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Archive 2013 · CPS Open House

  
 
Gunzorro
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · CPS Open House


Many of you are probably already aware that Canon hosts various CPS Hospitality and Open House Events, which feature free Clean & Checks (in addition to annual coupons) for DSLR, Cinema and Video Equipment.

For the first time, I visited one of these events at the Canon Hollywood Professional Technology & Support Center, Hollywood, CA, as part of Canon's sponsorship of Cine Gear Expo 2013, held at the adjacent Paramount Studios.

The simple description I come away with is: WOW!

Not only did I get my 1D Mark III and 5D Mark II cleaned and checked (with updated shutter count) while I waited, I got to talk to very knowledgeable staff, and other knowledgeable Canon owners. Best of the whole experience was to be able to test shoot in the facility any of the cameras and lenses they had on display -- which was a wide range and all the newest stuff.

I mainly used the EOS 1DC body (a souped-up cinema version of the 1DX), starting with the "old reliable" EF 50/1.2L, and moving over to the cinema version 85/1.2L, and finally to the well known 200/2L IS. The very last thing I tried was the humble little G1X, wanting to see what the fuss was about in the macro and viewfinder complaints, and to see its IQ and handling. A pretty full slate for the 1.5 hours I spent there.

I'll post some pictures, but I wanted to say how terribly impressed I was with the 1DC, and also the 85/1.2 cinema lens blew me away shooting stills. Now I know why Jim Colwell, Petkal, and others give such high praise to the 1DX -- this camera is a focusing demon, and just from the camera LCD enlargements, I see the high ISO is amazing! The 85/1.2 is incredible with super-smooth long-throw focusing, and the incredible "clickless" completely manual aperture -- takes me back to the feel of a view camera image viewing. The lens is HUGE, but I'm a big guy and the camera/lens could actually work for me. I asked a lot of questions about the cine lenses.

Please post any of your experiences at Canon CPS events like this, or even your loaner and repair contacts. These all seem like incredible bonuses for being on the "Canon Team" -- terrific support and repair.

Anyhow, I'm off to LR to process some images and video (only 6 second clips because of my 400X card!). Part of the learning curve is that I had to update my LR to handle 1DC RAW files -- never thought I'd need that!

I know this will sound crazy to many of you, but if I could afford it, I would own a 1DC with its versatile 4k video and other options. Really an impressive machine for still and video!



May 30, 2013 at 03:17 PM
Gunzorro
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · CPS Open House


Some with the 1DC and EF 50/1.2L.

The second shot (light and beams, without exif) was a still pulled off a 6 sec. video clip.
























May 30, 2013 at 07:11 PM
Gunzorro
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · CPS Open House


More 50/1.2L shots.

First shot is from video clip.























May 30, 2013 at 07:16 PM
Gunzorro
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · CPS Open House


A few shot with the 85/1.2L cinema lens.

The first two show the EF 50/1.2L compared to the cinema lens 50/1.2L.
























May 30, 2013 at 07:20 PM
Gunzorro
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · CPS Open House


Besides the EF 50/1.2L, the EF 200/2L IS was my favorite to shoot with. This was my first time using the fast 200mm. Very impressive and well suited to the 1DC (1DX).





























May 30, 2013 at 07:27 PM
Gunzorro
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · CPS Open House


Very little time spent with the G1X, but enough to answer my questions/curiosity.

First to address the optical viewfinder complaints I've heard since the camera came out: Am I the weirdo here? Has no one else ever used a rangefinder camera, where part of the lens barrel obscures the view? No one used the old Fuji or Contax medium format models? Or even the earlier G-series? C'mon, whoever was bitching needs to grow up. Personally, I like have the optical viewfinder option, as it gives a clearer view on some subjects, and more stability jammed against forehead or cheek.

Second, the poor close focusing. Yes. Yes, it does have limited close focusing in "normal" mode. Yes, even the macro is only moderate, and nothing like the ultra-close-up macro of my G10 and other G-series models. But I find this in quite a few EF lenses too, or Alt -- not focusing as close as I want for some subjects, but by and large the G1X handles the majority of needs with easy, even if that means hitting the button to switch to macro (a common feature on the G-series).

The big plus is that the reason for the poor macro range is that the lens covers a super big sensor. No complaints, and if anything, I found in DSLR quality range. Nothing like the tiny little G10's sensor that falls apart on any ISO but 80. I love that little camera, but I can see one of these larger sensor models in my future for travel and knock-around.

Sorry for the boring discourse, but the little camera, as I suspected, has gotten a bad rap from some who obviously wanted it to be far more than it was meant to be.

Here are some comparative subjects at the wide and tele setting. I don't believe macro was invoked here, but it could have been -- I was rushing at the end of my visit.























May 30, 2013 at 07:53 PM
Gunzorro
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · CPS Open House


A couple more from the G1X. The last shot -- not bad for f/2.8 and hand held. The camera has very capable IS!

Sorry -- I know the G1X is dead and closed as a discussion point, but it is new to me.



















