It’s an axiom in the industry that there is no perfect camera/lens/editor/computer — you get the idea. But technology has gotten us a lot closer to perfection in several regards.

Lenses are an area that has exploded over the past few years. The move toward mirrorless cameras plus the huge increase of of manufactures in the sector has generated some amazing, affordable pieces of glass.

The venerable Canon has brought a few new pieces to the market that are very interesting. The recently released RF 24-105 f/2.8 (MSRP $2999.00 USD) is one lens that caught my eye.

I shoot primarily Canon. I’ve owned almost every EOS Cinema body since the amazing C300 Mark I. My current lineup is a C300 Mark III (EF mount), two C70’s (RF mount) and an R5C (RF mount). It’s simple to fit an EF lens to a RF body via adaptor. In fact, using a Canon adaptor can make the EF lens function almost as good as a native lens on my RF bodies.

The Canon RF mount offers some advantages — better optical stabilization and great autofocus paired with sharp glass. The new mount allows the lens to be physically closer to the camera and allows some unique glass.

The primary example of this evolution is the brand new 24-105 f/2.8 RF zoom. Or to be specific, the Canon RF 24-105mm f/2.8 L IS USM Z Lens (Canon RF).

I contacted my dealer the day it was announced and reserved my copy. On Dec. 18, Santa — I mean FedEx — delivered it to my door.

The unboxing

The 24-105 f/2.8 comes with the usual accouterments — lens cap, lens hood, bag, box, instructions in way too small print and enough plastic bags to start your own recycling plant.

The first thing I noticed was the color of the lens bag. Instead of light gray like the 70-200 f/2.8 EF, the new long RF bag is black. Not a big thing but for some reason, I wasn’t expecting a change there.

The lens reminds me of the 70-200 EF in size, weight and feel. The 24-105 f/2.8 RF is 7.8 inches long (199mm) and weighs 2.9 lbs (1330g). The 70-200 f/2.8 EF is 7.75 inches (197mm) long and weighs 3.5 lbs (1590 g) — a touch longer but less weight.

What I Look For In A Lens. 

A few more observations before I jump into use cases with the 24-105 f/2.8 RF. The glass is sharp, even at 2.8. The bokeh is very nice. The lens has a great look. There are a number of more detailed technical reviews out there that measure breathing, pincushion/distortion, etc. This isn’t that review.

I am looking at how the lens looks and feels in my everyday workflow and if I think it’s a good value for the money.

These days, I shop for lenses with a few questions in mind:

Will the new lens replace/improve an existing piece of gear in some way? (Range, image quality, speed)

Will the new lens work well handheld on my R5C or C70?

Will the new lens work well on a tripod-based camera?

Will the new lens work well on a slider?

Here’s what I found.

Less than a week into using the 24-105, I decided to sell my 24-70 EF f/2.8. I got this lens almost three years ago so I would have native glass on the C70s and so I could take advantage of the three-axis stabilization that the RF mount provides. It’s sharp and has great color, but I found myself not using it once I had the 24-104 in hand. The 24-70 is 4.95 inches long and weighs 1.98 lbs versus the longer (7.8 inches) and heavier (2.9 lbs) 24-105. But the extra 35mm of range was well worth these additions.

So the 24-70 f/2.8 RF got packed up and shipped to KEH.com. Thanks for your service! The answer to question No. 1 is yes, this lens replaced an existing piece of equipment I had.

I used the 24-105 handheld on both the C70 and R5C with optical stabilization on. This is the lens-provided stabilization that is activated by flipping the manual switch on the lens body. It is not the in-camera digital IS that shrinks the field of view and floats the image within the sensor to minimize shakes and jitters.

The optical stabilization didn’t make me a steadicam-like operator with no rig, but it did smooth the normal shake somewhat. Stabilizing a handheld shot zoomed in at 105 can be a challenge anyway and this lens did not eliminate all shaking. But it did make the movement smoother and maybe a little more organic. It reminded me of the doc cinema verte style of the ‘90s where everyone went Dutch angle with tripod heads and tried to master the wandering camera look.

At wider angles of 24-45/50, the optical stabilization looked great and was usable. It was nice to be able to use stabilization without losing any sensor real estate via a crop. I found myself enjoying it handheld on the R5C more than the C70. 

Using the lens on a tripod and a slider

Moving the rig to a tripod and then to a slider is where the lens shined. 

