This weekend I bought a Canon C100. I once thought this camera was ridiculously overpriced and didn’t even consider it as an option, but have recently completely changed my mind, thanks to some recent shooting I’ve done directly with the camera. I literally did a 180 with this camera and it’s now one of my favorite cameras – right up there with the Blackmagic cinema cameras. In a future blog post, I will do a more complete review of this camera, specifically comparing it to the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, as many shooters are deciding between these two cameras (although they are Very, very different animals). For now, though, I want to share some quick thoughts on my initial reaction to one of the camera’s most impressive features, it’s extremely high ISO range.
One of the main reasons I purchased the C100 was its low light capabilities. I come from an MFT background, and while my GH2/GH3/Blackmagic and other cameras are generally better than Canon/Sony cameras in terms of resolution and general image quality, one area where they always fall short is in low light. The smaller sensor size, combined with other variables, meant I would never be able to shoot under street lights as well as I could with the 5D MKIII. This has never bothered me too much because in most cases I don’t want (or need) to do this. But there are situations where it’s necessary, and ultimately it’s important to me that I have a camera that can shoot at very high ISO without making too much noise, especially considering what I’m about to do A specific project requires me to shoot this way.
Not long ago, when I decided to buy a C100, I had not heard that Canon was planning to release a new firmware (1.0.2.1.00), which among other features would extend the ISO range up to 80,000. For me, the current regular ISO limit of 20,000 is enough, at least on paper. I can’t imagine going above 5000 or even 6400, especially considering my other cameras top out around 1600. . Once I got great results at 20,000 ISO, I immediately updated the firmware to see how far I could push the extended ISO range. It finally blew me away.
As you might imagine, ISO 80,000 is too noisy for narrative work, even with extensive noise reduction applied. However, you can use it for documentary work. Images are still grainy, but often when shooting files, content is much more important than image quality, and this camera can really see in the dark. Shooting at 80,000 ISO I could focus on a car parked far away in shadow that I couldn’t even see with my naked eye, but on the viewfinder I could read the license plate and see the inside of the car. This is absolutely crucial for many shooting situations and opens up a lot of possibilities.
To get an idea of how noisy 80,000 ISO is, take a look at this photo I took last night overlooking the Los Angeles Valley. This is using a Tokina 11-16mm 2.8 lens. I purposely used a 2.8 lens instead of a faster glass lens to really push it to the extreme:
This is a photo taken with the camera of my iPhone. Notice how bright the image on the screen is compared to the city lights in the background:
So while 80,000 may not be suitable for narrative work, the good news is that with noise reduction, you can shoot at up to about 51,200 ISO. I definitely don’t recommend taking multiple shots here and there, but if you’re in a pinch you can get pretty solid results by shooting this high and using a plug-in (like the one I use Neat Video) for some serious noise reduction . Another point to consider is that if you’re shooting with street lights on a relatively fast lens (such as F1.4 or 1.8), you probably don’t need to go over 20,000. It could be 30,000 in some cases, up to 51,2000 for very specific shots. But even under streetlights, 80,000x on a wide-aperture lens will actually overexpose your highlights, and in some cases you can get overexposed even at 20,000x.
Here are the photos taken at ISO 51,200 without noise reduction (remember this was at F2.8!):
This is achieved by reducing noise and slightly crushing blacks:
It’s probably not perfect, and there are some artifacts in the sky (more noticeable on stills than when played back as a video file, actually), but it’s useful for quickly inserting shots. Remember, it took me about 10 seconds to reduce the noise. With more effort and more careful tweaking of the settings, this might have produced cleaner results.
So is this a feature I will use regularly? Absolutely not. I don’t recommend this to anyone, whether you’re shooting a documentary or a narrative film. But having it is absolutely amazing. It opens up the possibility of shooting in the dark where there are few options on other cameras. It also makes shooting at “lower” ISOs (10,000, 20,000) look less scary. By the way, I can tell you that this camera is very clean at ISO 20,000. Yes, there is some noise, but in my opinion, at 3200 ISO it’s less than on most digital SLRs, and the post mode seems to make it easier to reduce noise.
In case you were wondering, the expanded ISO range isn’t the only feature the C100 adds. Here is the complete list of new firmware updates:
- 1. Ability to use the MAGN function to move the magnified viewing area around the LCD.
- 2. Added ISO up to 80,000.
- 3. Added key lock menu setting, which can now lock all operations, including the start/stop button.
- 4. Peripheral illumination correction data has been added for seven (7) Canon cine lenses (EF mount) and eleven (11) Canon EF lenses.
- 5. The internal camera menu can now be controlled via buttons on the camera body. Previously, they could only be controlled via a joystick handle unit.
- 6. except [EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM]the ability to continuously focus and correct aperture on a subject in the center of the screen when one of the two EF STM lenses is attached has been expanded to include [EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM] lens.
For those of you who already own a C100, you can Download Canon’s new firmware here.
If you don’t have one yet and are in the market to buy one, Be sure to grab one from B & H for $5499!
I’ll be doing a more thorough review of the camera with some low light testing, so check back soon. Now, please check out my 10 Affordable Lenses for Shooting in Extremely Low Light Conditions.
