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Canon XC10 4K camcorder


Andrew Reid
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They have been using it for quite some time with great results. Definetelly shows a segment where the camera is great.

This is mainly a "film maker" forum. But we sometimes seem to forget that not everyone of Panasony and Canikons customers are. 

Some are videomakers like Jared and some are still photographers, again like Jarred.

Thats why I sometimes have an issue with the "only an idiot would..", "thats crap because..." and "why does Canon..." type of attitude on every single product that doesnt also serve as a perfect tool for shooting a narrative movie.

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Hi , long time lurker but this is first post. 

I shoot mainly motorsport events, so I usually work in full daylight (hopefully sunny) so lowlight is not a necessity.

In my career i went from Canon XL1 and sony betacams to Panny GH1, then GH2 , and last year BMPCC.

Being a very uncontrolled situation, I know dslr's aren't the best camera for my job, but since the GH1 I can't go back working with small chip camcorder looks. I had no problem with the GH1 and 2 , while the BMPCC is stretching it a bit too far, I miss a tilting screen and in certain situations Aperture priority mode. I need to move quickly and am a one man band, usually no tripod, just a homemade chest type rig.For interviews with the drivers I usually just pull them out of the car after the finish and have a Robe videomic on a magic arm to get it closer to subject.

So, after this long intro, I am asking those who have / do own a XC10 if it is the right camera for this type of work. I would use it mainly in 1080 50P so i can use slomo, final output is for youtube only, sometimes resized to 720p because of crap internet in italy.

My alternative is the sony rx10 II mainly for the 100fps option, but i really don't like sony colours, plus it seems that canon lens stab. is better.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/14/2016 at 9:59 AM, Mattias Burling said:

They have been using it for quite some time with great results. Definetelly shows a segment where the camera is great.

This is mainly a "film maker" forum. But we sometimes seem to forget that not everyone of Panasony and Canikons customers are. 

Some are videomakers like Jared and some are still photographers, again like Jarred.

Thats why I sometimes have an issue with the "only an idiot would..", "thats crap because..." and "why does Canon..." type of attitude on every single product that doesnt also serve as a perfect tool for shooting a narrative movie.

Kept my word and returned to the XC10.  I love it.  The first time I had it i didn't play with the setting enough to learn how to shoot with it properly.  It is an awesome little camera that is very underrated. Here are some stills created from its 4k clips.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

In camera sharpness test.  There was a slight error with the video clips.  The first 4 clips are with sharpness to the max and is too sharp...but the rest is with sharpness set at +4.  This should put to rest the idea that this camera is a soft 4k camera.

 

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2 hours ago, jpfilmz said:

In camera sharpness test.  There was a slight error with the video clips.  The first 4 clips are with sharpness to the max and is too sharp...but the rest is with sharpness set at +4.  This should put to rest the idea that this camera is a soft 4k camera.

 

Looks really nice. How smooth are you able to get zooms on this camera? Is it possible to get a motorized zoom look?

The color and detail is really nice, the quality of the lens shows when it is pointed towards a blown out light source. This could depend on the f stop, etc, but wide open towards the sky doesn't look so hot.

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4 hours ago, jpfilmz said:

In camera sharpness test.  There was a slight error with the video clips.  The first 4 clips are with sharpness to the max and is too sharp...but the rest is with sharpness set at +4.  This should put to rest the idea that this camera is a soft 4k camera.

 

Did you use any noise reduction in your video? I'm asking because I finally got around to renting one, and while I'm closer than ever to making a purchase, my one reservation is the amount of chroma noise in some of my HD footage...1600 ISO, I think it was...which is something I've not seen reported elsewhere. (But maybe it's par for the sensor size / ISO course.) You can see a bit of what's going on in this guy's throat...though it's deceptive because of the speckled coloration of the tiny feathers underneath.

Still0527_00001.png

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Cute bird :)

I find the noise a lot better in 1080p mode with Canon LOG enabled, you can even go up to 6400 with that combo. In the other picture profiles not to much, 1600 is the max, 800 better.