Many times I have wanted just a little more zoom when I hit the end of the 24-70. I also own the Canon 18-80 T4.4 zoom and find that range to be almost ideal for news conferences, speakers and any time I have to set up in the back of a room and shoot a podium talking head. Most times, I can only get a mid-podium to top-of-head shot, and I’ll punch in on the UHD picture in post.

Now with the 24-105, I can get that extra punch-in I need without giving up the ability to crash wide to get a shot of the crowd in venue. The 2.8 means I don’t have to ISO up as much as I do with 18-80 in darker environments. It’s very rare that you get an indoor press conference with correct lighting.

We do a fair amount of culinary video in our studio — product demos, recipes, kitchen techniques. We recently had a series of four recipe videos for a client that we decided to use the 24-105 on.

We paired the 24-105 with one of our Canon C70s on a Syrp slider. The intent was to grab quick cutaways of details such as ingredients being chopped, additions to cooking pans and final dish presentation.

What we found was the wide end of the lens allowed for a nice overview of the action and the zoom allowed for tight detail. Before, we would use a 24-70 then scale up the shot to 80% in post (shooting in UHD, finishing in 1080). The 24-105 allowed us the most versatility for getting the types of shot we wanted with no lens change needed. Production was quicker and smoother, and we didn’t miss a shot because we were changing glass.

The 2.8 aperture creates a nice bokeh as well. The rush to shoot wideopen has created a bokeh ascetic that almost places the whole subject out of focus. Just because you can achieve a look doesn’t mean the look serves the narrative structure. Sometimes a little bokeh goes a long way.

We found the 11 aperture blades create a nice effect, similar to other Canon f/2.8 glass. Opening to f/2.8 gave a pleasing look that allows the viewer’s eye to snap to the intended subject without losing focus. This was important in the recipe videos for things like mincing garlic and cutting vegetables. Sometimes, we stopped down to f4.0 to expand the band of focus and to match the look of the 18-80 T4.4 main shot. The two lenses intercut very well.

The autofocus was snappy and accurate. Most of the time, we shoot in focus-assist mode, which plants a box in the viewfinder that shows how close to focus you are. This lens worked really well with the assistance functions. It is a focus by wire mechanism, though.

Like all Canon RF zooms, there is a front dial on the lens that can be programmed to change ISO, aperture and a few other functions.

One of the unique things about the 24-105 f/2.8 is that Canon has added a dedicated aperture ring control on the back of the lens that allows manual iris control, much like a cinema prime. The ring control is de-clicked and smooth on the C70 but only works in video mode on the R5C. If you put the R5C in photo mode, you lose the manual control and the ring becomes useless. It would be nice if Canon allowed a firmware update to allow manual aperture control in photo mode.

For years, the Canon 24-105 f/4 has been a standard kit lens for photo and video. The range was deemed sufficient to take care of most situations. But the f/4 was a little off putting. I had version 1 of this lens years ago and sold it because I felt it was too dark for what I needed and the edge of picture was a bit soft. Versions 2 improved everything except the aperture of f/4.

Canon has created it, the next all around great lens for video. 

The Canon RF 24-105 f/2.8 zoom is the next evolution of that zoom. It far outclasses the old 24-105 f/4 in almost every way. It is bigger and heavier, but the range and speed advantages outweigh the disadvantages for me.

Canon shooters often own the trinity of f/2.8 zooms — the 16-35, 25-70 and 70-200. To me, the 24-105 f/2.8 might allow a starting shooter to push off buying the 70-200 f/2.8 a bit.

The 24-105 f/2.8 is an amazing lens made possible by the physics of the RF mount and the ingenuity of the engineers at Canon. Along with the 28-70 f/2, this current development path shows that Canon has a few tricks left up their sleeve.

Bottom line — the Canon RF 24-15 f/2.8 was a great purchase for me that allowed me to directly replace a lens in my kit, offered range and speed advantages (less lens changes) and gave me advantages I didn’t have before in the way I shoot. I highly recommend.

Disclaimer: I bought this lens sight unseen. Canon didn’t provide any compensation or loan any gear for use in this review.

Beyond new gear, gadgets and software, the main draw of the NAB show has always been people and the MediaMotion Ball is all about people.  Once a year, we gather in the desert to catch up with old friends and to make new ones from around the world.

