Canon C400: First Impressions are. . . Underwhelming?

In this video I talk about my first impression of the Canon C400 cinema camera. I got to spend a few hours with the camera and took it on a errand run with my friend ‪@JordanPulmano‬
Jordan's had a debacle of a time trying to purchase and get into their new home. I brought the C400 out to test and get a feel for what it was capable of. Although the initial on paper specifications and features may not seem that "innovative" or "revolutionary" that may actually be a good thing.
This camera simply works in a way that I think documentary filmmakers, solo shooters, and production companies will love.
#CanonC400 #cinemacamera #6kraw #canonr6markii
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[@GenerationDigital]

Canon is the Apple of camera manufacturers. While Sony (Samsung) may be more cutting edge, it does come with some compromises. Canon, like Apple, isn’t cutting edge but is refined and well thought out. It just works. They’re slower to update and upgrade, but they’ll last for a really long time. Two different brands for different filmmakers. One isn’t necessarily better or the best, you just need to find the one that’s best for you and your workflow and projects.

[@clivebrincat88]

What’s underwhelming is this video and cliche conclusions

[@davidjorozco]

We can’t all be as inspiring and original as you Clive.

[@ThisisnotTwitter]

@@davidjorozco This camera is probably the most attention grabbing camera Canon have released since the 5Dmk2 and everyone who has heard of it, knows it. This video title comes off as contrived in how is trying to force the idea that somehow it is underwhelming in its specs and release... I do feel sorry for youtubers having to stretch so much in their slavery to the algorithm.

[@queefreak666]

Hey Sony people. Nobody, even Canon is expecting you to dump all your Sony cameras to jump to Canon, so you don't have to keep saying you won't.

[@billmakesmovies]

I am blessed to have an FX6 and FX3 and these cameras are probably all I could possibly need for another five years or more. That said, I can’t wait to see what an FX9II has to offer… something about the built for the shoulder form factor is calling my name right now! Shouldering the FX6 still feels like the old days of building out a 60D DSLR on 15mm rails with blue knobs to me… but it sure is a fantastic handheld camera! As for Canon, I have an XF605, which is a really underrated camcorder. It can cut in with the Sony cameras just fine. We have hit a point where 4K 10 bit is good enough for most things - heck, I still shoot and deliver 95% of my stuff in 1080! The C400 is a camera I might have considered instead of Sony, if it existed two years ago. It here today isn’t enough to make me want to go back to Canon entirely. I really love the variable ND on the FX6! The only thing I will say is there are times when I see footage coming out of s35 cameras like the FS7II, and C70 that just wow me for some reason, even more so than the FX9 and FX6. If they were to put the C70 sensor in a box body, and keep it kinda cheap, I think they’d have something I’d have to buy just to tinker with. I’m almost hoping they put the FX30 sensor in the FX6 body, give us an FX60, and make it like $4300. With a few affordable prime lenses… that would be an ideal starter setup for anyone!

[@davidjorozco]

The electronic variable ND in the FX6 is for me the one thing that I’d loved to have seen in the C400. That’s a really incredible feature to have. I totally agree with you, the ABC camera operators I know all use FX9’s and the C70 is a very special camera as well. I have a feeling we may see a successor to that sooner rather than later. Appreciate the comment and keep killing it my Sony using friend!

[@matadormartin]

I have shot with a C70 for the past 3 years and love it. I think the problem with the C400 is that it’s just too late. If it came out when the FX6 did it might represent a better option, but most production houses and owner operators have FX6’s now and the C400 doesn’t really present a reason to move over to Canon. It’s a shame, as I would be happier with a C400 I expect. I’ll see what the future holds and hope that I’m wrong though.

[@alexshotthese]

Even Gerald Undone did a review of the R3 and said the R3 actually might have 3 iso ranges. Clean at 800, cleans up at 3200, and then cleans up more at 12800, but has similar noise to 6400. So, yeah, it's mind blowing that no one has actually tested this camera out with the R3 to see if they are the same.

