Finally – The Canon EOS 5D Mk III

Ok, so I know I haven’t written in a while. Lots of things happening, good things, growing and learning! So enough of that…

Canon finally announces the Canon EOS 5D Mk III! How many years ago now did the famous “Reverie”, The first 1080p short film photographed with the Canon EOS 5D MKII by Vincent LaForet was released to the world, changing thing forever. Since then, there have been many a films made and continue to be made by this wonderful camera. Some would venture to say that the arrival of this camera was more anticipated than the Cinema Camera Canon released late last year. Don’t get me wrong now, I think Canon’s got it! The Lenses, the ability to hit low light situations with ease. Like I heard another filmmaker say, I know what “I” want and I’m gunning for the Scarlett unless a shift in the space time continuum makes my reality something completely different. But anyway, back to the Mk III.

We’ve all seen how beautiful the images are from this full frame camera, from stills to captivating movies. It’s been boasted that the 5D Mk II was seen on the set of Iron Man and of course Shane Hurlbet’s Act of Valor I believe was shot with that with Letus’ new gear also “House” DP Gale Tattersall, just to name a few. Films that have been showing in a lot of the film festivals have been filmed by this camera! To say that this is a fluke is crazy. The camera takes wonderfully astounding images. But you can have a wonderfully astounding image and have a bad story and it all will suck then.

I’m not going to get into the specifics of this camera here, seeing that you guys can go to Canon’s website and find out the juicy details yourself.  But I already know that the chosen few that will their hands on the camera, will be posting some incredible footage.  Again to make this clear, I myself shoot with the Canon T2i, and I’ve loved the way it shoots, do I know about the issues, YES but through the trail and errors of others I’ve learned to not make them an issue.  Also I’ve installed the Magic Lantern Firmware update and now I have a great movie making machine.  I’ve never met Koo (nofilmschool.com) but I’d love to, because he has inspired me to stick to what I believe in.  I’ve been studying about the Red for a while as well and I know, KNOW KNOW that it is what I want to shoot with!  I’m excited about getting it in my hands and I’m excited about shooting my movies with it! Sorry I’ve digressed.  Check out the Canon 5D Mark III, would love to get some feedback regarding it.  I actually just borrowed a 5D MII and learning my way around it.  Man it’s heavy…..lol

Enjoy

Michael “The DP”

Ok so here it is Canon VS RED

So November 3rd has come and gone, some of us have been left with, “well what happened to the 5D MIII?” or better yet “Ah heck, another bunch of camera’s out of my range…” or even still “No one cares about us indie guys :-(“, well in any case, technology is allowing us to do so much more than before and even if you still shoot with a 5D MII you are still ahead of the game in most cases, until you get into the “RED” zone. I must admit, when I first saw the RED at an APPLE seminar in Atlanta so many years ago, I wanted it, badly. It was amazing then and still amazing now! Does this mean I’m not a fan of Canon, oh heck no, I love the Canon gear. It actually allowed me to get into the game without spending $50k. But like Ryan Connolly said in one of his episodes, “I want to educate you guys on both DIY INDIE stuff to big name stuff” (yeah I know I paraphrased) but I understood him totally. It was in respond to a loyal viewer’s comment that “if you start filming on the red, I won’t watch you guys any more”…and I understood him too, cause Ryan and the crew and FilmRiot gives us indie guys so much inspiration as well as knowledge on how to make what we “HAVE” work to higher standards. And that is truly important to me. As an up and coming filmmaker.

I have a T2i, it is not as prestigious as the 7D or the 5D MII, but I’ve seen some amazing things done on this camera that rivals some 5D stuff, and that proves my point that it’s not the size of your equipment but how you use it! 🙂 With that said, Let’s get right to it!

Red and Canon decided to have a slugfest on who’s gonna bring the hottest new toy to the playground. SO LET THE GAMES BEGIN:

Canon introduces the Canon Cinema EOS C300
Here are the official specs:

• 8.3 megapixel 2160×3840 Super-35 CMOS sensor (4K resolution) with Digic DV III processor

• Canon XF codec (50Mbps 4:2:2 1080p MPEG2 MXF) records to two Compact Flash card slots

• Canon LOG gamma, SDI, compact body, Custom Presets and menus similar to Canon XF series

• Exposure and focus control are completely manual — there is no automatic exposure or autofocus

• Sold as a system, including LCD monitor / XLR audio unit, side grip, top handle, and battery charger

• Headphone jack (first EOS-branded camera to have this, though it’s obviously necessary

• Uses existing BP-955 and BP-975 batteries

• Lacks dual-link HD-SDI for native 4:4:4 output, though ships with LOG Gamma unlike the Sony F3

Available January 2012

Price: $20,000 (basic configuration)

Canon Cinema EOS C300

Canon EOS C300

The RED SCARLET X will do

• 5K resolution at 12 FPS (for still shooting),

• 4K at 1-25FPS, 2K at 60FPS,

• 1K at 120FPS, and also does

• Quad HD (which is popular for down sampling to 1080P since it’s precisely double the resolution in both dimensions).

