The next round of announcements from Canon will happen next week

===

From my Euro sources, the specific VIDEO camera that is supposed to be introduced by Canon is an XC-15 update (XC-20?) with an Interchangeable lens and UHD 4K at 4:2:2 10-bit 60 fps on a one inch sensor at a high bit rate which means the camera will have GREAT video quality! I am also being told that there will be 120 fps 1920x1080p mode but it may not be 10-bit 4:2:2 but rather 8-bit 4:2:0 colour running at 120 fps and 1920x1080p

What my sources are NOT CLEAR about, is whether this is an actual camera introduction or a mere engineering announcement and whether it's form factor is TRULY an XC-15 style or a higher-end VIXIA body-style although they are leaning MORE towards the XC-15-body style. It also seems that Canon MAY DELAY the actual introduction to CES 2019 in January to allow for further BIOS development to get the 120 fps HD up to 4:2:2 10-bit colour!

Lately, my Canon rumour sources from Europe have been getting pretty sparse in terms of NEW information, so I suspect the hatches are being battened down by Canon and secrecy is being ENFORCED...So I suspect that means an EVEN BIGGER ANNOUNCEMENT is coming soon.......WE SHALL SEE !!!!

Interchangeable lenses would theoretically bring the cost down as well, right? :unsure:

I hope your source is right, because I'll be opting for that over the new EOS R if that's the case.
 
Upvote 0
Interchangeable lenses would theoretically bring the cost down as well, right? :unsure:

I hope your source is right, because I'll be opting for that over the new EOS R if that's the case.

===

Like I said earlier, my sources for NEW information seem to be drying up. I'm personally betting on an XC-15 update (XC-20?) with 60 fps 4:2:2 10 bit colour and a replaceable lens BUT it is also very possible than an update of the XF-405 (which is a GREAT broadcast news camera by the way!) into 10-bit 4:2:2 60fps/120 fps HD is also possible. Price point will be between $3500 to $4500 US on either body style!

The information I have received so far is INCONCLUSIVE as to which body style is being updated. All I know to some degree of certainty is 4K 4:2:2 10 bit recording and 120 fps in a right-now HD 4:2:0 8-bit 120 fps or a near future BIOS update configuration to 120 fps 4:2:2 10 bit HD recording. Since my sources are having such a difficult time on getting specifics, that DOES MEAN that something BIG is coming down the pipeline since it feels like Canon is clamping down on corporate secrecy up to what Apple usually does! Ironically, that means whatever is coming down shortely is probably REALLY REALLY GOOD !!!

===

From a production point-of view, I would ALMOST NEVER use 120 fps for our videos! You use it for making skateboard, surfing and skiing videos on Youtube but NOT for serious PAYING production work on Commercials, Documentaries or even Wedding videos. It's not needed! All it shows is that the DSP (Digital Signal Procesing) capability on any given camera that HAS that 120 fps feature is now powerful and fast enough that the MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THINGS such as noise reduction, dynamic range, autofocusing and colour rendition at 60 fps are improved to much higher levels! We pretty much always shoot 24 fps for the Cinema Effect (i.e. lot's of cinema-like motion-blur) to give that creamy organic look to an industrial video. That 60 fps capture gives videos that Soap Opera look which I despise immensely.

For me, I'd rather spend more money on LENSES and LIGHTING than cameras which is WHY we have so many Canon L-series, Zeiss Otus, Fujinon Zooms, Leica Summilux-C and Arri/Zeiss Master Primes in our inventory! Fast Sharp Glass and Good Lighting are what make pretty pictures so a good Lens inventory made available to a good Key Gaffer (head of Lighting/Electrician) and a great cinematographer is where the money goes!

For what it's worth, I have liked the Sony F65 and Canon C700 series cameras best for shooting our industrial action-oriented videos. You get beautiful colours on both and file formats are so easy to colour grade on BM Resolve that those two are what I have almost always gravitated to. The C700 is used for a lot of hand-held shoulder mount work and the F65 is used for the multi-camera tripod-oriented scenes.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0
===

...

For me, I'd rather spend more money on LENSES and LIGHTING than cameras which is WHY we have so many Canon L-series, Zeiss Otus, Fujinon Zooms, Leica Summilux-C and Arri/Zeiss Master Primes in our inventory! Fast Sharp Glass and Good Lighting are what make pretty pictures so a good Lens inventory made available to a good Key Gaffer (head of Lighting/Electrician) and a great cinematographer is where the money goes!