[@Filmmaker593]

People are paying more than $3k extra money for the same camera in a different body.

[@sa.t.2507]

@@Filmmaker593Internal ND, XLR ports, SDI ports, separate monitor, internal scalable raw, pro body, handle, and many other software features makes it easily worth the extra 3k you pay. It’s so easy to spot an amateur these days.

[@Filmmaker593]

@@sa.t.2507 If the pro body makes you not an amateur… you’re so pro!

[@sa.t.2507]

@@Filmmaker593 you can see a Blackmagic user from miles away these days.

[@sa.t.2507]

@@Filmmaker593stick with your Blackmagic camera, you’re all the same.

[@JordanPulmano]

Loved your take on this. Stripping out the hype and getting to the core of what this camera can do! Thanks for the beautiful B roll of me in the home. Hopefully we can move in before the C400 Mark ii is released!

[@davidjorozco]

Appreciate you homie! Fingers are crossed. 🤞

[@PizzlesTechTime]

I think anyone in the world would be lucky to use this camera. Takes the C70 I just purchased and gives me everything I wanted

[@rikkiekhrist6823]

this take was definitely needed. we have become accustomed to crazy specs that in reality we will rarely use. i still love the C100 MKII because of its refinement, its 1080p image beats a lot of the 4k in other cameras imo. good to also see the image looks amazing and the triple base iso is intriguing. this could be a contender for a top 10 doc camera

[@davidjorozco]

Dang appreciate that my friend 🙏 There is a take that didn’t make it into this final video where I talked about other defining cameras like the C100 ii. I couldn’t agree more. That thing has such a beautiful image even today.

[@dcd6115]

Hate that the EVF is gone. The touchscreen LCD is not bright enough to see in direct sun. The EVF on the C300 III and C500 II is so useful. I wish they'd at least made a USB pass-through port on the LCD so that you could add an EVF that is powered by the camera and retain the LCD.

[@MrMoviePhoneEx]

Not underwhelming for me, but I love the c70. Minus the soft blended flesh tones of the DGO sensor that make shooting with people so easy - the c400 upgrades just about everything I could want in a next camera. We'll see when they launch next month though - hopefully ;)

Liked and subscribed at 45 seconds in because of the intro, pacing, and delivery. Paused to write this comment, about to finish now! edit: Yup, video is awesome : )

[@davidjorozco]

Dang man, appreciate you my friend 🙏

@@davidjorozco You got it. Looking forward to more content!

[@AllThingsFilm1]

Excellent commentary. I think a lot of people have become spoiled by technology. To the point, where they want MORE with each new release of a camera. And they want manufacturers to keep releasing each new camera with MORE and BETTER specs each time. What they're not considering, is that at some point these prosumer camera will start to encroach upon the higher end $40K+ cameras made for Hollywood productions. And I have no doubt, they'll continue to cry for more regardless. Having a camera that shoots 8K doesn't mean you're "future proofed". It just means you have access to resolution you really don't even need. Instead of crying for 8K so you can "crop in post", try to plan out your shots better so you don't have to crop in later. As a visual effects artist on 40 feature films, I can see the higher resolutions used for visual effects shots. But, for general storytelling, 4K is really all you need. Most new filmmakers today are too young to know that years ago theaters were projecting in 2K. And no one complained then. I shot a feature film with the GH5. And it was well received in several film festivals. In our after screening Q&A's, no one was even interested in what camera we filmed with. In the end, the key is to focus on story. Not so much on gear. Thanks for the commentary on the C400. It seems like a good camera for narrative or documentary filming from what I've heard about it. Cheers.

[@davidjorozco]

@@AllThingsFilm1 nailed it on the head. And with the experience it sounds like to more than back it up. Appreciate you sharing your perspective my friend & thanks for watching!

[@brmoogma]

agree 100%

[@KmfilmAt]

Very wise words - been salso there since DX100/XL1/DVX100-days, everything now is just a dream 🎉

[@castielvargastv7931]

I am not a canon fan but to me the c400 is outstanding , not underwhelming.times of big big Innovations with every release is over. Polishing and optimizing what is already there is the future

[@davidjorozco]

Couldn’t agree more

[@tossemanden]

Please for The future: Your script and story is good and well thought out. Kudos there. When you shoot With the camera, try and prepare a complete story that you can share with us. And try and shoot it as is you were delivering to an external editor. This would tighten your shots up. You could get an interview from your friend as well. The b roll you are presenting is lacks a lot of quality and would be very tough for me to use in a professional context. You have good things going, but the material you shoot needs a stronger and clearer direction. I would happily watch again if you try and deliver on this front cause your thoughts on the camera are good and valid.

[@davidjorozco]

Honestly, completely valid. This was rushed for time and has its compromises. Appreciate the constructive feedback

[@waveland]

My biggest problem with this camera is the card slots. There’s no excuse at this price point to not have completely symmetrical dual-slot recording. I had a name brand CFExpress B card go bad on me a couple of months ago, and it’s pure blind luck that I didn’t lose any footage that mattered. That day I was just testing, no big deal. But a few days before I was shooting material (in a one-slot camera like the C400) which would have been somewhere between difficult and impossible to replace. And because of that one huge design flaw, the C400 will not get added to my kit. Instead I’m looking forward to seeing what Sony rolls out next in this price category. Supposedly we should see a preliminary announcement for an FX9 successor within a month or so. There’s no question that camera will have dual slot recording like the rest of the FX line, and I’m supposing 6k as well. A work horse rather than a constant worry.

[@sa.t.2507]

As long as you don’t shoot raw you can dual record to the SD. Not perfect but good enough I guess.

[@cinnabun1046]

It would be better if it had matching card slots but It’s really not that big of a deal. You can dual record in all modes except for RAW. And even in you are shooting RAW you can record any other codec or a proxy to the SD card.

[@davidjorozco]

This sums up how I feel about it too. Would it be nice to have identical slots? Sure. Necessary? I don’t think so.

[@edengate1]

In the ranking of dynamic range, which place is it? And as an enthusiast i have one question: does the texture good enough for cinema? I mean, unlike sony fx6, fx9, that looks like a digital camera most of the time?

[@davidjorozco]

I’d say the dynamic range is on par with the C70. I know there is a lot of talk about it being less than but just visually they feel similar. I loved the image out of camera. The R5 Mark ii still feels very digital even with clog2 and this does not feel that way at all. Compared to the look of the fx6 I’d say those two are closer but I still prefer the image of the c400. Is it an Alexa as far as image? No. But there are plenty of documentary films these days filmed with the FX6 & FX3. This is at least as good as those if not better. I personally think it’s good enough in the right hands.

[@edengate1]

​@@davidjorozco Thats the question... we need another Arri competitor, you know? Not another documentary digital look camera. I see that like a gap in the market i really dont like it... almost like there was a agreement between them. Thanks for answering

[@urielsantistebanfilms]

Thanks for sharing this. Did you have the chance to test the non-raw codecs of the camera? People are more concern how this sensor compares to a DGO one, specially in terms of DR.

[@davidjorozco]

I did! Not really a scientific test but purely based on how it “felt” vs C70 footage I’ve worked with they felt similar. Nothing significant enough to jump out at me. I’m sure there is a difference if you look closely enough. I’ll take a closer look and report back just to be safe.

[@VonHarris]

I need it! I kind of regret buying by R3 because of the overheating issues I constantly have.. im never even able to shoot 120

[@davidjorozco]

@@VonHarris that’s interesting. It overheats quickly then in 120? There was another commenter who connected the dots between the two possibly having the same sensor but it sounds like the added size + fan is definitely needed to make it work properly.

