’t know where to start, what to do, or what to expect as a result.  That’s where Trevor Eisenman comes in.

Since not all companies are the same, the first step we take is a free review of their current social media presence and their overall marketing strategy.  Trevor then helps them develop a custom strategy and trains them in it’s implementation.  New Social Media clients were added to The Association family this month!

Locally we had Priscilla’s Gourmet Coffee and Tea  (best caffeine in Burbank); Meehna Goldsmith, Timepiece Specialist from Los Angeles; and Dr. Joseph Kametz, D.C, from Glendale.  All of them are receiving one-on-one training and strategy implementation from Trevor.

No time to figure out Social Media?  Email Trevor today a trevor@theassociation.tv and find out how simple Social Media can be to implement for your business.

Future Canon Boot Camps

Still Photographers, Film Industry Professionals and filmmaking amateurs alike are attending our Canon camera classes every month to reduce their DSLR video learning curve. Some of our students arrive wondering where the “On” button is on their camera. Others are intimately familiar with Canon DSLR cameras EXCEPT when it comes to video.

Some are celebrities or established filmmakers, directors and/or producers but need to catch up with all that DSLR filmmaking has to offer. We are there for all of them with our  “Active Learning” hands-on approach to training. No boring lectures. No being left behind with show-off techno-speak you can’t use anyway. No seminar you just sit through. Our DSLR filmmaker workshops are practical knowledge passed on by Pros with plenty of action. Many feature DSLR Filmmakers as guest speakers.

Not prepared to take a class this month? All of our future classes are listed on the right side of this page. Find a date that works for your schedule and click on the link to sign up. If this is your first visit to our site, click here for more information about the Canon Boot Camp and what we cover during our weekend hands-on intensive training course.

Don’t see a date that works for you? How about a one-on-one class just for you based on your schedule? Yes, you don’t have to be a rock star to get the Chief Instructor all to yourself. It helps, but it’s not totally necessary. Email Trevor Eisenman to make a request or call him at 818-841-9660.

Digital Filmmaking Workshops

There’s more to digital filmmaking than a camera. So from time to time we provide training on a variety of related subjects:

• Digital Editing
• DSLR Post Production Workflow
• Lighting Techniques

Don’t see what you’re looking for? Influence the future by requesting a workshop or boot camp on topics related to filmmaking by sending us an email.

Even if you already are intimately familiar with DSLR cameras like the Canon DSLR 5D, 7D or 60D, learning how to shoot DSLR video can be a challenge. For example, many still photographers already know Canon cameras very well, but have never dealt with video production. Aside from the many aspects of video production that don’t even involve direct use of the camera (script writing, for example), there are aspect of learning video that might be hard to find in a seminar.

DSLR Video Capture

Karl Morgan is the Video Production Manager at APU Azusa here in California. Karl came from Azusa Pacific University’s video department to learn more about DSLR at our Canon camera classes. He was surprised to discover that a portion of our training covers DSLR video capture and post workflow. There are some important best practices (that we learned from experience!) to avoid incorrect capture as well as plain loosing footage due to accidents or even just misplacing storage devices.

DSLR Audio Recording

But it’s not just about the looks! Even if you have lighting and video capture down like pro, it’s got to sound good so audio recording has to be understood. The Canon DSLR 5D and similar cameras weren’t originally designed for audio with a genealogy more attuned to still photographers. So anyone dabbling in DSLR Video capture needs to get educated on proper DSLR audio recording to save themselves a lot of headaches after the shoot.

The Canon Boot Camp is designed to teach anyone how to shoot DSLR and covers lighting, video capture and audio recording. You can come as a beginner, and leave a Pro in just two days.  A small taste of the workshops can be gleaned by downloading the Canon Boot Camp Reference Manual, Part I from our Facebook Page. Or you can just come to the next class.

The Association and the Brooks Institute are proud to announce our partnership in offering Canon Boot Camp workshops in Burbank, California, August 25th & 26th.

The Canon DSLR cameras have revolutionized film and television production. The Canon engineers have empowered millions to shoot 35mm quality films.

We show you the menu settings, software, rigs and techniques to improve your skills as a filmmaker, whether you’re a beginner or an experience professional.

Our Canon Boot Camps are held in a relaxed but focused learning environment. We follow a step-by-step checklist based on the Active Learning method of teaching, i.e. you’ll learn by doing. You go at your own pace. Our friendly team of pro’s are happy to help you through any steps that may be confusing to you. Drills give you certainty that you have mastered the techniques.

Then, on Day Two, we shoot scenes for a short film so you can apply and absorb what you’ve learned on Day One. You then receive your Canon Boot Camp Pro Level 1 & 2 Certificate.

NOTE: Anyone may attend this Boot Camp. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. Sign up now. Prepare yourself for real digital film production with the Canon DSLR 5D, 7D or 60D!

Early registration rate for the 2-day Canon Boot Camp (lunch incl.) is $699 if you register before August 23. After that the regular price of $898 applies.