As for lightning - what would you suggest for a starters? I was looking into some LED lights with high CRI and maybe fresnel. Rotolight, Sola ENG, Zylight? It easily gets quite pricey. It would be for a mix of a wedding video and (studio) photography. Rotolights are a bit hyped, but they work with our Elinchroms, so :)
 
Upvote 0
So is this the end for the M series? I know they’re coming out with a new lens but I don’t see any up dates to the M5. The rumors dropped off on that months ago. That’s what I really wanted. I have a lot of canning class but I just can’t afford to invest in the so is this the end for the M series? I know they’re coming out with a new lens but I don’t see any dates to the M5. The rumors dropped off on that months ago. That’s what I really wanted. I have a lot of Canon EF-S glass and a couple of older L lenses, but I just can’t afford to invest in the R. I use all high-end Nikon gear at work because that’s what they supply. But I just don’t have that cash for my personal use. I’ve been holding out because I was really hoping Canon would come along with a nice upgrade. It’s starting to seem like Fuji is going to be the only viable option for people wanting APS.

Do you guys think there is any possibility, that next incarnation of M cameras, will switch to R mount? Well, I know - why to call it M anymore, right? And also - what about those who already invested into such lens? But really - non compatibility of M to R and vice versa quite puzzless me ...
 
Upvote 0
Do you guys think there is any possibility, that next incarnation of M cameras, will switch to R mount? Well, I know - why to call it M anymore, right? And also - what about those who already invested into such lens? But really - non compatibility of M to R and vice versa quite puzzless me ...

I think it's unlikely. The EOS-M and EF-M lenses are all about small size. The RF mount is about excellent optics. Given the lenses for the latter have been so large, it would seem a mismatch between the philosophy of the two lines (though I would expect some smaller RF lenses in future).
 
Upvote 0
As for lightning - what would you suggest for a starters? I was looking into some LED lights with high CRI and maybe fresnel. Rotolight, Sola ENG, Zylight? It easily gets quite pricey. It would be for a mix of a wedding video and (studio) photography. Rotolights are a bit hyped, but they work with our Elinchroms, so :)

===

Almost ALL modern lighting kits will work fine but what you need are the accessories which make the entire task of lighting your sets so much easier. The four things you MUST have onset are numerous sheets of colour correction gels such as CTO (Colour Temperature Orange), CTB (Colour Temperature Blue), CTG (Colour Temperature Green) which corrects your lighting to the available lighting or actual current lighting conditions such as 3200 degrees Kelvin (tungsten bulb-based older house lighting), 4200 to 4500 degrees Kelvin which corrects to tubular-based fluorescent lights STILL USED in many offices and industrial sites, and 6500 to 7500 degrees Kelvin which is bright sunlight. Then you need a light meter from Sekonic to allow you to find accurate light levels in Lumens and/or foot/candles and for video and stills, I say the best bang for the buck is the Sekonic Litemaster Pro L-478D-U for $313 US which works for BOTH still photography and video production.

Specifications:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...ic_401_474_litemaster_pro_l_478d_u_light.html

The reason you WANT a light meter and colour correction gels is to keep the LOOK of your colour and light the SAME across story-connected scenes and in order to do that you need to know how much light is being reflected off of various surfaces such as people's faces into the camera. Then you adjust your camera's iris (i.e. exposure setting) to match all scenes to a specific lighting level in Lumens. The light meter is a fancy portable luminance measurement computer giving you a simple numerical value which you match across all the rest of your related scenes once you set-in-stone your favorite lighting look.

The gels are put in front of the lights to ensure that the light reflected off of your subjects faces MATCHES what is being given off by local natural lighting such as the moon, the sun, candles, office and warehouse lights, street lights, etc. You're looking at about $80 for a good set of heat-resistant gels.
I personally always have THREE sets on me so I can have multiple versions of gels for each light I use in my 3-point light setups. YOU ABSOLUTELY WILL tear and lose some gels on any given shoot so ORDER AT LEAST THREE SETS ($300 US total!) i.e. at least ONE SET per major key, fill and flood light.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/838310-REG/Digital_Juice_DJ_CC_GEL_KIT_DJ_Gel_Kit.html

For lighting kits, I personally use the Lowel PRO series LED kits such as the following:

http://lowel.tiffen.com/kits/pro-led-3-light-ac-kit.html

These are expensive at $3200 US but they are built TOUGH and have never let me down, and since the come in their own shipping case that works great for me who does a lot of local AC powered filming in warehouses and industrial sites. If you want ALL battery powered lights then the

http://lowel.tiffen.com/kits/prime-location-pro-power-led-kit.html

with their battery accessories is OH SOOO GREAT for video and stills!