The MediaMotion Ball began 25 years ago as one way to reunite friends and colleagues at NAB.  What started out as a simple, in-person gathering of Media 100 users who conversed online to solve problems grew over the years to a 300-400 person dinner on Monday night of NAB.

Nothing is constant but change, and this year brings the last MediaMotion Ball.  This April 17, editing and motion graphic professionals from around the world will gather at the Sahara to break bread, lift a toast and celebrate the venerable MMB.

“The biggest reason we started the MediaMotion Ball is still our central purpose today: To help an online production community meet annually face to face with the makers of their tools,” said Carey Dissmore, a MMB co-founder and current co-chair.

“Helping people across the world connect once a year has been amazing,” said Steve Griffiths, a MMB co-founder and co-chair. “It’s hard to believe we are at the end of a 25-year run. The friendships I have made will be the legacy of the MMB for me.”

User group meet-ups at NAB are almost as old as the conference itself.  People gather up and down the strip every night after the show to eat, drink and hash out the latest and greatest gear that debuted at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Finding the next party and securing a pass to get in is somewhat of an arcane NAB art.  But the MediaMotion Ball is different.  Ticket sales are open to all (while they last).

“We lean toward a post-production and motion graphic based group, but all are welcome at the MMB,” Dissmore said.  “The event is perfect for the veteran editor or animator to the newest member in our field.”

The event begins with a mix and mingle with a cash bar.  Manufacturers often send reps to meet with users to discuss their latest offerings and to answer any questions.

“It’s great to be able to talk about new products with manufacturers away from the show floor in a more relaxed venue,” Griffiths said. “Plus, the food is great.”

The MMB is also known for it’s quality sit-down dinner. Pasta al forno, rigatoni and braised beef ragu are a few of the items on tap for the last event.

The prize draw completes the night, with prizes from Maxon, Adobe, AJA and others.

“It’s sad to see the Ball retire, but we are proud of the 25-year legacy of one of the best user events at NAB,” Dissmore said. “We hope to reunite one more time with old friends and make new ones as we sign off from Las Vegas.”

Tickets are on sale now at www.mediamotionball.com.

Be a part of history as the MediaMotion Ball is sent into a glorious retirement.  

The 25th MediaMotion Ball

April 17, 2023

The Congo Room at the Sahara

Doors open at 5:30

“Boss, I think we’ve been hacked.”

And with that starts a loooong week of recovery, troubleshooting, and formatting. Our QNAP actually had been hacked.

Quick background. I have a small video production company that produces commercials, brand films, and TV programming.

We are a PC-based shop, with all machines connected to 48TB NAS via a closed 10 gig ethernet network. The NAS, a QNAP TS1685, is stocked with 4TB drives and striped into a RAID 6 configuration. That gives us 40 TB of usable space with the safety net of being able to survive 2 drive failures. The QNAP services four edit suites and a few other computers for browsing and offloading

The QNAP has four 1-gig ethernet ports and a single 10-gig Ethernet port. The 10-gig port services the edit suites. One of the single gig ports connected to our traditional network and was outward-facing to the internet. That was part of the problem.

THE ATTACK

We fell prey to the nasty QLocker attack that hit QNAP owners around the world in mid-April. Hackers were able to get into our system via an unplugged hole in one of the system apps. The attacker encoded all files under 20 MB into a 7-zipped file that needed a password to unlock. The hackers demanded a ransom to provide the password.

We didn’t pay it, and we managed to reconstruct what was ransomed from backups, but not without a significant cost in man-hours. We were among the lucky ones.

OUR PREVIOUS BACKUP STRATEGY

Up until now, my backup strategy was based around the idea that a hardware failure was the most likely — and dangerous — problem we would face.

Typically, we have at least four copies of all footage shot.

We burn footage cards on an iMac via ShotPut Pro to a bare hard drive (copy 1) along with a copy to a locally attached RAID 5 (copy 2). Then, the footage is loaded into an active project folder on the NAS (copy 3). Once the bare drive (copy 1) reaches capacity, we make an LTO copy (copy 4). When the project is complete, we archive to another bare drive (copy 5) for mastered projects. When that drive is full, it gets an LTO copy (copy 6). The RAID 5 and NAS copies get deleted once everything is mastered off. 

We make a Chronsync backup of the NAS every night using an older RAID system to give a near-line-identical copy. Technically, that would be the seventh temporary copy. In this case, 7 wasn’t our lucky number.

