Shooting a Feature Film using the Canon C300 Mark II Part 3 – Canon Cine Zooms vs Primes
Shooting a Feature Film using the Canon C300 Mark II Part 3 – Canon Cine Zooms vs Primes, blog post by Darius Stevens Wilhere
This is the third of four parts of my full in depth review on the camera gear I used to shoot my feature film, the indie comedy “The Hollywouldn’ts.”
Part 1: In depth with shooting a feature film on the C300 Mark II
Part 2: Shooting with the Zacuto Recoil Rig and the Gratical HD Viewfinder
Part 3: Shooting with Canon Cinema Zooms vs Canon Cinema Primes
Part 4: Shooting “Night for Day” with the C300 Mark II.
In this part I take up what it was like shooting the film using the Canon Cinema Zooms and Cinema Primes. What I don’t cover is much of the technical specs that you can read about on the Canon website, you know the usual: yes it has t-stop markings on the barrel, smooth geared focus and aperture and zoom rings, imperial distance markings, number of optical elements, etc.
What I do talk about is what my experience was with these lenses and if they would be replacing my usual set of Zeiss .CP2 compact primes on my shoots or even be used instead of a set of Arri Super Speeds.
These are the compact zooms, conveniently size matched to make lens switchouts painless
Also, Canon sort of challenged us to shoot the feature using the zooms and I have to say that I was extremely nervous about this going in. I’ve usually had a zoom handy on anything I’ve shot, but shot almost everything on a fast set of primes. So I knew that this was going to take some adapting to especially since as fast as these zooms were, they still maxed out at f/2.8.
Shooting at 2.8 for so long made me realize just how massive a difference it is to f/1.2
Anyways, I have been dreaming of getting my hands on the Canon Cine Glass for some time now and it was everything I hoped it would be. I know I can sometimes sound like a Canonfanboy, but I'm not. I'm a fanboy of excellent images and for the work that I typically shoot I have developed an affinity for the Canon color signature and the optics that it uses to capture images.
My verdict on shooting zooms vs primes: I won't be shooting a film again without a full set of primes on the set with me. The zooms are great and really convenient for fast shooting, but with a length matched prime set I can do a switch out in seconds, so that's not a big deal for me and there isn't a zoom alive that can match the speed of a prime set at each of the key focal lengths. Even at the insane prices some of the super high end zooms command.
My verdict on the Canon Cinema Zooms and Primes Opticas: Gorgeous. Warm. Beautiful falloff. Scrumptious. I've found my new optical go to's. Definitely will be investing in building up a kit of Cine Primes and for my usual suspects of shoots. And for those shoots which have zooms built into the visual language of that shoot, I'll definitely be renting the Canon Cinema Zooms.
Shooting wide open on the 85mm f/1.3 thanks to the C300 Mk II built in NDs!
Once again, I hope this was useful to cinematographers and film makers seriously considering gear for their next shoot. Always feel free to hit me up for more specific questions you might have or to request some sample footage.
Once again: a link to a fantastic (and far more to the point and pragmatic review) from Tim Fok on the camera itself: https://www.cinema5d.com/depth-canon-c300-mark-ii-operators-point-view/
Shooting a Feature Film using the Canon C300 Mark II Part 3 – Canon Cine Zooms vs Primes, blog post by Darius Stevens Wilhere