May 30, 2013 at 07:57 PM
rscheffler
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · CPS Open House


Very cool, would love to see something like this from CPS here in Canada.

So, the cinema version of the 85/1.2 reports EXIF aperture information? Can you set aperture via the camera body or do you only dial it in from the lens? This is one lens I think I might prefer as a manual focus version. While AF is definitely useful, a long, precise, manual focus throw would also be very nice to have. And the 11-blade aperture. The 8 blades in my original version of the 85 definitely take away from background blur circles with a very obvious octagonal shape.

Also, if the 1DC was a modest premium over the 1DX, say $1000-1500, I would definitely have opted for it instead of the 'normal' body.



May 30, 2013 at 08:28 PM
Gunzorro
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · CPS Open House


Ron -- For the cinema lenses, the aperture is totally manual, but it does register the selection in exif and show in the viewfinder -- no guessing, which is sort of important! And it is technically in T-stops.

Yes the 11 blades are supposed to very appealing OOF areas, and with 22 point stars for point light sources.

I love the long throw of the focusing.

The only thing that surprised me was some distinct color fringing (CA). It can be handled in stills, but would be more problematic in video.

The 1DX is out of my range, and the extra for the "C" is not inconsequential. Still, it is a wonderful camera and you get a good sense of where Canon is going on imaging technology.

Between shots, I spoke for quite a while with one of the CPS reps (forgot his name -- DOH! The fellow in the vintage B&W shirt with embroidered palm trees) and got an explanation of the general Canon game plan. No surprise the concentration has been on quality high ISO (not MP or DR) and professional video/film-making (and lens upgrades). High MP and DR are of lower concern to Canon, but they are aware of the demand. I mentioned my desire for higher MP (he asked how much, and I said 40+ MP), and he suggested pano/compositing -- I said I was already doing that and getting the final results I desired, but it is cumbersome for many subjects. I suggested rapid multiple exposures (via electronic shutter) stacked in an HDR-type fashion to lower noise and boost DR and rez (equiv to higher MP) -- he said matter-of-factly, "I don't know that that hasn't already been done." !!! So, who knows where Canon is headed exactly?






May 30, 2013 at 11:59 PM
Pixel Perfect
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · CPS Open House


Gunzorro wrote:
The only thing that surprised me was some distinct color fringing (CA). It can be handled in stills, but would be more problematic in video.



digic V+ handles that very well for video. It has plenty of power to do that.



May 31, 2013 at 12:11 AM
rscheffler
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · CPS Open House


The 85 has a lot of LoCA.

IIRC based on a Laforet blog post, some of the RED products do that very HDR thing, but I think with two exposures. It would seem a three image exposure bracket 12 fps burst might be sufficient, but it's a pain to have to then HDR them later.

I'm not in such a rush for more MP, but would like to see better dynamic range with much cleaner shadows from Canon for single frame 'HDR' adjustments. I don't think it hurts them quite so much in full frame, but my impression is the APS-C 18MP sensors are not cutting it compared to the current competition. I borrowed a Sony RX1 for a few weeks and it's insane what one can pull out of those files. Literally almost 2 stops highlight recovery without weird highlight color clipping and pretty clean shadows when pushed hard. At least cleaner than what I get from the 1DX with similar treatment. My gut feeling is the pursuit of better high ISO performance by Canon via CFAs tailored to that end, have resulted in somewhat poorer color fidelity.

Regarding 4K and the 1DC, maybe Canon's just trying to milk that price point while they can before the Blackmagic camera arrives, or the Sony.. granted, those aren't FF, but so what. If anything, I'd rather have 2K RAW output, though that comes with its own headaches of ginormous file sizes. Maybe the 7D2 will come with a 2.5K+ option to compete against the BM cameras...



May 31, 2013 at 12:35 AM
Gunzorro
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · CPS Open House


Ron -- You make some great points.

I can't see any reason for the nearly double price of the 1DC compared to the 1DX. It does have more features, and reworked computing, but not a completely new line.

There was zero interest when I asked about RAW video files.

I don't want to sound negative -- Canon is doing so much, and can't be expected to do it all. Still, the lack of interest in RAW video, improved stills rez and DR are kind of annoying while other makers concentrate their efforts along those lines.

My stupidest blunder of the day: Turning the 1DC into portrait orientation, and having it not fire. We'd been going over settings earlier to see if I could turn off the shutter button from starting video in LV mode (wanted to shoot stills with LV on), so I was aware some buttons/settings were not as I was used to. So I asked, "Is there a menu setting I need to change to make the vertical shooting work?", demonstrating repeatedly that I was trying to push the button with no effect. The CPS rep humorously pointed out the external switch near the vertical button needs to be turned to "ON" position! Ha-ha! I always leave mine on, so had forgotten it even existed!

I'm glad I don't get embarrassed easily in public, or else I'd be red all the time!

BTW -- my two cameras were cleaned great!



May 31, 2013 at 09:47 AM





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