The Chrosync backup was made after the hack had occurred, so the ransomed files copied over the last known good copy. And we didn’t have archiving on.

So if you are keeping score at home, that’s a bunch of copies of the footage, but only one copy of projects, image, animation, and music files — all typically smaller than 20 MB. That was our Achilles heel.

The Golden Rule for data backup is the 3-2-1 strategy.

The 3-2-1 backup strategy simply states that you should have three copies of your data (your production data and two backups) on two different media types (disk and tape) with one copy off-site for disaster recovery.

I had implemented my version of this with the bare drive/RAID5/LTO approach. My greatest fear was losing footage that couldn’t be recreated easily, and our procedure protected against that.

Once we were attacked, I realized I needed to add in a way to backup and protect the project files and all other production elements that weren’t shot. And I needed to provide a way to keep a rolling backup, if possible, to give us some type of look-back period to retrieve versions a few days old.

Plus, I had not provided an off-site backup copy anywhere.

WHAT WE DID

I broke my action plan into these steps:

1. Secure the QNAP.
2. Restore footage files from the drive library.
3. Rebuild lost projects.
4. Implement a local backup strategy for all files under 200 MB.
5. Implement a cloud backup strategy for the under 200 meg files.

First, I took all our QNAPs off the outward-facing, 1-gig network to take away any external attack vectors. I downloaded the latest firmware for my models on another computer with Internet access, then applied the latest patched firmware to each unit manually.

Once I did that, I reattached each unit one at a time to gather all app updates.

I shut down or uninstalled any non-used app on the QNAP, then followed the manufacturer’s suggested best practices to mitigate any security risks:

https://www.qnap.com/en/how-to/faq/article/what-is-the-best-practice-for-enhancing-nas-security

The thing I should have done immediately when I installed the QNAP was to create a new administrator-level user with a relatively complex name and password, log into it and disable the default QNAP admin account. I had changed the default admin password when I set up my units, but by disabling the user named “admin” and changing it to another complex name, I removed a common attack vector for hackers.

That procedure will be SOP for any device with an “admin” user going forward.

(I wish that QNAP would allow the default admin user to be completely deleted.  At this point, you can’t delete it.  Hopefully QNAP will allow this in some future updates.)

I also did the following as additional measures based upon advice from Eric Darling, a colleague from eThree Media iN Savannah, GA.

Shut down the following apps:

Hybrid Backup Sync

MyQNAP Cloud

QSync

Help Desk

Multimedia Console

Installed QuFirewall.

Installed (or updated) QNAP Malware scanner and ran it.

Since I don’t run this unit as a web or FTP server I also:

Turned off UPnP (Control Panel >Network/File> Service Directory) and(Network & Virtual Switch>Auto Router Configuration).

Turned off FTP (Control Panel >Network/File> FTP).

Turned off HTTP Compression (Control Panel > General> Sys Admin) and (Control Panel >Applications>Web Server)

As an additional measure, I changed both the System Port (Control Panel > General> Sys Admin) and SSH Port (Control Panel >Network/File> Telnet/SSH) to other port numbers.  

WARNING: Make sure you document the new port numbers and keep them in a safe place you can remember.  If you change the SSH port and lose the new port number, you (nor QNAP) will be able to access your machine via SSH.

With the QNAP secured, we reverted it back to default and recreated our RAID partition. We then began loading and recreating the affected projects. It took about a week, but we were able to get back up and running fairly quickly.

The next thing I did was turn my attention to the biggest problem — not having a backup of the smaller files more than 24 hours old.

We have a new Apple M1 Mac Mini set up as a digitizing station for analog tapes. We digitize old professional formats like BetaSP, DVCam and DVCPro to ProRes MOVs for clients. The Mac Mini is perfect for that type of work.

My idea was to put the Mini on the 10-gig network and set up Chronosync to copy over all files on the NAS that were under 200 megs to a local SSD. Chronosync does a great job of setting up that type of backup easily. 

I set the schedule to happen overnight every day. I also turned on the archive feature so that I had backup copies of all changed files. In Chronosync, you can define the look-back period as well as specific criteria that triggers an archive. Think of it as a kind of customizable Time Machine. It’s a powerful, Mac-only program.

So now I had steps 1-4 of my plan in place. Next, I needed an offsite backup service.

MOVING OUT OF HOUSE

There is a lot of nice options for cloud backup. Google Drive. DropBox. Amazon’s S3 service. The one that I have used is the one I think is the best and easiest to use — Backblaze.

Backblaze is a pretty cost-effective backup service. But beyond price, they offer an almost bulletproof process that allows users to restore files within a 30-day look-back window. 

I bought a Backblaze license for the Mac mini. I specified the boot drive and attached SSD with the backed-up files as the only items to be pushed to BackBlaze.

BackBlaze also has a commercial-grade service that can interface directly with the QNAP to backup the entire NAS volume to the cloud. It’s a viable alternative if you want a complete archive of your NAS.

We have gig fiber service in the office, which is a technological miracle in and of itself. It took less than 24 hours for the initial backup to BackBlaze’s servers. After the initial backup, the service runs in the background and determines the best times to upload.

So now we have the selected files (under 200 MB in size) from the QNAP backed up to a local computer via Chronosync with archive enabled. We have the local computer with selected files backup to the cloud with BackBlaze. Plus we have the large pieces of data – – raw footage from the camera — backed up to at least three different media. I feel a lot better about the safety of our work product and our ability to restore it from failure or hack.

One of the things I also learned from this process was that my business insurance policy does not have a cyberattack rider. At my last visit with my insurance agent, I waived the insurance rider that would have covered the losses and work incurred by the attack. That is something I will revisit during my next insurance review.

I wouldn’t wish what we had to go through on anybody. Fortunately, we had enough of a backup plan in place to be able to recover. Some people were not as fortunate, and they had to pay the ransom in order to resume business.

We’ve seen ransomware affect oil, beef, and any number of commercial sectors. This crime will continue to grow. Now is the time to create a backup plan to protect your data as much as possible until the next threat arises.

Editor’s Note: PVC and Robbie take no responsibility for any hacking, ransomware or loss of data on your storage system. This was one production’s company story told to hopefully help others avoid a similar loss of time and data. It’s recommended users of shared storage contact and work with a network administrator to secure your system from similar circumstances as well as deploying an effective backup plan.

The Canon EOS-C70 is the smallest, most-affordable 4k capable EOS Cinema camera yet. It is well positioned for corporate and smaller budget projects, but it can rival its big brother C300 Mark III in image quality — although not in build quality. Despite a few physical quirks, the Canon EOS C70 is an excellent introduction to the EOS Cinema line.

Canon’s EOS Cinema line has been a fixture of mid-level and broadcast work since the introduction of the EOS C300 in November 2011. The C300 quickly became a broadcast workhorse for HD acquisition. It was followed by the C100, C500 and later other variants that added 4k and RAW capabilities.

The Canon C70, the latest addition to the line, is somewhat of a departure for Canon. It sits between the EOS R5 mirrorless camera and the flagship C300 Mark III, which both debuted in 2020. 

The C70 shoots footage in UHD (3840 x 2160) and 4K (4096 x 2160) in Canon’s XF-AVC all-I codec in 4:2:2 10bit up to 29.97 fps. The camera does allow UHD and 4K 59.94 fps with no crop, but you drop to the Long GOP version of XF-AVC. It’s still a 4:2:2 10-bit recording, but it does become a little more of challenge to edit if you don’t have a suitable powered edit system.

The C70 has achieved Netflix production approval as a primary camera when capturing in 4K 4096 x 2160. It also has inherited the Dual Gain Output sensor that appears to be same one that is in the C300 Mark III. 

You can record 120 fps in S&F mode. The camera holds its full sensor Super 35 readout when recording 120fps. That means you don’t have to worry about a cropped field of view when moving to high frame rates. It’s nice to know that you get a consistent field of view across all frame rates.

Physically, it’s a bit larger than the R5 and but smaller than a C300 Mark III. It feels like a kitted up mirrorless photo camera prepped for video work. This camera has the C-series feel with 13 customizable buttons scattered around the body and a right side grip. It has an articulating LCD screen for a viewfinder that tucks into the back. 

The C70 has a nice Digital Image Stabilization function.  When using an EF lens, the lens and body stabilize independently.  The C70 with an RF lens attached works together to provide stabilization.

The joystick on the right side of the camera is one of the primary menu interaction tools, and that’s where I have my first problem with the camera.

To be honest, the joystick on my camera had issues. It sticks when moving left/right or up/down, and the push-in to select function is hit or miss. It is inferior to the other cameras in the EOS C range, include the comparably priced C200 and the older, battle tested C100. It is puzzling to me why Canon shipped a camera with this type of QC issue. My unit is scheduled to go in for service to have this fixed soon.

The C70 is Canon’s first EOS Cinema unit with their new RF mount. This mount is physically smaller in depth than the veritable EF mount. This allows the C70 to pack a much smaller footprint than the C300 Mark III.

The initial reason we purchased was to have a true cinema style camera to use on a slider or gimbal. A Panasonic S1H has been our primary “mobile” cam, but the footage takes a bit of finessing to match with our C300 Mark III and C500 Mark II. We wanted something in the Canon family that had similar colorimetry, was small and could run for a whole day with no issues. The C70 fits that bill on paper.

I want to look at three scenarios in which we use the C70. This is what we have seen in three months after buying and using the camera.

Scenario One: Canon C70 as c-camera for Canon C300 Mark III and C500 Mark II 

Finding the perfect b-cam for a main camera is somewhat of a Holy Grail quest. We’ve used the 5D Mark III and Mark IV, XC-15 and EOS R as b-cams with our C300’s with mixed results. 

I believe Canon has created a great b-cam for their EOS Cinema line with the C70. But … there is always a but … it’s not perfect.

We recently paired the C70 as a third camera with the C300 Mark III and C500 Mark II for an in-studio culinary shoot. The project had a short turn and didn’t have a full color pass in budget, so we shot in Canon’s stock Color Profile 1 (BT 709/WideDR with Neutral Color Matrix) on all cameras. This Color Profile produces a good look in REC 709 space but provides some leeway for additional color correction if needed. 

The cameras were kitted with Canon CN Primes, which provided closely matched lenses. The C500 was used as a wide, the C300 as a mid CU and the C70 in 60p for handheld food hero shots.

The C70 matched well with both the C300 Mark III and C500 Mark II. Using a ColorChecker Video chart and scopes revealed small differences. The C70 matched the C300 Mark III almost perfectly on the Red/Yellow/Green half of the vectorscope. 

With cameras exposed to the same level, the color targets were basically identical, and the skin tone axis lined up exactly.

The cameras started to diverge between magenta and blue. The C70 skews magenta a few degrees off axis to the blue side of the scope versus the C300 Mark III. I added a touch of magenta and the differences essentially disappeared. 

We saw the same results with the C70 and C500 Mark II. Skin tones, reds and yellows were spot on. The C70 needed a touch of magenta added to match the C500 Mark II.

The C70 color matches its bigger siblings better than any other mixed Canon camera setup I have used before. You are 99% of the way there out of camera for a great match shooting with identical gamma, color space and color matrix.  

But keep in mind that even identical copies of lenses can have image variations. Your lenses can be a factor when trying to produce identical colors across cameras.

Summary: The Canon C70 is a great b or c camera for the Canon C300 Mark III or the C500 Mark II.

Scenario Two: Canon C70 on slider

Using a Canon cinema camera on a small slider can be a bit of a challenge.

Our primary slider is a 24” Syrp Magic Carpet PRO Short Slider Kit mounted on a set of carbon fiber legs with a 75mm bowl. It’s a great unit, but a kitted out C300 Mark III with a cine prime lens plus V-mount battery weighing 11.7 lbs. would tip the slider a touch if pushed to either end. We could have replaced the tripod with two stands at each end or moved to a 100mm bowl tripod, but we wanted to keep as lightweight a unit as possible.

The C70, using a Canon BP-A60 battery and the same lens coming in at 7.5 lbs. rode the slider very well during studio testing. The ball attachment didn’t tilt or loosen at all with repeated movement. We even applied additional downward force to test the hold, and it worked well. The weight difference was more than enough to eliminate the slight tipping we were seeing with the C300 Mark III.

The real test was a mid-February shoot for a medical client. We had a two-camera interview set built for testimonials. The C70 was mounted on slider with a Pictor DZOFilm 50-125mm cine zoom. The DZOFilm is 1.05 lbs. heavier than the Canon CN 50 prime. I was a bit nervous that we might be approaching the dreaded tipping point.

The smaller weight and profile of the C70 coupled with the Pictor DZO cine zoom passed with flying colors. We ran the camera/slider combo all day with no tipping or loosening issues.  

Summary: The C70 makes using a Canon cinema camera on a slider much easier.

