EOS C100 Mark II Best video format for color grading and editing

[Sardar]

Hello, I use a Canon C100 Mark II camera for filming various events, conferences, and seminars. I want to know, given the available options, which is the best format for filming with this camera. I edit in the CapCut program and need a format that is more suitable for color grading and editing.

I also combine footage shot with the Sony Alpha 7C and Alpha 6400 cameras with the footage from the Canon camera. The Canon camera is used for static shots, the Sony 7C for static and rotating shots, and the Sony 6400 for filming with a gimbal.

It is worth mentioning that since I record audio separately using a Zoom H6 recorder, the internal camera audio quality is unimportant.

The list of available formats on the Canon C100 camera is as follows:

AVCHD format
Codec:MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
Bitrates:28, 24, 17, and 7 Mbps (VBR, 4:2:0 sampling)

MP4 format
Codec:AVC/H.264
Bitrates:35, 24, 17, and 4 Mbps (VBR, 4:2:0 sampling)

Considering the points mentioned, which format provides better quality for recording video with the Canon EOS C100?

[IamintheUK · Accepted solution]

I too, record audio separately, in my case to a Zoom H2E, the output of which goes to the C100's audio in mini jack. The only advantage AVCHD has over MP4 is the ability to record PCM audio. As the same h264 codec is used for both I have found zero quality difference between them even when shooting at 50fps with the higher bitrate of 35Mbps in MP4 rather than AVCHD's 28Mbps.

As I usually shoot at 50fps I always use MP4. I made this comparison video a little while ago.

[IamintheUK · Accepted solution]

As to editing, though h264 is really intended as a delivery format, I don't have any problems with it in DaVinci Resolve. People do recommend transcoding to something like Pro Res LT for smoother timeline performance.

When grading the C100's h264 files remember, their color space is 4.2.0 8bit so heavy use of contrast and saturation can break the image introducing banding and blocking.

I always shoot in C-Log and do coloring and grading without the use of LUTS, which can introduce problems of their own.

My C100 mk2 has all its settings at the default of 0 including sharpening. I upscale to UHD using Resolve's Super Scale for YouTube.