Larry Thorpe Announces Canon C300 mark II Dynamic Range Improvements

by Sebastian WöberApril 19^th, 2016

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We’re here at NAB 2016 and ran into Canon’s technical mastermind Larry Thorpe who talked to us about an upcoming firmware update for the Canon C300 mark II, improving C300 mark II dynamic range and introducing C Log 3.

You might have read one of our articles on the Canon C300 mark II dynamic range. There has been a debate wether the advertised 15 stops can be considered a realistic claim or not and it was partly my fault for having caused that discussion with my lab test.

For us at cinema5D it is all about giving you, the readers a perspective when it comes to making an informed decision on cinema gear. That’s why we have started comparing cameras with equal standards and in comparison to the 14-stop Arri Alexa the C300 mark II dynamic range lacked behind, so we rated it lower.

It was nice for me to see that Canon’s Larry Thorpe is still open to talk about their technology with us and it is always a pleasure to meet him and talk about camera science. In particular he told us about a Canon C300 mark II firmware update they have planned for July 28th of 2016 and about his perspective of the future of 8K cinematography.

Canon C300 mark II firmware update

The firmware update will introduce C Log 3, a new Canon Log Gamma described as follows:

Canon Log 3 achieves a dynamic range of 1600% with 14 stops of dynamic range, and can be ideal for middle end users that have a limited budget for post-production, and need quick turnaround.

As Larry mentioned this will gives less dynamic range, but also give us a less noisy image.

On top of that Canon has also improved processing in the Canon C300 mark II which in turn should achieve a reduction in the dark noise levels in Canon Log 2 and also address the white streaking problem that we have found in our lab test.

There are several other improvements to the camera that also concern the C100 mark II and you can read all about them on HERE.