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If you’re relatively new to the video industry, this article will give you 3 basic points for working with the Canon C100 camera. We have been in the video production industry for over a decade and my colleagues and I have worked on everything from old MiniDV video cameras to using today’s technology. We film and edit videos for clients like Baskin Robbins, and Suzuki Canada. See our client list here.
I recently spent a day with the Canon C100 doing some guerilla filming. I had the opportunity to hang out with Vai Yu law, a long time friend who recently had her work published in the Jute Fashion Magazine (Click “buy digital free” Page 238)! We shot with Valentina Dang on hair & makeup, Lindsay Michaela as our model from Spot 6 Management, Henry Lee, our assistant photographer, Ashley Galang as our stylist, and Sania Somani as our assistant stylist. I’m so lucky to be on such a great team. Be sure to check out their work!
1) Canon C100 – A Sound Built Body:
Even though the Canon C100 was first introduced in 2012, it is still a great piece of video recording machinery. The day started out filming indoors and capturing people prepping for the day. The great thing about the camera is that the body is only about two pounds, so holding it for almost the entire day wasn’t as difficult as the Canon XL2 or XLH1 models. I had the camera stripped down to it’s standard components, the grip, body and the handle.
The Canon C100 has a durable body and handles like a DSLR. The toggles and buttons responds well to the user. I think people coming from a digital photography background will have no problem using this camera. The only concern was that on the top handle, the record button sometimes sticks (there are two other options for where you can press record, on the body and on the grip). The other problem was that the screws on the handle and grip kept coming loose during use. Canon needs a way to fix this as I constantly had to re-tighten.
2) The Nerd Talk:
The Canon C100 has the large super 35 sensor which can still record well in dark conditions. It is also compatible with EF lenses. I’ve upgraded my firmware to have the option to use the 80,000 ISO feature, however on that day it was not needed. The handle comes with two XLR inputs and can record with the option of having phantom power on or off. It also gives you manual and automatic audio control levels. The only thing I wish it had was the capability to record in 24bits of audio.
The Canon C100 records onto two SD cards. You can choose to record your footage onto both cards and when one fills up, it continues recording video onto the next. Alternatively you can have the two SD cards record the same content which is the option I chose. I can record five hours of footage on one card so I knew I had plenty of space. It’s better to have a backup source, in case one card fails.
The camera films at 24 mb per second in the AVC codec. Although the Apple prores codec seems to be the norm these days, this codec loads fast and has no problems with most computers. If you’re doing rush – on the fly shoots, can’t afford the computer power and require the editing to be done quickly this format will work well.
3) The Handling:
I found that one of the good thing with the onboard mic was that I didn’t pick up any severe handling noises. I also brought another lens that day, however, since we were heading out to the sand, I was hesitant to change any lenses out there. I stuck with the popular 24-105mm which the camera performed really well with.
We needed to grab unexpected shots of people working, mingling and having fun, so the camera needed to be mostly on and ready to hit record. The battery level drained slowly throughout the 8 hour day. Even with the screen flipped out periodically, I only used two standard batteries and the 2nd one still had juice in it by the end of the day.
In summary, the Canon C100 is a great one person operated camera. Even though there are 4K cameras out today, you still can’t go wrong with this price point if you’re starting out in the industry. If you have some knowledge with cameras, it’s very easy to learn the functions even without a manual. It’s small enough that you don’t get a lot of attention when you whip out the camera in public spaces, unlike the older Canon XL2 MiniDV cameras. It has a large CMOS sensor which can capture a lot of light and great audio functions. The camera uses fairly inexpensive media, the codec does not require tons of computing power, and the lens mount is a popular one so you don’t have to purchase extra adapters. I personally can’t ask for more with this camera in this category.
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Anyways, enough talk and check out the making of Smother!