---

Now what I am about to say is a bit of cinematography heresy, but if you can't spend $3200 to $4500 per lighting kit, then these Milwaukee Tool worklights from Home Depot in USA and/or Canada will absolutely work for you IF YOU ALWAYS USE COLOUR CORRECTION GELS! Always check how much HEAT is given off the set lights to ensure your FIRE RESISTANT gels don't overheat, melt and/or catch fire from the worklights! You may have to offset the gels with a few extra centimeters/inches AWAY from the light surface itself to keep the gels cool enough.

$200 US - 3000 Lumens FLOOD light (Remember to get multiple batteries and battery chargers to save your shooting day!):

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p....ed-acdc-flood-light-tool-only.1001011621.html

and the

More spot-like TrueView LED light stand at 2000 Lumens and $250 US:

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.m18-trueview-led-stand-light.1001011522.html

TWO or THREE of each lighting type and ENOUGH EXTRA MILWAULKEE BRAND BATTERIES and BATTERY CHARGERS that match the lights being used on set to last a full 12-to-16 hour shooting day will work IF you ensure you ALWAYS use the colour correction gels. Usually you use CTB and CTO gels for daylight and interior sets so you will be spending about $1800 total on this lighting gear and batteries which will work wonders for you budget filmmakers!

For BOTH video and still photography, NOW SET THE WHITE BALANCE on your camera with a solid bright white card held against your subject's face to ensure proper skin tones in all sorts of lighting conditions. As a director, I literally want to see the whites of their eyes as being white and not some weird orange or blue colour so MATCH your gels to the available local light. AND as a director I want to see some small amount of shadow on one side of an actor or model's face to give them some extra 3D depth definition so use a three point lighting setup with a Key light on the camera right side (soft or hard spotlight your choice but the light should NOT blast out skin tones to bright white on camera - you should be able to see the actual skin texture no matter the actor or model's skin colour) , a soft fill that is a bit darker on the camera left side of the face to give a 3D effect and some softer back fill lighting on their shoulders to separate them from any background. To soften the light, use some SPUN light filters which DIFFUSE your lights. Use as many as you wish to soften any local harsh looking lights. If you have enough gel and spun sheets, you can also tape some gels AND/OR spun against windows or local built-in lighting sources to balance out or diffuse any overly harsh or super-bright incoming light.

ROSCOlux Soft Spun Filtersat $7 per sheet and get 15 sheets at least for a total of $105 US:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/43743-REG/Rosco_RS10611_106_Filter_Light.html?sts=pi


I personally like to use the Lowel Pro cinema lights but since I have 20 sets of them in our inventory, I don't have to worry about availablity BUT for those budget film makers who NEED to save a bit of money I DEFINITELY LIKE the MILWAULKEE TOOL brand worklights for on-set lighting and their AWESOME AND LONG-LASTING BATTERIES !!!!!

The above is of course for VIDEO SETS but if you're doing only stills then buy only four lights total, Two Spot Lights and Two flood fills plus gels, batteries and chargers for about $1200 total in costs!

I hope this helps!
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
===

Almost ALL modern lighting kits will work fine but what you need are the accessories which make the entire task of lighting your sets so much easier. The four things you MUST have onset are numerous sheets of colour correction gels such as CTO (Colour Temperature Orange), CTB (Colour Temperature Blue), CTG (Colour Temperature Green) which corrects your lighting to the available lighting or actual current lighting conditions such as 3200 degrees Kelvin (tungsten bulb-based older house lighting), 4200 to 4500 degrees Kelvin which corrects to tubular-based fluorescent lights STILL USED in many offices and industrial sites, and 6500 to 7500 degrees Kelvin which is bright sunlight. Then you need a light meter from Sekonic to allow you to find accurate light levels in Lumens and/or foot/candles and for video and stills, I say the best bang for the buck is the Sekonic Litemaster Pro L-478D-U for $313 US which works for BOTH still photography and video production.