Scenario Three: Canon C70 on a gimbal

The C70 weighs in at 2.58 lbs with no lens or battery. Adding those can easily add 2-3 pounds to the payload. That calls for a gimbal that can handle roughly 5 pounds and handle the boxy nature of the unit.

We decided to see if the DJI RS2 handheld gimbal was up to the task. The RS2 has a published payload of 10 lbs. Theoretically, it should work with a Canon BP-A60 battery and Canon 24-70 f2.8 EF lens.

Before I go any further, I want to talk about my biggest design complaint of the C70, which is the bottom plate screw alignment.

Instead of traditional 1/4” and 3/8” screw holes lined up in axis with the lens, the design engineers decide we needed 3 3/8” holes across the bottom of the camera perpendicular to the lens. What the heck? There is an anti-twist recessed in front of the center hole, but no way to traditionally fasten a plate to the camera to ensure that it does not twist. Again … what the heck?

The included camera plate for the RS2 has a 1/4” screw. This design makes attaching to the RS2 impossible without a third party plate or a 1/4” to 3/8” screw adaptor.

We bought an 1/4” to 3/8” adaptor and went about attaching it to the RS2. We had to remove the right side hand strap to provide enough room to get the center of gravity onto the RS2 sled. The hand strap kept us from moving the camera far enough to the right to balance. Removing the strap provided just enough room to balance without rubbing.

It was fairly simple from that point on to balance the camera on the gimbal. Once we had it positioned and balanced, we cranked up the RS2. 

Flying the rig was super smooth. The motors handled the weight fairly easily as long as we had the camera properly balanced prior to turning it on. 

The only drawback is the combined weight of lens, camera, battery and gimbal. All told, you are looking at running with a 8-pound rig held at arm’s length. That can get tiring very fast.

Summary: The C70 works on a DJI RS2 gimbal provided you remove the hand strap and get it balanced correctly. The only issue is the combined weight and being able to use it for any length of time.

Bonus coverage: The Canon .71 EF to RF adaptor 

The Canon version of the “Speedbooster” is almost worth its own article. In short, not only does it adapt the EF to RF mount while retaining native-like control over focus and aperture for Canon glass, it creates a pseudo-full frame field of view while gaining a stop of light sensitivity.

This means you can use the Canon L series of EF glass with the adapter and get very close to a full-frame look on the Super 35 sensor of the C70. Plus, you gain a stop of sensitivity, meaning your f2.8 glass now becomes effectively a f2.0 lens.

The .71 adapter is built specifically for the C70 and only works correctly with a Canon lens. The adaptor even has an extra set of screws and an attachment collar that can securely connect the adapter to the C70 body.

Keep in mind this adapter only works with EF glass and not with an EF-S lens. Crop lenses like the EF-S series have a longer flange that will not fit into the front EF mount. Plus it’s pretty dumb to try to scale down a crop lens through a speed booster onto a crop sensor.

Quick hits

• The C70 is pretty good for handheld work. The digital image stabilization is nice with EF IS lenses. It doesn’t quite match up to the great IBIS on the Panasonic S1H, but it’s more than usable. The stabilization is supposed to improve with an RF lens attached directly to the body, but I don’t have any RF lens to confirm. I like the C70 with a carbon fiber monopod.
• A cage isn’t necessary, but I got the Zacuto one anyway. I wanted a better mounting system for a tripod plate and more access points for monitors and handles.
• The built-in LCD is painful to use in full sun. You will need a small external monitor or add-on viewfinder for any extensive outside work.
• Using SD cards (C10/U3/V90) is a nice alternative to the larger and more expensive CFexpress cards that the larger Canon cinema cameras use.
• There is no SDI out on the C70. This is not a problem for us, but keep in mind when considering.

Summary

I believe this camera is great for someone wanting to move from a DSLR/mirrorless system to a rig that has built-in ND, XLR inputs (mini-XLRs mind you), great log options (Clog 2 and 3) and matches well with larger cameras twice its price. It’s a great camera for in-house corporate work or any scenario where you need a great image and have access to Canon EF glass.

The number of great cameras under $10,000 today is amazing. Sony has reinvented themselves with the FX line. Blackmagic continues to innovate. And Panasonic still has strong offerings with the S1H/S1/S5 system. The Canon EOS C70 adds to the great variety we have available in the marketplace.

This article was written about gear that we already purchased or already owned. No promotional consideration was provided by Canon.