When Canon introduced the 5D Mark II, they gave shooters access to the 35mm “film look” at an affordable price point. The 5D mark II ignited the digital revolution and changed our industry forever. If it wasn’t for Canon adding that video feature in the Mark II, a lot of todays current crop of affordable digital cameras may never have been made. Traditional video camera companies such as Sony and Panasonic responded with cameras such as the F3 and AF-100. The F3 featured advanced features like S-Log, that at the time had only been available in very high end Sony cameras.
Once other affordable purpose built digital cinema cameras started appearing on the market, the popularity of using the Canon DSLRs to record video started to taper off. Once Canon released the Cinema EOS line, the chances of the humble DSLR ever getting features such as a Log recording mode were very slim. In fact the only Canon DSLR to ever get C-Log was the 1D-C. If you owned any other Canon DSLR you were stuck using a third party cine stye profile or you had to hack your camera to use Magic Lantern. That was until recently.
Atomos have teamed up with UK based Cinematographer James Miller, who is widely known for creating his own range of D-Luts, to bring C-Log Picture Profiles to a select range of Canon DSLR’s. According to Atomos, by creating a specific Log picture profile, you can now make your Canon DSLR HDR compatible. By utilising the expanded dynamic range from the sensor when selecting C-Log you can pair your Canon DSLR with an Atomos HDR capable monitor/recorder to more accurately expose for Log in the field.
To be honest, I am not sure if you are going to get anymore dynamic range out of your Canon DSLR by using this new C-Log Picture Profile. There are plenty of other Cine Style picture profiles on the market that mimic what a Log curve would do. Andrew Reid from EOS HD developed his own picture profiles to bring C-Log to Canon DSLRs such as the 1DX Mark II and 5D Mark IV. Technicolor also have Cinestyle and an Cinestyle S-Curve profiles that will do a similar thing. The other option of course as we all know is from Magic Lantern, but that does void your camera warranty.
The only real difference with the James Miller C-Log Picture Profile is it has been specifically designed to work with the Atomos HDR monitor/recorders, and you get the added benefit of getting an included set of D-Luts that work with the C-Log. The James Miller C-Log and D-Luts are not particularly new and have been around since September last year.
The compatible Canon DSLR’s that will work with the the C-Log picture Profile are:
EOS 5D Mark III
EOS 1D C
EOS 7D Mark II
EOS 1DX Mark II
EOS 5D Mark IV
The compatible Atomos HDR monitor/recorders are:
Shogun Inferno
Shogun Flame
Ninja Flame
Ninja Blade
You can download James Millers C-Log Picture Profile and D-Luts package here. The cost is £24.99 ($30.59US), but at the moment James is offering a 30% discount.
What do you think about this C-Log Picture Profile and have you used any other Log style profiles on your Canon DSLR? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
