C8 Cinema or Cinema Lock

[Ryan Holmes]

I’m assuming your C300 shoot has come and gone by now, but for the sake of others who may stumble across this thread:

From Canon’s website:
[Canon Website] “The difference between using CP CINEMA Locked mode versus setting the Custom Picture to C8 (CINEMA) is that once the camera is in the CP CINEMA Locked mode, you won’t be able to modify custom picture items such as gamma, knee, color matrix adjustment, etc. All of those settings are effectively “locked out.”

While it might seem like you are losing control of how your images are captured when using the CP CINEMA Locked mode, in actual fact you are both simplifying the production process and optimizing the final footage for post.

CINEMA locked is also ideal in multi-camera rental situations. By enabling this mode, the only settings that will need to be matched in camera are the ISO, aperture, shutter angle, bit rate/resolution and frame rate. With these matched, each camera will be capturing the same image and will be much easier to work with in post.

CP CINEMA Locked essentially treats your C300 like a traditional CINEMA film camera where you will meter, set ISO and other capture settings and then let the camera produce the most malleable images possible that can then be “color timed” or graded in post.”

So I think what it boils down to is whether or not you want to noodle with the control and color settings additionally for the Log format you’re shooting. If yes, use C8 Cinema and tweak away. If no, use CP CINEMA Locked and get to shooting. For all my work with the C300, we use CP CINEMA Locked. The footage has a perfectly cinematic look and feel, in my opinion. It’s not an overly video feel like a Sony, Panasonic, or JVC.

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost

[Estevan Horta]

Hi there! I had a question i was hoping to get some help with. I’m pretty new to videography and working with the canon c100 mark ii, so one thing im a little confused with the effects of having cinema lock on or off. I understand that by having it on you are in c-log and with the cinema profile (c9) enabled, it is the best way to get the most dynamic range. So if you are recording in cinema (c9) with cinema lock off, are you not recording in c-log?

Because I am fairly new however, i dont want to get stuck with the task of strenuous color grading in post, at least until i’m a little more familiar with the color grading process. But i also dont want to shy completely away from it, and want to still get the best cinematic (look) image as possible. So by shooting with the wide dr profile (c8), I understand that the post process will be a little easier. I’m wondering if i shoot with wide dr (c8) with cinema lock ON would be the best option. Or should i leave cinema lock OFF when shooting with wide dr (c8)??

[Ryan Holmes]

Until you get more used to the camera and to color grading in post, I would steer away from CP Locked looks. Those require more time to deal with in post. So create a custom profile that you like (or pick one of the default ones), and get to know the camera. As you get more comfortable with camera and color grading, then you can start to experiment with turning CP Locked “on” to flatten out your image.

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost