Thanks to Jason Kerschner and Harrison Sissel I got about an hour with the Canon C300.  

Disclosures: I didn't receive anything from any company for writing this review. I have not shot with the Sony F3. One hour isn't much time to form an opinion, so please keep that in mind as your read mine.

After 3 years of clamping every imaginable device to my Canon 7D, I really appreciate how the C300 elegantly operates like a professional ENG camera. The reason I think it has garnered the attention of ASC members and DSLR shooters alike, is that the C300 is so user friendly, camera operation would easily disappear into muscle memory. Canon crammed almost everything you need into an very light Super 35mm camcorder that is powered by one battery. You get built in ND filters, XLR inputs, audio levels with dials, recording to dual CF cards, a monitor, vectorscope, waveform, timecode, HDMI out, HD-SDI out, genlock, native Canon EF-S lens mount, and physical buttons for just about everything.

The C300’s two main problems are marketing and price. It is an incredible camera that documentary makers, news videographers, freelance shooters and small production houses are going to love (Check out Dan Chung's great C300 post), but it's being marketed to cinematographers that shoot narratives. You can make a great narrative movie with this camera, but it doesn’t offer the flexibility in post-production and resolution that the film industry has come to expect from companies like Red, Arri, and Panovision.

The Canon C300 should be thought of as a direct competitor with the Sony F3 and this brings us to price. The C300 records 1080p 8bit 4:2:2 only where the F3 can record 1080p 10bit 4:4:4 when attached to an external recorder. Currently with a mail-in rebate the Sony F3 can be had for $12,261 (apparently S-Log is now free) and the Canon C300 is $15,999. To be fair the Sony F3 requires an external HD-SDI recorder to reach 10bit 4:4:4 recording and a $400 adapter to use Canon lenses. This increases overall cost and weight of the F3. The other concern here is that for about a year Sony required you to pay an additional $3,860 to get this firmware update, while most other camera manufacturers offer firmware updates for free.

Is the C300 worth $16,000? This depends on who you are. Even though this all in one compact package has most of what I've been looking for, the price is too high. When canon decides to drop the price, I would give the C300 some serious consideration.

For more in-depth opinions check out the following video reviews:

Jonatan Yi's C300 = Awesome

and the more technical

Philip Johnston's C300 User Review

Lan Bui's C300 discussions

And of course

Philip Bloom's review

Our lastest video for the HALO Foundation took 1st place yesterday in the video category of the Nonprofit Connect Philly Awards. If you haven't seen or shared it yet, please check it out at http://www.ambitiouspixels.com/work/2011/5/7/halo-foundations-mission-redefined.html.

It’s hard to communicate how much it means to us to be recognized by the Kansas City nonprofit community. At Ambitious Pixels our mission is to creating short documentaries for nonprofits and businesses that engage viewers organically. We do this by telling stories that are worth sharing. We are honored that the HALO Foundation entered our video in the 9^th annual Nonprofit Connect Philly Awards and we are thrilled that we won. Thank you to everyone who helped make this video possible.

Helping Art Liberate Orphans from Ambitious Pixels on Vimeo.

Last month, I returned to Africa with Rebecca Welsh and Lacy Voight to capture HALO’s work in Kenya and Uganda, Africa. I was able to do this because of the support of my wife, friends, family, and community.

During each trip, I am overwhelmed by the optimism, ambition, and sheer joy the kids exude. By providing the children’s basic needs of food, water, shelter, clothing, and loving care takers, HALO gives these kids a chance at a childhood. In this safe, consistent environment, the children can play, draw, sing, dance, learn, and dream.  

HALO ensures consistent care for its sponsored children by placing uniquely qualified ambassadors like Dani Walker in the countries it supports and partnering with organizations like Cornerstone, that share its values.

My goal in creating videos for the HALO Foundation is not to show the plight of orphans, but to introduce audiences to a group of amazing kids who deserve a stable childhood and happy future.

In our everyday life, it can be easy to forget our achievements.  Please consider this as you watch the videos I produce for the HALO Foundation: every moment of joy you see is because of you. Whether it’s time or money, every donation you make helps to change a child’s life.

Josh Fry



Halo Foundation Footage from Ambitious Pixels on Vimeo.

I have just returned from a 2 week shoot for the HALO Foundation in Kenya and Uganda, Africa. I wanted to share a glimpse of the footage I captured as soon as I could, so please enjoy the linked video above. I am grateful to everyone who made it possible for me capture HALO's work on behalf of orphans and at risk youth.

A while ago, director Kelsey Amara invited me to handle the editing and VFX work on her secret series of art videos, now called Aura Synthetic. This project provided the opportunity to collaborate with an amazingly talented director, crew and cast. Kelsey has chosen today to share "Monster," the first of her 3 videos on project's site, www.aurasynthetic.com. Be sure to visit the site and click on Monster while you're snowed in.

Last night Katie Couric featured the HALO Foundation on the CBS Nightly News. They also used some of the footage I shot in Kenya, Africa about 4 years ago. In the next few months I'll be returning to these orphanages to produce a few new videos documenting the impact HALO and it's supports have had on the children's lives.

Josh Fry

CCO Ambitious Pixels

New gallery of stills:

Check out DJ Grover and DJ Ataxic spinning at the Groove Party.

DJ Grover throws one heck of a party for Magic 107.3 in East KC each month. We were thrilled to be hired for the November poster design and photography.

DJ Grover's page

DJ Attaxic's Page