Is the 4K Sony FS5 a 1080p Canon C100 Mark II killer?

After yesterday's chart comparing the specs of the new Sony FS5 and the Blackmagic URSA Mini, I received feedback from a reader who thought a better comparison might be with cameras such as the $3495 JVC LS300, $4195 Panasonic DVX200 and $5499 Canon C100 Mark II.

I thought this was a good idea, and wanted to take a look at how the new Sony stacked up against the other non-RAW cinema camcorders in its price class, so here is part deux of the "affordable cinema camcorder side-by-side comparison" between the FS5 and its sub-$6000 competition.  The most interesting part of this comparison (for me, at least) is on the right side of the chart - between the similarly priced 4K Sony and 1080p Canon:

	JVC LS300	Panasonic DVX200	Canon C100 Mark II	Sony PXW-FS5
Street Price (Body-only)	$3495	$4195 (w lens)	$5499	$5599
OEM Viewfinder	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sensor Size	Super 35 w var. crop	MFT	Super 35	Super 35
Lens Mount	MFT	Fixed	EF	Sony E
Max Recorded Resolution	3840x2160 (free 4096x2160 upgrade)	4096x2160	1920x1080	3840x2160 ($ 4096x2160 upgrade)
Max HD Frame Rate	60fps	60fps	60fps	240fps
Codec	MPEG4 8bit 4:2:0 (4:2:2 HD)	MPEG4 8bit 4:2:0 (ext. 10bit 4:2:2)	MPEG4 8bit 4:2:0	XAVC 8bit 4:2:0 (4:2:2 HD, $ ext. RAW upgrade)
Shutter	Rolling	Rolling	Rolling	Rolling
Mic Input(s)	2xXLR w phantom	2xXLR w phantom	2xXLR w phantom	2xXLR w phantom
Headphone Output(s)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
SDI Out(s)	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Storage	2xSD	2xSD	2xSD	2xSD
In Body Stabilization	No	Yes	No	No
ND Filter	Yes	Yes	Yes	Electronic
Native Power Zoom	<$300 (3x)	Fixed (13x)	$31K	$548 (6x)
Still Photos	No	No	No	No
Weight	3.6 lbs.	5.95 lbs. (w lens)	2.5 lbs.	1.8 lbs.

Of course, specs alone don't tell the whole story. Manufacturer support, personal preference, ergonomics, legacy lenses and other factors all weigh heavily on the final decision whether to buy one camera rather than another. All of that said, based solely on specs and price, the C100 Mark II seems to be the clear loser here.

Sadly, despite its lack of competitiveness in resolution and frame rates, Canon continues to sell $5000+ 1080p, 4:2:0 Super 35 camcorders into what is increasingly a 2160p 4:2:2 marketplace.  With the introduction of the $2998 Sony A7s Mark II, the situation is arguably worse for them in the full frame DSLR arena.

Canon has successfully ridden their breakthrough 2008 video success with the 5D Mark II for 7 years. It will be interesting to see how long that ride continues.

As usual, if anything here has helped you to make a buying decision, please order through the links above. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help to keep these blog posts coming. Thanks so much for your support.

Which to buy - the $5499 Canon C100 Mark II or the $5995 Blackmagic URSA EF?

 VERSUS

When Canon introduced the Cinema EOS line back in 2011, they held a big Hollywood event, with expensively produced introductory videos and many of the luminaries of the industry in attendance.  They spent a lot of money and made a big deal of it - and rightfully so.  They were stepping into the big leagues of Super 35mm digital filmmaking with feature-rich and cinematographer-friendly cameras for pro Canon shooters who wanted to step up from DSLRs.

The price points for the new Cinema EOS cameras were high - but not unreasonable in a world where the competition was the then-aging Panasonic AF100 (with its small sensor and poor low light performance) and the newer Sony FS-100 with its strange top mounted LCD/viewfinder and boxy ergonomics.

And when the C100 was introduced a year later, it quickly became a DSLR upgrader's favorite - the only Super 35 camera you could buy below $10,000 with the compact form factor of a DSLR, but with no recording time limit, essentially no moire, built-in XLR jacks with decent pre-amps, a top handle and manual rather than menu-based controls of key camera functions.

And it was 100% compatible with the wide range of Canon EF lenses, which a lot of shooters had in their camera bags.

As a result, over the past couple of years, as the price for this camera dropped from the $6499 introductory price to the current $4499 (for the non-dual pixel autofocus version), Canon sold a lot of them.

But, over the past few years, the landscape has changed. Now we live in a world where $5995 will buy a Blackmagic URSA - an EF mount Super 35 camera with a global shutter and pro SDI out that records to UHD/60p 12-bit RAW.

In this world, it makes a lot less sense to announce a $5499 Canon C100 Mark II that records at a maximum 1080p resolution and 60fps frame rate to an 8-bit compressed codec - and doesn't fix the limitations of the C100's consumer HDMI output.

Nor, as far as I can tell, does it fix the C100's CMOS rolling shutter problem.

Admittedly, URSA is 10 pounds heavier, CFast cards are expensive - and shooting with a "big screen TV" in your face instead of a viewfinder is an acquired taste - but, for TV commercials and indie filmmaking, the URSA's feature set and image quality are competitive with the $20,000 C500 at the price point of a $5499 C100 Mark II with a Blackmagic HDMI to SDI converter.

To quote Filmmaker Magazine, the C100 Mark II "...would be an impressive upgrade — if this were coming out in December 2013."

Even leading C100 advocate and shooter Noam Kroll won't be upgrading.

So, above $10,000, value-conscious filmmakers will probably choose the "C300 killer", the $10,499 4K Sony PXW-FS7 with a 28-135mm f4 servo zoom instead of the $11,999 body-only 1080p C300.

While below $10,000, the $5995 UHD URSA seems to be a much better value for the money than the $5499 C100 Mark II.

If Canon fails to address the resolution/price gap with their competitors, Cinema EOS could very well find itself in the same straits as their DSLR line - where, led by serious shooters like Dave Dugdale and Caleb Pike, Canon shooters seem to be giving up on DSLRs and switching to mirrorless 4K (and 4K capable) Panasonic GH4s and Sony A7s in significant numbers.

As someone whose first video capable interchangeable lens camera was a Canon T2i, I still have hope that the company will step up to the challenge - but even if they don't, there are some great alternatives out there.

As always, if anything here has helped you to make a purchase decision, please shop using the links above or the displays below and in the margins. And even if you're not in the market for a new camera, please comment and make suggestions below. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help to keep these posts coming.

For the latest deals, news, tips and techniques, please follow HCR on Blogger, Twitter and YouTube and circle us on Google+. Thanks for your support of the revolution!