[@hawaiifreespeechnews]

Yes some of the R3's they released to the public are defects that overheat as bad as the R5. Contact Canon service and tell them you want to send it back for a new unit because yours is a defect

[@kylelowe]

I think it's a great iterative upgrade and I hope more USB-C monitors hit the market and more cameras use a similar standard so we can move stuff around system to system.

[@davidjorozco]

Wouldn’t it be crazy if we got camera control through a 5” or 7” monitor that can be swapped with the OEM one… I’d like to hope it’s possible 🤞

[@kylelowe]

Exactly! Or an EVF with buttons on the side like that Blackmagic one every Pyxis owner is gonna buy.

[@oh.yaz.please]

I don’t know much about cameras but this footage is SO GOOD. Netflix doc worthy footage for sure!

[@hawaiifreespeechnews]

In every review I've seen of this camera, the in camera stabilization is jittery as hell! Decided to go with the Eos R1. I'm going to wait for the next model above the C400 that can do 8K 120 fps and contend with the V-raptor X.

[@cp1198pc]

If only they made a viewfinder for it. A good one.

[@davidjorozco]

@@cp1198pc not the first time someone has said this. Canon if you’re watching, this is the move.

[@alexshotthese]

It's literally the specs of the R3. I'm half pressed to believe it's just the R3 sensor thrown into a cinema body.

[@davidjorozco]

@@alexshotthese truthfully, I think you might be right. That actually hadn’t occurred to me. I think how we could interpret that is the interesting part, is it “lazy” or is the quality from that sensor combined with cinema i/o make it a solid tool? Either I think you’re right and we can at least guess they saved quite a bit on R&D if they did.

[@alexshotthese]

I mean I’m not mad. I think the R3 image is really nice and the C400 image looks good too, but what irritates me is they have been saying it’s an all new sensor when it doesn’t feel that way.

[@davidjorozco]

@@alexshottheseyeah exactly if it’s been marketed as completely brand new that’s very misleading. I’m going to try and borrow and R3 to see

[@alexshotthese]

@@davidjorozco would love to see that.

[@JordanPulmano]

They are both stacked sensors but the C400 is back illuminated 👌 what difference does that make? I have absolutely no clue off the top of my head 😂 but yes they are almost the same!

[@TeddyRumble]

Shoulder mount?

[@davidjorozco]

I used it handheld for the entirety of this video by the top handle

[@baekmedier]

I still would have liked that the sensor was a DGO sensor instead of more base iso´s a more proff c70 in a better body with a full frame sensor.. And we need to have someone testing the R1 (24 mp) and the c400 (26mp) together ass A and B cam together. both in C-log 2

[@davidjorozco]

I was editing C70 footage from an interview today and just admiring the “look” it was giving. Who knows maybe we’ll get that in the C70 Mark II 🤷‍♂️. That would be something. C400 & R1 is a tall task my friend haha probably need a lot more subs to make that happen lol

[@baekmedier]

@@davidjorozco hehe yeah I know 🫣😅 I just need to know if I at some point can “Down size” Today i have two C70 for interviews (it saves so much time when the image is almost the same from start.. then I Got the R5c because i was sure that Canon c70 and the ar5C would match… they didnt.. the sharpness is to different and the C-log 3 is a step back i feel. Then I Got the R3 for sports and was like.. maybe i could do with the R3 for photo and as a B cam for video together with the C70… But in the end i log around two C70 for the interviews and a R5C for produkt and portrait photos.. and the R3 when im shooting sports jobs.. its a hazzle and a shitload of lenses in the bag 😂😅 If the R1 and C400 + RF 24-105 F2.8 and RF 15-35 F2.8 would do everything and match in sharpness and colors (C-log 2) Then it would be magical 🤩

[@JoshWilliams123]

2:12 What's going on with the roof tiles? Is that moire?

