Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/786156
www.postmagazine.com 38 POST FEBRUARY 2017 REVIEW L et's jump right in and get down to the brass tacks. Putting your hands on either the Canon EOS C300 Mark II cinema camera or the DP-V2420 4K (24-inch) UHD reference display would bring nothing short of pure joy. The Canon C300 Mark II, with its signature nod to warm and pleasing skin tones, has certainly earned its reputation for making beautiful pictures that award-winning cinema- tographers dream about. That said, when we set out to do the first step of this review with the combination of the Canon C300 Mark II coupled with a variety of Canon prime lenses, it was Katy bar the door. We set out to shoot footage at the historic Goddard Memorial State Park in East Greenwich, RI, and then moved on to shoot some interviews, trailer work and behind-the-scenes, on-set footage of the upcoming action/horror film, Anders Manor, currently headed to post with Woodhaven Media. After we finished shooting both on-location and on-set footage, we had the opportunity to see what the Canon DP-V2420 could do. At the very least, when we started grading out some of the footage from earlier that same day, the DP-V2420 was really quite impressive and lived up to the hype. CANON EOS C300 MARK II CINEMA CAMERA (4K) We had the "perfect" location all set to test out the Canon C300 Mark II, literally right on East Greenwich Cove — complete with sailboats, sea gulls and sand. It was a 'can't-miss' scenar- io. But then came the pea soup fog. As in, "can't see three feet in front of yourself" kind of fog. Luckily, it didn't matter. We moved on to our second- ary location in beautiful Goddard Park and with 14 stops of dynamic range, the Canon C300 Mark II handled some less-than-ideal weather conditions. Although the day was gray and dreary, the camera really pulled the detail and color out of subjects and we came away with some beautiful shots. The 4206x2340 Super 35 full size CMOS sensor double pixel delivered true to color, clean and crisp 4K imaging with no noticeable drop off in image quality results, as we shot a series of rigorous tests throughout a busy day. Physically, the camera was very easy to operate. Just the camera (body only) weighed in at 3.2 pounds. Maybe for some, it was a little heavier-than-expected package, but it was honestly very comfortable to shoot hand held for an extended period of time. The compactness of the body design felt secure and cinematic. It was comfortable all day. Maybe not a technical feature, but it was one feature that was really appreciated as the day wore on. The physical controls were easy and the on-board menu options were also easy to get to and switch when need- ed. This was important because we wanted to operate on the premise that things go crazy fast on a hot shoot. So unless it was a sit down interview (that was later), then getting in and out of the menu items quickly was a must. Recording on CFast media to capture the larger amounts of data shooting in 4K was not a deal breaker. But due to the higher cost of some CFast media, it would be a wise choice to shoot and move the footage over to the timeline as soon as possible. It was a switch because of an old habit of ours al- ways holding onto the original footage card(s), but it was good to break an (old) bad habit. Moving on to more physical traits, such as monitoring image gathering, we originally tossed around the idea of get- ting a SmallHD, Video Devices Pix-E7 or Atomos Inferno to address the difficulty we had in getting a clean look at the on-board monitor on a pretty sunny day. However, if you were doing just interiors or sit-down interviews, the on- board, built-in monitor is just fine. As mentioned earlier, all the phys- ical controls were in the right place, making the C300 Mark II ergonomi- cally friendly. Plus, the battery lasted a ridiculous amount of time (as in, pretty much all day). Also, once we figured out the auto- focus via joystick, it worked great. We say figured out, because after years and years of railing against autofocus we think Canon was spot on with how intuitive the autofocus was to set up and to use. The internal ND filters were great to have as well. The 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 stops NDs range made it easier to work wide open in a variety of shooting conditions. One last, important feature: When mounted to the EOS C300 Mark II camera, the included control unit pro- vided two XLR audio inputs with +48V phantom power. A 3.5mm microphone terminal is also built into the camera. Bottom line, just as a standalone part one of this dynamic duo, the Canon C300 Mark II shines as the starting point for making beautiful images. Now let's take a look at the DP-V2420 — the real star of the show. CANON DP-V2420 4K UHD REFERENCE DISPLAY Let's put things in a real world perspec- tive. Ask yourself about the last time you either were on-location or in post. Did you really trust the monitor out- put? There's nothing worse than having those doubts creep in but not having the confidence in your final output. The Canon DP-V2420 will put these doubts to rest. However you set up your cam- era, that's what you are going to see. The Canon DP-V2420 4K reference display is a full-specification, HDR ref- erence display compatible with HDR in- dustry standards. The display facilitates a high-luminance performance, meeting the requirements of HDR standards, SMPTE ST 2084 and HLG. The DP- V2420 fully covers this range by actual luminance to help ensure that gradation and color can be accurately confirmed. Simply stated, the Canon DP-V2420 4K reference display kicks some serious butt. Seriously! Maybe one of the finest CANON EOS C300 MARK II CAMERA AND CANON DP-V2420 4K UHD REFERENCE DISPLAY BY MJ FOLEY PRODUCER/DIRECTOR BLACKROCK MEDIA GROUP COVENTRY, RI BLACKROCKMEDIAGROUP@ GMAIL.COM A CANON MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN