Default Yesterday 08:24 AM
Right now is not the time to make this decision, the time will be in a few weeks once we all see footage from the EVA 1. I bought the C200 because I needed a 4K camera right away for some projects under way and so far, it's pretty good. I am working on a big review for HD Video Pro but just quickly:
Likes
1. DPAF is killer, it's like magic at how good it is. I shoot a ton of interviews, often the producer likes shallow DOF so as to minimize marginal looking BGs that have not been art directed. I often get people in the chair, really high profile people, who are like a caged cat, they "pace" within the chair while sitting down, meaning they are moving side to side or toward the interviewer and away, sometime even rocking. With one touch AF on the C100/C300, I was still occasionally missing focus when the subject moved forward 10" and in the EVF, on the flip out LCD and on my Ninja Blade screen, they still look sharp. But looking at the footage on a large monitor, at times, the focus was slighly off. DPAF with face tracking is a Godsend for these subjects, the camera does all of the work for you. This is worth a lot to me.
2. Overall, if you are a Canon shooter, you'll feel right at home. The menus mostly make sense and are logical.
3. On body XLRs are really, really nice, I hated having the XLRs on a handle with the C100 and C300/300 MKII
4. While I have only played with Cinema RAW Light, I actually have two ongoing projects that we have decided we are going to shoot on Cinema RAW Light. So far, I bought three 256GB CFast 2.0 cards. At 34 minutes each, that gives me 102 minutes of recording time. THe 512GB Ego disk cards are shipping in a couple of weeks, I am picking up two of them and one more 256GB so I will have a total of 272 minutes of RAW recording times, 4 hours and 32 minutes. That is enough for my average shooting days on documentaries. We wil shoot Cinema RAW Light, archive the CRM files and edit everything pretty much with the 2K proxies in C-Log 3, conforming for the RAW at the end of the process. it's like money in the bank. Sure, we'll have to buy more hard drives but the Cinema RAW Light footage looks pretty great.
5. The built in 8-bit .MP4s, as others have said, look really nice. Yes, they are 8-bit so you have to get your WB and exposure really close but I've been doing that for years with the C100 and C300 so not a big change for me. I shoot plenty of material for clients who don't care about 8-bit versus 10-bit and like the convenience of skinny .MP4 and if it looks good but is "under spec", they really don't care. I rarely shoot for broadcast and I have shot a lot of broadcast in the past with the C100/300. I would rather have 10-bit, of course, but there is always the option of shooting Cinema RAW Light or hooking up my Ninja Blade for 10-bit 1080 or renting/buying a Ninja Inferno for 8-bit to 10-bit recording at 4:2:2. I just think the lack of an internal 10bit is not a deal breaker for me, although if it is for you, get a 10-bit internal camera, simple. So many people huffing and puffing on how the C200 SHOULD have a 10-bit codec internally. SHOULD is a useless none word, all it symbolizes are people's wishes and I like the word wish much better than should. The internal on the C200 is 8-bit. Accept it or move on.
6. Nice having AES/EBU inputs on a camera again.
7. REALLY nice having extended NDs like the C300 MKII. I feel Panasonic missed an opportunity by only giving the EVA 1 six stops of ND. Often in bright daylight, I would have to add an external ND3 or ND6 to get the exposure I want without setting the camera's gain down, losing dynamic rannge, usually when you need it most, in nuclear bright sun.
8. I've been doing some shoots lately with a borrowed C300 MKII and the C200. They can match pretty well in C-log 3 but it is striking at how much taller and heavier the C300 MKII feels, I really am happy with the size, footprint and weight of the C200 in comparison.
Dislikes
1. No more quick menu access to WB, ISO, Gain by pushing the grip joystick in. Loved this on the C100. But the C300 MKII doesn't have it either so oh well.
2. Whenever I switch from shooting .MP4 to CFast, then switch back to .MP4, the camera defaults to 60p, not 24p where I was shooting both the .MP4s and CFast. Hasn't stung me yet but it could. Easy firmware fix.
3. The LA-V1 LCD Attachment Unit is flimsy and fiddly. I can't want to replace this with something from Zacuto, Wooden or Small HD. The idea is good, a bracket that lets you position the LCD touchscreen wherever you want, but the execution is not good. As Morgan noted, unless you have a really light touch, you can see the tapping on the screen in the image. It can be mitigated somewhat by centering the LCD screen over the handle upside down, like where the screen is on the C300 MKII or by just using the grip joystick instead but that negates having the touch screen. Not a deal breaker but it could have been better thought out. They do get points for putting to 1/4" 20 mounts on the screen itself, you could mount it off camera on your tripod handle possibly or on a gimbal?
4. The DC power in jack is flimsy and occasionally loses power when being fed by a V-Mount on my camera, when I move the camera. Battery plate, battery, cable connection and camera are brand new, there is really no excuse for this to happen. So I have to keep the BP-A30 on the camera, charged as a backup for then the camera momentarily loses battery connection. This is lame. It has also been a complaint on the C300 MKII. So Canon should re-engineer this power connector and retaining sleeve for the next camera.
5. The camera's defualt is to ship with the control menu set so that Magnify goes out the HDMI and SDI connector, ruining any external recording by recording the Magnified screen. Setting the camera to NOT do this is unintuitive and I have noticed that even when I reset it, once the battery has been removed from the camera, it defaults back to magnifying the output and I have to manually remember to go back and set the assignable button to NOT send magnify out the HDMI and SDI. Could easily be remedied through a firmware upgrade.
No camera is perfect and overall, it is a great camera to shoot and work with. The AU-EVA 1 looks to be a different approach and mindset, which could be better or worse for you, depending on your priorities and style. Honestly, everyone pissing and moaning why the C200 SHOULD have an internal non-RAW 10-bit option, just buy the EVA 1. It does. The C200 doesn't and apparently never will. Get over it, move on with your life. It will be interesting to see if the EVA 1 has a quantifiably better image than the C200 with it's higher resolution oversampled image and Panasonic Varicam-like color science. The dual ISO is really cool and a very useful feature. Everyone I know who has shot with the Varicam LT or 35 raves about the dual ISO, it is that good. Native ISO 2500 is a killer feature that no Canon camera has. Varicam color is a feature that no Canon camera has. For me personally, I am enjoying the C200, it is making me money. I plan on getting a hold of the EVA 1 as soon as one is available and trying some shoots with it. If it turns out to be a better fit for my needs than the C200, I will sell the C200 and buy an EVA 1. If not, I will keep the C200. The only real things about the EVA 1 that give me any hesitation are the lack of DPAF, it will be interesting to see how useful the one-touch AF is on the EVA 1, and the lack of EVF. If you add a good EVF to the price of the EVA 1, you are knocking at $10k. Then again, the higher end SDXC cards for the EVA 1 are cheaper than the CFast 2.0 cards for the C200, I already have $900.00 into three of those and plan on adding another $1,400.00 worth. The Canon batteries for the C200 are just plain not a good value but there are no alternatives other than feeding it V-Mounts and Gold Mounts. The batteries for the EVA 1 cost less and are a better value.
So many pluses and minuses for each camera but the EVA 1 needs to prove itself by generating impressive images, which I think it will. If I had the money, I would love to own both cameras and use them for different purposes. But as it is, I will be a C200 owner until probably the end of the year. Then will see if the EVA 1 can sway me back over to Panasonic (I have owned several Panasionics P2 cameras, the DVX100A and I shot with the Varicams as rentals for years). Just depends on how it performs.
Last edited by puredrifting; Yesterday at 11:30 AM.