On 14 April 2016 at 4:59 PM, BrorSvensson said:

tbh i'd buy the xc10 anyday over the a6300

It's just not a good comparison anyway. The A6300 is a completely different kind of tool. It's an interchangeable lens camera for starters. The XC10 is a 10x zoom camcorder designed to be used handheld for the most part, whereas the A6300 is an APS-C stills camera that just happens to have a sensor which shoots very nice 4K video, it won't give a user experience to match the Canon, nor is it quite the shot-getter without the fuss but it will give you the look of Super 35 and all those different looks from various lenses. The XC10's lens is a good all-rounder but nothing special aside from it's small size and useful 10x zoom range.

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  • 1 month later...
On February 26, 2016 at 7:52 AM, Kubrickian said:

I recently had to travel around Europe on a job documenting Study Abroad classes. The XC10 made it easy and pleasurable. This was shot in all 1080 c-log, not 4k if you'd like to check it out.

 

Really nice work. I read that you used a Rode VideoMic Pro, did you have to use the +20db function?

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8 hours ago, mercer said:

Really nice work. I read that you used a Rode VideoMic Pro, did you have to use the +20db function?

Thanks. No, I would just leave the mic on 0db with about +32 on the volume in the XC10. Part of the reason the vocal track sounds good in that video is a solid multi-band compressor applied in Premiere with about +3db treble. Then I also put an EQ on the music taking about -8db out of the 3000 and 7000 bands so the voice cuts through it. 

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38 minutes ago, Kubrickian said:

Thanks. No, I would just leave the mic on 0db with about +32 on the volume in the XC10. Part of the reason the vocal track sounds good in that video is a solid multi-band compressor applied in Premiere with about +3db treble. Then I also put an EQ on the music taking about -8db out of the 3000 and 7000 bands so the voice cuts through it. 

Very nice, it worked great. I am contemplating picking up the XC10. I recently bought the BMMCC, which is an amazing camera except for anything run and gun. I miss being able to have the camera in the passenger's seat and pull over to grab some shots. I also have an opportunity to shoot some small events as a B or C cam to some C100s. I watched a few of your other Lynn University videos and loved how seamless the XC10 footage integrated with the rest of the footage, even with the BMCC 2.5. So I would use the BMMCC for anything small and controlled... Micro shorts and the XC10 for larger, run and gun pieces. Are there any quirks you have encountered?

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The focus-by-wire was inaccurate and finicky sometimes but I think the recent firmware update has improved that a lot. As long as you shoot within the lens' limits it's a fantastic camera. Don't expect it to be a lowlight monster. I often set the lens to F4 and use it as a 24-70 F4. The stills JPEGs are nothing to write home about, but suitable for social media postings. I use it as a b-cam to my C100 Mark II, but it's more than adequate to be an A-cam on a quick interview too. C-log I think is its biggest selling point. 

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I downloaded some c-log from it and I was surprised how easily it graded... And I am not good with color... Especially 8 bit. Also from looking at videos on Vimeo, it seems like Wide DR is pretty decent, but the other profiles seems like you take a hit in highlight DR. Of course, with the c-log being so good, there seems to be little reason to use anything else. I have owned a couple 4K cameras in the past and I always converted the footage to 1080p ProRes before bringing it into FCPX, but with these files, the c-log 4K played well with proxies on my computer. And it seems if I was going to use my old method, I may as well shoot in 1080p, cause it's gorgeous and you get the benefit of 5-Axis, SD cards and 60p. Anyway, thanks for the info. 

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hi, where I can find some original 4k 305Mb C-log footage to download?
also 4k 10 bit prores.... 


this camera is very nice... the only problem for me is the dynamic range, not large like c100 or other canon cinema camera

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On July 10, 2016 at 0:27 PM, Kubrickian said:

The focus-by-wire was inaccurate and finicky sometimes but I think the recent firmware update has improved that a lot. As long as you shoot within the lens' limits it's a fantastic camera. Don't expect it to be a lowlight monster. I often set the lens to F4 and use it as a 24-70 F4. The stills JPEGs are nothing to write home about, but suitable for social media postings. I use it as a b-cam to my C100 Mark II, but it's more than adequate to be an A-cam on a quick interview too. C-log I think is its biggest selling point. 

Thanks a lot for the info. One last question. How do you find the build quality. From my understanding it pretty good, but I don't expect C100 level?

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On 15/07/2016 at 2:42 PM, anto said:

hi, where I can find some original 4k 305Mb C-log footage to download?
also 4k 10 bit prores.... 


this camera is very nice... the only problem for me is the dynamic range, not large like c100 or other canon cinema camera

DR is the same at about 12 stops.

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