Specifications:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...ic_401_474_litemaster_pro_l_478d_u_light.html

The reason you WANT a light meter and colour correction gels is to keep the LOOK of your colour and light the SAME across story-connected scenes and in order to do that you need to know how much light is being reflected off of various surfaces such as people's faces into the camera. Then you adjust your camera's iris (i.e. exposure setting) to match all scenes to a specific lighting level in Lumens. The light meter is a fancy portable luminance measurement computer giving you a simple numerical value which you match across all the rest of your related scenes once you set-in-stone your favorite lighting look.

The gels are put in front of the lights to ensure that the light reflected off of your subjects faces MATCHES what is being given off by local natural lighting such as the moon, the sun, candles, office and warehouse lights, street lights, etc. You're looking at about $80 for a good set of heat-resistant gels.
I personally always have THREE sets on me so I can have multiple versions of gels for each light I use in my 3-point light setups. YOU ABSOLUTELY WILL tear and lose some gels on any given shoot so ORDER AT LEAST THREE SETS ($300 US total!) i.e. at least ONE SET per major key, fill and flood light.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/838310-REG/Digital_Juice_DJ_CC_GEL_KIT_DJ_Gel_Kit.html

For lighting kits, I personally use the Lowel PRO series LED kits such as the following:

http://lowel.tiffen.com/kits/pro-led-3-light-ac-kit.html

These are expensive at $3200 US but they are built TOUGH and have never let me down, and since the come in their own shipping case that works great for me who does a lot of local AC powered filming in warehouses and industrial sites. If you want ALL battery powered lights then the

http://lowel.tiffen.com/kits/prime-location-pro-power-led-kit.html

with their battery accessories is OH SOOO GREAT for video and stills!

---

Now what I am about to say is a bit of cinematography heresy, but if you can't spend $3200 to $4500 per lighting kit, then these Milwaukee Tool worklights from Home Depot in USA and/or Canada will absolutely work for you IF YOU ALWAYS USE COLOUR CORRECTION GELS! Always check how much HEAT is given off the set lights to ensure your FIRE RESISTANT gels don't overheat, melt and/or catch fire from the worklights! You may have to offset the gels with a few extra centimeters/inches AWAY from the light surface itself to keep the gels cool enough.

$200 US - 3000 Lumens FLOOD light (Remember to get multiple batteries and battery chargers to save your shooting day!):

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p....ed-acdc-flood-light-tool-only.1001011621.html

and the

More spot-like TrueView LED light stand at 2000 Lumens and $250 US:

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.m18-trueview-led-stand-light.1001011522.html

TWO or THREE of each lighting type and ENOUGH EXTRA MILWAULKEE BRAND BATTERIES and BATTERY CHARGERS that match the lights being used on set to last a full 12-to-16 hour shooting day will work IF you ensure you ALWAYS use the colour correction gels. Usually you use CTB and CTO gels for daylight and interior sets so you will be spending about $1800 total on this lighting gear and batteries which will work wonders for you budget filmmakers!

For BOTH video and still photography, NOW SET THE WHITE BALANCE on your camera with a solid bright white card held against your subject's face to ensure proper skin tones in all sorts of lighting conditions. As a director, I literally want to see the whites of their eyes as being white and not some weird orange or blue colour so MATCH your gels to the available local light. AND as a director I want to see some small amount of shadow on one side of an actor or model's face to give them some extra 3D depth definition so use a three point lighting setup with a Key light on the camera right side (soft or hard spotlight your choice but the light should NOT blast out skin tones to bright white on camera - you should be able to see the actual skin texture no matter the actor or model's skin colour) , a soft fill that is a bit darker on the camera left side of the face to give a 3D effect and some softer back fill lighting on their shoulders to separate them from any background. To soften the light, use some SPUN light filters which DIFFUSE your lights. Use as many as you wish to soften any local harsh looking lights. If you have enough gel and spun sheets, you can also tape some gels AND/OR spun against windows or local built-in lighting sources to balance out or diffuse any overly harsh or super-bright incoming light.

ROSCOlux Soft Spun Filtersat $7 per sheet and get 15 sheets at least for a total of $105 US:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/43743-REG/Rosco_RS10611_106_Filter_Light.html?sts=pi


I personally like to use the Lowel Pro cinema lights but since I have 20 sets of them in our inventory, I don't have to worry about availablity BUT for those budget film makers who NEED to save a bit of money I DEFINITELY LIKE the MILWAULKEE TOOL brand worklights for on-set lighting and their AWESOME AND LONG-LASTING BATTERIES !!!!!

