Is Canon’s pro video camcorder form factor done?

[Don Scioli]

I will get in touch with you when you get the Sony. BTW, does Sony have similar picture adjustments as do Canons’, for example adjusting the gamma, knee, blacks, color, etc. I think is a big part of Canon’s strong picture quality output.

[Don Scioli]

Todd, you have pinpointed the problem we face today. Anybody can buy a cheap HD camera, turn it on and capture a good looking picture. But since 95% have no cinematic training, it ends of having no substance and creativity. And I have seen this even at the high level in broadcast TV and even features.

The plethora of low end people with HD cameras has created a glut of so called camera people or filmmakers who have no real idea what it takes. This has impacted our business at the low end, but a lot of these clients probably wouldn’t use video at all for their products if it didn’t cost only $500.

And the over concern with tech is BS. In film school, in the real world, we shot some great stuff using an Arri IIC or BL because we know how to do it to move the story along. I’m afraid story is a lost concept today.

[Blaise Douros]

There are various gamma settings available in most of Sony’s professional cameras, including settings for the knee and blacks. The FS7 allows you to load LUTs that you can either view only in the viewfinder or bake into the footage–part of the reason I got it. I will likely shoot with a base Rec.709 LUT on the Log footage for a lot of my day-to-day corporate talking head stuff, but when I have a more documentary or narrative project, that’s where shooting flat will be a bonus for me.

Todd, I agree with you that it’s not ALL about specs…but things like 10-bit 4:2:2 vs 8-bit can get important really fast if you need the ability to create looks in post.

But yes, a camera isn’t good unless it has a good driver!