Transitioning from Mark IV to C70-tips or resources?

[Usama Aslam]

Hello Neil,

Congratulations on getting the Canon C70!

It offers many advantages, such as better image quality, more creative control, and improved workflow. A wide range of features and settings can affect the exposure, colour, and overall look of your shots.

Here are some tips and resources to help you get started. Take some time to read the manual, watch tutorial videos, and experiment with the camera’s settings to get a better understanding of its capabilities.

It has a larger sensor than most DSLRs, which means it can capture more detail in shadows and highlights. However, this also means that the exposure settings and dynamic range may be different from what you’re used to. It’s essential to understand how to expose correctly and use the camera’s waveform and zebras to monitor your exposure.

There are several recording formats and codecs, including XF-AVC and MP4, and 8-bit and 10-bit. The choice of format and codec depends on the project’s requirements, storage capacity, and post-production workflow.

As for matching the look of your C70 and Mk 4, one approach is to try to use similar settings on both cameras.

Here are some resources that can help you get started:

Canon C70 User Manual:

https://th.canon/en/support/0304013401?model=4507C

Canon C70 Tutorial Videos for customising recording formats and exposure settings:

https://youtu.be/iZnDS7H0z6w

https://youtu.be/m3ENFqXCKMQ

https://youtu.be/JpDMF3LrlaU

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[Riccardo Luppi]

Hey Neil,

as a premise, I am assuming that with MK4 you are referring the 5D MKIV DSLR. Overall, though, my next advice will be good for any DSLR camera from canon recording in standard picture profile (Rec.709).

Overall, you should take advantage of the full capabilities of the C70 by recording in XF-AVC 10bit. To correctly expose while shooting with the C70 (assuming you are shooting in Log), you should reference the skintone. In particular, the areas of the skin that are on the lit side, but do not present a diffused or specular highlight. Those areas should be your 0 exposure point or in other words your middle grey reference. You can use the false colour of the C70 to nail that. If you don’t know how to access the false colour, you can reference page 82 of the user manual, that you can check here: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/2096455/Canon-Eos-C70.html?page=82

Also, if you are not familiar with exposure and middle grey, this video might help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsPnluz62So&t=10s

Coming now to the DSLR camera, again assuming you are shooting in standard picture profile, you should use your EV meter to make sure that the skin area that you set to middle grey in the C70 sits at 0EV for your DSLR. This way, you might still need to do contrast and saturation adjustments to match the two cameras, as every sensor works a bit differently, but you should have a solid starting point to start with.

If you need further help with the post-production aspect, please let me know!

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[Neil Orman]

Thanks so much, Usama and Ricardo! Usama, those were great tips and tutorials. It sounded like the first tutorial on automatic exposure settings like auto ISO and auto iris was generally recommending using those auto settings, which seemed different from the DSLR world, but sounds great if I understood that right. Just let me know if you or others disagree with my understanding there. Ricardo, thanks a lot for your detailed tips on how to achieve proper exposure with the C70, by referencing skintone, and also how to best match with the Mark 4. And you are correct, I was referring to the 5D MKIV DSLR. Just one last question on this, my employer is offering some paid training for us. Do either of you (or anyone else) recommend immersive courses like a C70 master class? Or some kind of similar in-person workshop? One of my limitations is I work as our sole video producer, and also work a lot on the same types of shoots, like interview tapings in the studio. So I’m wondering if anyone has benefitted from in-person courses or workshops, especially when the C70 camera is so different than the DSLRs I’m used to?

[Riccardo Luppi]

Hey Neil,

About dedicated training, I am not sure about in-person workshops. Personally, I do offer private consults but not specifically for the C70. For that, you might want to refer to your local Canon main partner/reseller as they might offer specific training.

That said, please keep in mind that the core is to understand the principles behind exposure and contrast with digital cameras. DSLRs/mirrorless and Cinema cameras might differ for a few settings (shutter speed vs shutter angle for example) but the sensors they use are the same and it is really a matter of understanding the colour science behind that. Once you do, the camera you use will not matter (if not by the learning curve to getting used to where all the buttons are).

Another great resource I would suggest is colour.training . They offer multiple courses on colour science and digital image processing. I’d recommend you check that out!

[Neil Orman]

Great tips and will do, thanks Ricardo! Very interesting on color science, and I could definitely could use some instruction there. Will look into all of it, thanks again!

[Neil Orman]

May I ask a last question on this? What’s the quickest way to white balance with the C70? With my Mark III or IV, I’d just snap a photo of a white card (or sheet of paper) near my subject’s face, and use it for the reference image to get the white balance. On the C70 I see different controls that still seem foreign after all my DSLR use. Will definitely look to learn more nuanced exposure methods like those Riccardo suggested above, but I’m just wondering what’s the quickest method while I learn those nuances to get a quick white balance (like for my test shots, without a subject in them)?

Thanks, Neil

[Neil Orman]

Never mind on that last question. I figured it out.

[Neil Orman]

I had a follow-up on this topic, on getting exposure and color right on 2-camera shoots with a Canon 5D Mark IV and Canon C70. I know that Riccardo’s helpful feedback here related to when one’s using the standard picture profile (Rec. 709) on the 5D, since clog isn’t available on that camera. My question was whether it would be better to try to use a flatter, less saturated and contrast-y picture profile on the 5D (rather than its standard picture profile), using its existing picture profile settings, or even try to download Magic Lantern, which I believe makes clog available on the 5D?

Thanks, Neil