Dogtown

You might be better of keeping your F3, the prices are so low now it could make you cry   besides the Canon C100 II, with the limit to 8 bit out is still nice, but it's not the 10 bit of the F3! I like the locking SDI connectors on the Sony, the C100 HDMI is too weak. The C100 original and C series cameras are lovely cameras, but you have more DR range shooting RGB S Log, with the F3. The Sony F5 would be a nice upgrade path, but it gets bulky when you add on the extras.

Sony EX1 -EX3 and Letus 35mm spinning adapter, or the SG Blade, these did suck up a lot of light but looked great!

I do like my F3, ( I have three of them now for multicam shoots ) I find for WEB and TV it has all the resolution I need, the image is wonderful going out to my Odyssey 7Q+ S Log RGB 444, it does have a great film like image when handled well, It is built tough and has so many solid HDSDI connections, just make sure you get the RGB S Log upgrade either installed already, or with the key! If I want to step up to a client that request 4K I bought a Canon C500, I do find 2K to be more than enough for everything I'm shooting these days. Some good information on the old F3 is out there.

F3 in fact has a 3.4-3.6 megapixel sensor. And from further reading it seems engineers find that, while very small pixel pitches bring with them increased noise, once you reach a reasonable size -- 4-6 microns -- the benefits of larger pixel pitches in terms of noise are reduced. Thanks for the comments -- that's exactly the kind of info I was trying to suss out.

Here is the full read:

http://nofilmschool.com/2011/03/sony-f3-times-light-gathering-ability-red

I also used SugarSync, but they started to have issues, as in my cleats could not always access the files I sent? Anyway Dropbox has been very solid for those clients, I often send 5 segments each file 5GB and it uploads really fast, I do have Fios at about 75-100 Mbps so that helps, the files I'm sending are 422 ProRes, I love it when things work!

Dropbox has been great for me, I do not like how it re instals itself after you trash it from security privacy, in your system preferences accessibility section on my mac? 

Looks like you had a lot of fun with the shoot! I just bought a C500 and the Odyssey Q7+, I had started a thread over on DVXUSER Fan noise be gone! There is a solution to the fans on the C500 that kick in 7-10 minuets in while recording in 2K and 4K mode:

http://mattporwoll.com/problems-solved/

I bought one of these units through AbleCine here in LA, the fan system looks streamline on the C500, and even better it works and is super quite while on! You can read all about the fan noise in the DVX thread, it goes back to some other thread spinoffs that talk about solving the fan noise issue. Now I can roll on those long winded interviews without that dreaded fan whining noise kicking in recording in 2K or 4K  

I look at the digital cameras of today, as the film stock (recording medium) so I think of how clean the image will look at the cameras rated base ISO, then how far you can push that digitals cameras ISO before it becomes ugly (a noisy digital image) and and hard to grade. I come from the Sony, and Ikegami, betacam days, where we rated the base shooting with gain -3,0,3,6, db, and so on. Then came the 24p look with the sony F900, and the Panasonic DVX 100, this is when we started to bring the cameras ISO rating  back into play. It's still easy to get confused. We still love our fast lenses, and would chose these over slower lenses, so not to have to add the digital gain, or use a higher ISO's that would induce a noisy image, this was mostly in run and gun scenarios where you needed to shoot in available lighting.  

I hope Dave, tells in which way he feels the Canon C Series are slow? You can really push these cameras to1600 ISO with no digital noise problems. 

I saw an automated add, you know how they pop up these days while your checking your Facebook page, and it was from B&H saying Canon 1DC on sale this coming Friday $4,999 It may have been a little cheaper, I can't find that add anywhere today? This was yesterday  October 30th

IronFilm, I decided to go with the Odyssey Q7+ I have an F3 as well and on the site of Video Devices, for cameras supported it stated 720p for the F3 only? I called them and have not got the call back from their support team on weather the Pix E5 does capture the 444 RGB 1080p 10-12 bit through the single SDI F3 output. When I hear back I'll post their reply.

Okay, I think it's time to go or the C500 I'm going to by a new one as you get a warranty! even though you can get these now used as low as $4,000 I anything could happen knowing murphy's law. So spending the extra for new is worth it. It's a big jump but I feel one that will keep myself and clients very happy. I decided to also spring for a PIX E5, and just go for the 10 or 12 bit 444 up to 60p it look's like you can access this with one 3G SDI port! Anyway I'll keep you posted with my happy C500 trails n tales.

Broatch  

Hard not to get emotional when we are so close to losing such a beautiful tool for telling stories. 

I do luv the F5-F55 just something about the color, especially when in mixed lighting temperatures that the Canon seems to handle better? I"ll have to do a side by side before I buy my next camera.

It's great to get all the feedback from other forum members! Makes you think twice before putting down the cash.

Broatch

Talking sony and Cinealta, what's your feeling on the F5 and F55, these are the other two Sony cameras worthy of a look, maybe used as the new price is still a bit high. That new Zeiss 20 100 might be a nice lens for the C500 coming in at $9,900. Always an investment dollar wise the higher end camera packages. The last time I spent a lot was back in the Panasonic HDX900 day, that camera was $29K and then you needed two zooms!   

