Links
http://www.cinemaeos.usa.canon.com/products.php?type=Camera-c500
http://cweb.canon.jp/cinema-eos/lineup/digitalcamera/c500/index.html
Fan noise issue
Same price as a C300 mk1!
This SNL skit was not funny at all.
Firmware update
@Vitaliy_Kiselev That was the film Canon showed at a 4K theater on Sunset last year. It looked even better sitting in the front row - I really didn't notice any artifacts the whole time.
Definitely some useful updates to the C series - especially some of the usability ones.
I'll be curious to see some ISO 80,000 footage, but where I really wanted to see that was to make the video ISO match the stills ISO on the 1D C and 1D X.
Canon EOS C500 Firmware Updates
4K? I'm okay with 1080p (if it's TRUE 1080) for now. Higher FPS? 60 does me just fine most of the time. RAW? It'd be nice but I don't "need" it...
but for the love of all that is holy, could someone please give us at least 4:2:2 in an affordable camera?!?!
Just to clarify: I would love to be able to grab a $4k camera with RAW recording and super-slow-mo and 4k video, and interchangable lenses. So I will be very happy whenever it gets there. It just seems like it should rightfully be at least another year or two away at a minimum.
@Aria I respectfully disagree with the self-correction. If it had really gone "back to normal" then we would have seen the functionality removed from other newer products, not just developed less aggressively than we would like. We would also have seen DSLR use in films turn out to be a fad, and people would have stopped shooting with them. Nor would we see increased video features have become more important to Nikon than they were with the D90.
No, the fact is that a new product application was created and remains and our desires for how to develop that just are not consistent with what most businesses have in mind. Everything is getting better in the sense that the technology we have available at the same price point has improved continually since this ball of wax first got rolling. But we will always want more, and right now more also costs more. But the days of a premium just for it being "pro" seem to be largely over.
Remember right before the DSLR video revolution hit, when the HV20/HV30 changed low-budget filmmaking for a lot of less affluent people? The price difference between that and the next model up (which added functionality and tweakability but little in the way of resolution or frame rate) was pretty big. Now for that same sort of price difference you get a much higher resolution and frame rate. I see no "self-correction" in play, I just see our increasing desires .
Most of the things that really were over-priced are not anymore. Just look at how much less the high end Sony cameras are going to cost now vs a few years ago. :)
The cameras sound great. But, The industry always finds a way to self correct. It wasn't intended to give us the quality we got from the DSLR revolution at such low price points. Now that they realize just how good some of their cameras were, they've found a way to fix the problem of accessible high quality product that could kill off their pro divisions. It's pretty much over now. They have products we want put up on the top shelf just out of reach for most. Rather than bring everything you want all the way down to the lower shelves as some may have imagined.
It's OK. We had a nice ride for a while there, but everything is back to normal now. No RED 4K for every man. No 5DMk3 without crippling it's image. Our only hope now is that we can get Nikon or Pany to not self correct their product lines. Nikon seems like the likely peoples champion due to now having a pro video dept. Pany still has the GH3 and perhaps that will not be crippled but I doubt it.
@Philldaagony Exactly. I do not think that 4K, super-slow-mo and RAW will sell cameras to the mass market the way that HD support did, so I can understand the companies wanting to keep those products priced for a smaller market. At the same time, as a somewhat smaller market segment, I am myself watching very intently for the features to trickle into a more affordable range.
Over the last decade and a half, we saw the same thing happen in computer music and digital video. The ability to produce content that could (under the best of circumstances) be mistaken for top-budget material started to appear at a fraction of the price point. For audio it went from $50,000 to >$1,000 dollars for samplers. For cameras it went from "rental only for hundreds of dollars a day" to "own for hundreds of dollars".
I am certainly excited about the next developments but it is hard to be too impatient given how much has happened in the last decade and a half. :)
@thepalalias Haha I know the feeling! True as businesses it may be in their best interest to do so, but if it hurts sales, and prevents them from tapping into a market ready to spend money, that hurts them as well. As consumers we can post all we want in forums, but at the end of the day we speak with our wallets. If someone comes in at a price point and offers all the features we've been lamenting about for so long, and someone makes a gazillion dollars off it, expect someone else to follow suit. But, then the market becomes over-saturated and no one makes money (HDTVS).
@Phildaagony I do not think there is anything wrong with them choosing to do that sort of market segmentation. I do not like it as a consumer, but I understand it as a businessperson. I think we have all heard stories of people being provided with close to the exact same product at two different price points and then seeming more satisfied with the more expensive ones. It really is sad to see people getting irate about software they get for free from the open-source community sometimes, for instance.
The manufacturers should not be expected to price in the consumers interest, but in their own. That's why the competition from the GH2 is so important in helping keep pressure on other still camera manufacturers regarding the pricing and capability of the video side. And it is also important that the RED Epic has been there to keep the Arri Alexa from seeming like a better deal than it really is. That does not mean I think either the Epic or Alexa are over-priced, but I think that the competition is very good for consumers and keeps them asking why each one does not have certain facets of their competitor.
The C500 looks set to help apply some pressure in its market segment and I am happy about that.
EDIT: I started typing that before your last post. :)
@Brian202020 So many choices! But, the C500 if the rumored specs are legit could bring down the price of the Alexa and Epic, I'll give Canon that much. But, the Cine DSLR has to be price more aggressively in order to appeal to the market that's most ready to take advantage of its full-frame capabilities.
Impressed with the C500 and the 12bit EOS RAW and the 120fps, but the Cinema 1D I think will be a miss. Too much money for what it is. I'd rather spend $1000 less and get the FS700, or $7000 less and get the D800, or spend $2000 more and get both the FS700 and the D800.
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