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Why You Should Upgrade to the Canon C100 Mark II

So you bought a C100 as your first step into the professional video camera world. You were very excited to have dedicated XLR input, log profiles, ND filters, and generally a whole host of features you would expect to see in a dedicated video camera. If you already have all the professional features you dreamed of, why should you drop the extra cash and upgrade to the C100 Mark 2? Well…

1. The Mark II Has Better Slow Motion

Slow-mo has never been a strength of the C100 line, but the Mark II has made notable steps toward creating a usable option with the introduction of 60p recording. The original C100 was notorious for maxing out at 60i. But that’s still 60, right? Why is that a problem?

The “I” stands for interlaced, which means that the camera is only reading /half/ of the sensor on each frame, alternating every other pixel row. Interlacing saves on processing power and storage, but any quick movement will reveal the gaps between the rows that have updated and the rows that haven’t. This can create an unwanted stripe pattern.

“P” stands for progressive, which means the camera is reading the /entire/ sensor, one line at a time, 60 times per second in this case. This eliminates the artifacts of interlaced video and gives you clean slow-motion. 

2. The Mark II Has a Better Viewfinder

The C100 Mark 2 has taken its cues in the viewfinder department from the C300 - or more accurately, it has taken its viewfinder from the C300. This larger, sharper, tiltable viewfinder is a much-requested upgrade from the frustratingly stationary EVF of the original C100. This is a small update that is a surprisingly big deal when you are shooting in the field.

3 - More Flexible LCD Screen

The rear LCD screen, while movable, adjustable, and magical on the original C100, was still limited in its range of movement. Now with the C100 Mark 2, you have a much broader range of motion thanks to a new and improved hinge system. The screen can swivel around to face outward from the side of the camera. It can flip around 180 degrees to face the talent. It can now go almost anywhere you need it to go. This makes it a much more versatile and usable camera in almost every situation.

4 - A Total Win for Usability

On paper, this is a relatively uninspiring upgrade. There’s no boost to the bit rate, no C Log 2, no higher frame rates. But what Canon has done is to make a theoretically great camera into an excitingly usable camera. Fiddling with the button layout and adding a hinge to the viewfinder make the C100 Mark II a superb choice for anyone trying to maintain professional quality and features while keeping their kit small. 

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