Those are some great pros and cons Ben, and when it comes to those inpatient we need to roll now clients, knowing that when the client gets to post they will have what they need for a quick edit. I find most of my clients need a what you see is what you get delivery with little time for CC in post, unless it's for broadcast or commercial, so I find myself shooting a PP profile with the F3, and WDR with the canon's. I'm leaning to picking up more commercial work, along with some short feature work this coming year, so I want to be able to offer the 4K and a better over all picture. So many options out there, but I'm leaning towards this C500 set up.

Broatch

Kino, thank you for posting these fine examples of images from the C500. I think the color pallet coming from this camera is wonderful, the 2K those last three spots were shot in was WOW! Knowing you need some great glass to focus the image on that sensor to get the WOW, I wonder what new options there are that won't be twice as much as the C500 + Odyssey?

And a big thank you Jimmy, that Man Beast was beautiful, I had seen a behind the scenes on the making of that when the C500 first came out, along with Steve Poster's, Rhythm of Life (stunning in 4K)  

I'm shooting now with a Sony F3, along with a Zeiss ZF kit of primes, along with a Nikon 35-70 and a Nikon 80-200. I love the image i'm getting with this kit, but want to up the game and capabilities next year.

Broatch  

I think with the option of great 1080 HD internal, and then coupling with an Odyssey Q7+ the codecs available are amazing for the price point! Then you could add a Zacuto Gratical Eye, and still be under $13k with a brand new camera under warranty. I'm just not sure about the C300 MarkII? Then I also like the Sony F5 (used) 

I've seen great footage from both the C500 and the F5, I do like that canon MOJO in respect to a more film like looking image, seems you need to do a little more with the CC on the Sony cams. 

I noticed that B&H, and most other north American camera sales houses are selling brand new Canon C500 EF cameras for only $6,999

Sounds like a great deal? Add an Odyssey Q7+ and you're 4K ready. 

Broatch

Amook,  If you are going to shoot S Log with the F3 you are going to want to record to an external recorder! You need the 10bit and 422 color space to record the S Log picture, if you use the the internal F3 codec which is a 420 compression, when in the S Log mode you will not be getting all the information ( bits and color information ) you need. There is a lot of information on exposing the F3 when shooting S Log, do a search. Here is a basic explanation of the F3 and S Log by Andy Shipsides of Ablecine.

http://blog.abelcine.com/2011/08/04/f3-s-log-part-1-on-the-charts/

And here is another post talking about the F3 and S Log on DVX

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?269977-Do-I-need-a-Gemini-or-Ki-Pro-Mini-to-Use-the-S-LOG-Firmware-Update-on-the-F3

Good luck.

Broatch

Don't forget with the Sony F3 you are going to want to get a solid 10 bit recorder, such as an Atomos Blade, or even better Pix E5, with which you could run 3G SDI, and get the 422 1080P 60P footage, for slow motion, with one cable! The best recorder would be the convergent design Odyssey Q7+, but that's some extra weight. I think the F3 is a rock solid camera.

Broatch Berry

Venice CA 

Coupled with the Convergent Design Odyssey Q7+ with the RAW enabled in both camera and recorder, this is an awesome camera set up!

I would love to use AVCHD with my old macbook pro 2010, and with my late 2012 iMac, but working in Premiere Pro be it CS6, or CC, if I try and do FX ( Magic Bullet ) or color correction, even light work the AVCHD is so slow! So I always when working with AVCHD now transcode with Clipwrap, or 5dtoRGB, (mostly Clipwrap) and keep the transcode at 422.

If I do have the option and I know I'll be doing a grade or FX, with the C100 I'll record to and external recorder ProRes 422.

I believe in testing, but I also do my research and take advice from a lot of these amazing camera forums, it has saved me a lot of time and testing.

Now using the mercury playback engine is another topic and covered at adobe forums ( when using Premiere ) The CC Premiere Pro version supports Mercury playback, I found the older Premiere Pro CS6 was not supported on my iMac?  

Broatch Berry

Venice CA

screamingdime.com

So my lingering questions are:
If I transcoded to ProRes, can I expect my system to bog down less? Yes, you will be much happier!
If I transcode, would I want to use 5DtoRGB which is said to have a very good 10bit conversion processor? ClipWrap and EditReady are much faster on the transcode. 

I already have ClipWrap and 5DtoRGB. 5DtoRGB worked great with my older GH2 AVC codec, with the Canon C100  AVC codec, I noticed little difference from the ClipWrap files and the 5DtoRGB files? I also recorded out of the C100 to my Nanoflash recorder ( XDCAM HD 422, 100mbs Long Gop ) the Nanoflash had a richer cleaner (less noise in the blacks) look.

Also unless you are doing major VFX or color CC don't waste the space and go for ProRes 422. 

Broatch Berry

Venice CA

screamingdime.com