• It uses REDCODE RAW at 50MB/sec (which is 440 megabits/sec), comes with a side SSD slot,

• Canon lens mount, and will ship December 1st.

Pricing will be $9,750 for the Canon mount version and $11,250 w/ a PL mount lens (and the mounts are interchangeable).

The RED SCARLET-X lists for $9,750 and that is direct from RED: no discounts. However, that is a “brain only” price (though it comes with a SSD recording module, Canon lens mount, and AC adapter). After December 31st, in fact, the RED’s prices will go up. But if you include the prices of the things you’ll need to shoot in each cameras’ most basic configuration, many all of these things are included with the Canon but not with the RED. (A couple of them are not included with the Canon either, where noted).

• Camera Body
• Lens Mount
• Side Handle (RED +$950)
• Viewfinder/Screen (RED’s 5″ LCD is $1,600, though it’s probably nicer than the Canon’s EVF)
• Media Module
• Media for 1 hour of footage (a cheap $100 CF card for the Canon, but two $950 SSDs for the RED)
• Media Reader (a cheap $50 CF reader for the Canon, but a $250 REDMAG for the RED)
• Battery Charger (an extra $150 for the RED, though I’m not clear on whether the included AC adapter can also charge batteries)
• Batteries for a few hours of shooting (an extra $150 battery for the Canon, three $195 REDVOLTS for the RED)

Red Scarlet X

Scarlet-X Aluminum Canon Package

This brings the RED up to an even $15k. As you get into more realistic battery and media numbers —  included is the absolute minimum above — the SCARLET-X becomes more expensive than the C300. Which is to say nothing of the fact that the C300′s 1080P MPEG-2 files require much less computer power to edit and process in post than do the 4K R3D files (thus more expense on the back-end for the RED). I’m gonna say that since the 5D was so good with low, the C300 will be better in low light situations, which makes your necessary lighting budget lower. Nice touch for those of us on a super budget and can’t get lighting. But my guess is if you can get a red or C300 you’re doing alright for yourself! 🙂

Now in both situations you know you can get those super CANON lenses, which I believe Canon will take advantage of in the C300 – Either way, if you got the funds make it happen.  Make sure you think about accessories and upgradeability as well, when factoring your costs.  Chances are, you’ve amassed a great collection of lenses that you probably are gonna wanna continue to use!

So there you have it, hopefully I’ve confused you all beyond any scope of recognition and it will make you want to research more and more until you find the one that fits your needs and budget, cause let’s face it, it’s all about what we can afford and afford to keep up.  We have a saying, don’t buy a Lamborghini unless you have Lamborghini money to keep it up! Maybe that’s too high of an example but you get my drift!

I’ll throw this in to see if it will help your decision, one of my all time favorite movies besides Avatar (and NOT THE LAST AIR BENDER, I’ll hit on that on another post ugh), was The Lord Of The Rings and I’m a Tolkien fan, read the books probably a dozen times.  Well Peter Jackson is making the HOBBIT and guess what he’s using….YES…THE RED, sorry Canon. Not only is he using it, but he’s using it in 3 f’ing D. Man can you imagine? Double REDS for each camera rig set up.  Check it out – 

Well I’m sold on that so far! SO let me get back to work so I can save up to get the camera of my dreams! It will be interesting to see which accessory company shows off in developing stuff for this new line up on either side.  Zakuto already has there hands on one. It would be great to see Letus and Redrock do the same!

HAPPY SHOOTING!

Ryan Connolly & Film Riot have done it again…

First of all, let me start by saying these guys really rock! They have been teaching indie filmmakers, tips and tricks for a while now and they have delivered a wonderful action packed short called “Losses”.  Josh really stretched his acting skills be portraying a killer! It was just so cool to see.  You would expect the normal Film Riot humor that they have been known for and I’ve have so grown to love, but it has a certain Bourne Identity/Jason Statham(ish) feel! I love the color grading and the lighting! The feel was wonderful.  And I know a lot people commented on the shakiness of some of the scenes. Yes maybe in some places it was a little too much but it gave the film movement and almost an urgency. So without further adieu here is “LOSSES” – It is suggested that you watch this FULL SCREEN and choose Original to see it in it’s full 2k glory!