[@davidjorozco]

It is. I noticed that as well and turned off all effects / grading and it still exists in the raw footage unfortunately. I will say I did not apply noise reduction to that particular clip.

[@Framesbyfrisby]

@@davidjorozco it looks almost as if it didn’t have a strong optical low pass filter. But it does. Idk it was weird note

[@JoshWilliams123]

@@davidjorozco Is one of the frame rates using line skipping or pixel binning?

[@dsdddsd4543we]

I believe the Sony FX6 overdelivered on the market. This C400 is such a fantastic camera, but so many people switched over to Sony over these last couple of years. It will take a lot for people to switch back to Canon.

[@davidjorozco]

@@dsdddsd4543we this is a really valid point. The Fx6 is such a fantastic camera.

[@Framesbyfrisby]

Beautiful video!

[@davidjorozco]

@@Framesbyfrisby thanks my man! Appreciate you watching!

[@edwardgebel_life]

Is it possible to use it in vertical mode including gimbals?

[@davidjorozco]

I can’t say for certain but I’d imagine it is possible. I’m picturing most likely with the RS4 Pro as I’m unfamiliar with the specs of others.

[@michal1337ichiban]

Blown out highlights are underwhelming.

[@davidjorozco]

@@michal1337ichiban technically they are overwhelming Michael.

[@michal1337ichiban]

@@davidjorozco lol 😆

[@unknowncaller4739]

I mean looking at your videos gear isn’t your problem you need to practice.

[@davidjorozco]

Appreciate the engagement bump, thanks!

[@unknowncaller4739]

@@davidjorozco sorry I was trying to help 🫂

[@thebigdshow]

From the details on the roof of the houses, Looks like the camera doesn’t have an OLPF :/

[@davidjorozco]

I think we all discovered that at the same time. I haven’t confirmed that for sure but based on that clip it looks like it.

[@thebigdshow]

@@davidjorozco maybe there is an aftermarket drop in/clip in OLPF 🤷‍♂️

[@davidjorozco]

@@thebigdshow maybe. Here’s the thing, I shot this VERY run and gun. I noticed it in edit and thought it interesting and decided to include it. This was the only clip out of all of them to exhibit moire. I think with a little more care you could avoid this by changing qualities or angles in shots. It definitely exists however people find moire in the fx6 and other bodies just as well so it isn’t the end of the world I think, just takes a little more intentionality.

[@thebigdshow]

@@davidjorozco I agree definitely can be avoided but I’ve come across it too much and that’s why I’ve had a couple of my cameras outfitted with an OLPF just in case I don’t see it in monitor with building, window screens, and certain types of clothing.

[@GabrielScindian]

The rolling shutter looks very minimal

[@davidjorozco]

@@GabrielScindian I’d agree completely. It was very, very good. Everything shot was hand held and I intentionally kept some of those shots where I whip it around so people could see. It looks very natural.

[@GabrielScindian]

@@davidjorozco Awesome and thanks for the update on the camera. I am looking to pick one up on release. I have been using my R5 MKII for the past few weeks and it has performed amazingly. If the C400 has better rolling shutter than the R5II then it will definitely be a beast of a camera. I do know the C400 has better RS than my C70

[@davidjorozco]

@@GabrielScindiandude nice! Anything that has stuck out in the R5 ii? I’ve gotten to play around with one for a little bit and will be putting out some thoughts in a few weeks time but would love to hear any comments you have so far!

[@GabrielScindian]

@@davidjorozco it has better rolling shutter than the R5. The addition of sea log two is always a plus and matches very well with the C 70. The dynamic range is better than the R5. I know there’s been a lot of discussion about it being worse due to the faster, read out speed, but you do have a choice within the camera for a dynamic range boost. The overheating is about the same as the R5. I mean, you get extra time but just a little bit. For me, the auto focus is the best feature in the camera.

[@davidjorozco]

What do you think? Is this camera underwhelming or a contender?