The above is of course for VIDEO SETS but if you're doing only stills then buy only four lights total, Two Spot Lights and Two flood fills plus gels, batteries and chargers for about $1200 total in costs!

I hope this helps!

What a great reply, Harry! As for Sekonic, we've already got L-308DC for our studio work, thought we are not using it much lately, as for stills, we already can handle our strobes pretty effectively.

Overal I think I get your messages. Generally speaking, ppl are putting maybe too much emphasis on the camera capabilities, forgetting there are other aspects, as proper lightning, color science, postprocessing, etc., which add up to the result.

From the brands you mentioned - never heard of them :) We will look into what we can get here on the EU market. Once again - thank you very much for such a deep reply!
 
Upvote 0
What a great reply, Harry! As for Sekonic, we've already got L-308DC for our studio work, thought we are not using it much lately, as for stills, we already can handle our strobes pretty effectively.

Overal I think I get your messages. Generally speaking, ppl are putting maybe too much emphasis on the camera capabilities, forgetting there are other aspects, as proper lightning, color science, postprocessing, etc., which add up to the result.

From the brands you mentioned - never heard of them :) We will look into what we can get here on the EU market. Once again - thank you very much for such a deep reply!

===

Since most lights in Europe will be between 75 to 350 lumens (due to EU energy savings rules) you will need to buy more lights to get to that magical 500 Lumens to 750 Lumens needed for most video and still photo lighting setups. Here in Canada, I tend to shoot at 1200 to 1500 Lumens but that's because I typically work industrial settings that are very wide open spaces which I why we bought the Lowell Pro series of cinema lights. For most office or studio setups, use your light meter and ensure at least 500 lumens reaches your subjects face so that at least 275 to 350 lumens will reflected off into the camera lens. Most cameras are sensitive enough that 500 lumens reaching your subject is workable but 750 lumens is a better working setup. If your LENS says it's say an F2.4 then stop it down to about F4 and use more light to keep the lens SHARP and not flaring so much. If it's an F1.4, then set it at F2. This type of stopping down ensures SHARPNESS at the frame edges.

If you are in Germany, then OBI Baumarkt in their Werkstatt department and most higher end worklights from Bosch, Osram or Luceco (80+ Euros) will work fine -- again get enough lights and batteries to reach at least 500 Lumens (preferably 750+ lumens) and add the gels to the lights. If you want to go high end for worklights then Festool does have some higher end battery-powered lights but those are at a PREMIUM PRICE for the Duo and SysLight systems which are VERY PORTABLE!

OBI Germany:
https://www.obi.de/arbeitsleuchten/renovierungsleuchten/c/2123

In the UK (Britain) look at B&Q or Homebase:

I suspect most of your lights will be Ryobi brand (which is part of the Milwaulkee tool group) or Bosch or Osram (which is a Siemens company). Just make sure you buy enough to reach 500 lumens or higher. Of course ALWAYS ENSURE you get enough batteries and battery chargers to support the average 12 to 16 hour filming day and ALWAYS use colour correction gels and soft spun. For SAFETY REASONS, ALWAYS keep the gels and spun AWAY from the direct surface glass of the light. I cut out pieces of heat resistant plastic border I can insert the gels/spun into and then keep the gels and spun about 5 to 10 cm AWAY from the glass surface using metal or heat resistant plastic clips. It depends upon the worklight and you MUST TEST FIRST to see how much heat is given off and how hot the plastic, gels, soft-spun and metal or plastic clips get after between two to three hours of lighting!

All the brands you see here and that I have specified in earlier posts can be ordered from almost anywhere else in the world, just make sure you have a valid physical mailing address and a Visa or Mastercard credit card when you order online. Remember to add shipping insurance. You WILL have to wait 3 to 4 weeks for your local Customs to clear the worklights if you ship by postal services only. If you don't mind waiting you can easily order online from Home Depot Canada/USA or from OBI Germany or from B&Q or Homebase UK and have it shipped to ANYWHERE else in the world. Shipping can take as little as 5 days if you ship by air and sometimes it's as quick as 7-10 days to clear your country's customs! If you ship by Fedex (Federal Express Courier) THEN you use the 7 Day express post services and YOU WILL get your items within that 7 days. It's a about 150 to 400 Euros depending upon size of package but it's worth the price!
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0