Canon C500 with Ki Pro Quad
Back in the fall of 2012 I bought a C500 and was instantly slammed by all my friends who own a Red Epic etc. I saw some big potential in the C500 but was for the most part flying blind with very little hands on time with it before its release. Everyone said it doesn’t even record 4K in camera and its only 10bit, etc. The internal record point did not bother me as I was not planning on being locked into a specific codec as there are so many options. What if that codec was not mass adopted or what if something more efficient with higher quality came out? At the time the C500 became available there were only two recorders that could actually record the 4K signal. Both the Convergent Design Gemini 4:4:4 and the Codex M were first to provide support but both only recorded Raw. Why was that a problem? 4K Raw out of the C500 is .RMF files which is 1TB/Hour of storage which is huge. Another option that was presented at NAB at the time was the AJA Ki Pro Quad which promised 4K ProRes recording. This was a dream come true, but alas the Quad kept getting delayed. Jump forward to April 2013 and the KiPro Quad finally started to ship. I had my hands on a few prototypes but was glad to see that everything AJA promised actually worked in the end.
So why would I want ProRes over Raw? The main reason is workflow, Canon LOG and instant gratification. The reality is that Canon LOG is so great and works perfect with the Quad so there is not really a massive benefit for me to record .RMF Raw files. The amount of drive space saving is huge. Also because I cut on a Mac, not having to transcode to ProRes is a huge time saver. ProRes 4K is so efficient and I can easily make dupes and hand off to a anyone who has a Mac to play immediately on their computer. Obviously you also get more record time per gigabyte which is also a big money saver. ProRes 4K side by side with Raw .RMF frames on a computer look almost indistinguishable to the human eye. The majority of television spots end up being turned into either ProRes or Avid DNX-HD in the end, so having a 4K ProRes master makes perfect sense. You can playback 4K ProRes in 1/4 resolution on a MacBook air 10″ which is pretty remarkable. AJA also offers a Thunderbolt Dock for the SSD’s so offloading takes just a few minutes per clip where .RMF Raw files could take a fair amount of time. The Raw process with .RMF files is painstaking in that you are dealing with a bunch of still image frames that need to first be placed in order then with either Canon Raw Development software or resolve must be muxed into a usable clip. From there you must transcode into ProRes or another format. The Quad also accepts 1D LUT input and output for better grading options.
The price of the Ki Pro Quad is $3,995 but when you add SSD’s, the dock, etc you end up in the $5,200 price range for about 1 hours worth of recording. This price is comparable to a Convergent Design Odyssey 7Q which runs about $7K to record C500 footage (only in Raw). The Codex S is approx $25K and you will require a Vault etc to make it all happen which is beyond most budgets outside of high end commercials and features.
With the Ki Pro Quad out and other recording options becoming available the C500 has started to pick up some steam in television, sports and especially the feature film market. I have noticed a lot of films using it for aerial work and as A and B camera more and more each month. Its certainly not as popular as an Epic or an F55 but its a nice option for those you like the look of and form factor. The sensor renders color and sharpness extremely well and the way it handles high-lights is almost Alexa like. It certainly cuts well with Alexa.
If I had a choice again today of which 4K camera to get it would be between a C500 and F55. Mainly for workflow and the fact that they both have 4K 3G-SDI outs which I feel is very important in a camera for 3rd party recording options. I like that the F55 can record 4K in camera as well as outboard which is fantastic but I probably would want a 4K ProRes recorder on the back end anyway as I foresee 4K ProRes becoming a standard on many productions. If Red Epic Dragon had 4K outs, that would also have been a consideration for a camera as well. You can get a great rental package deal on the C500 and Ki Pro Quad from Lens Pro To Go who also have a great selection of Canon lenses and accessories. The camera is not for everyone, but if you like the C300 this is a nice option for you.
If you have any questions on the Canon C500 or the Ki Pro Quad, feel free to email me:
Michael Sutton
Twitter: @MNS1974
Email: mike at mns1974 dot com
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