Hi, this is Jay P Morgan and we’re back here with Aizhan to take a look at the Canon C200 vs Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro G2.
I really want to take a look at this comparison because I own a C200 and I really want to see what the RAW looks like on this compares to the URSA Mini Pro G2 to see how they compare because I’d love to buy a companion camera, and I need to decide if I should just buy another C200 or sell this and buy to URSA Minis!
There are some really compelling reasons to get that URSA Mini.
You can shoot a lot of different Codecs, RAW and pro res in lots of different flavors. Where as on the C200 you can only shoot RAW or really crappy 8bit footage.
Image Quality Test
Right off the bat I am seeing a similar thing we saw to the Amira where you get a richer nicer looking green with the C200, than you do with the URSA Mini Pro G2. The skin tones seem similar, but it’s just a little cooler with the Blackmagic and warmer with the Canon, which shouldn’t surprise anybody. Same with the Amira. it didn’t create as much contrast and tonality in the skin.
In some ways, I think the blues are nicer in the URSA than in the C200!
Mixed Lighting Test
To replicate a nighttime scene, we have a warm source, and then window light being defused coming through the window in the background.
The C200 had a harder time getting the contrast I wanted. It’s not a bad look, but it’s not as much of a nighttime dark look as the URSA Mini.
The URSA Mini looks much nicer here with the coloring and overall tone.
The Canon is giving us what we had there lighting wise, and it’s a little crunchier on the G2, again, Factory LUTS make a big difference.
Dynamic Range Test
0 EV
This is normal exposure and I’m already thinking the C200 grass in the background is awfully bright. The URSA is at least holding it a bit better.
+1 EV
URSA is still holding well but the sidewalk in the background. The C200 looks kinda the same!
+2 EV
C200 is still holding well, and now it seems as though the URSA is clipping a little harder. Skin tone is starting to feel a little rosy to me on the URSA Mini, and the C200 has been consistent.
+3 EV
Definitely clipping harder on the concrete and leaves. The C200 is still holding it’s greens nicely.
+4 EV
Lost of stuff clipping now and the URSA Mini has major clipping, but the C200 is holding on a little better, but it’s shifting green in her skin tones a bit!
+5 EV
Now both cameras have lost it here, and the C200 took a giant leap for the worst here. Now they’ve kinda matched each other. You still see some detail with the C200 so I’d say the C200 has the advantage with maybe a stop of highlight.
We had a bit of a messup with the underexposure test. I think I forgot to dial back the ND when we were shooting this. So we won’t have the -1 and -2 for the C200.
URSA Mini
-1 EV
-2 EV
At – 2 it starts to get a little crunchy in her hair and the shadows.
-3 EV
Now with both back in you can see that the C200 has much more digital noise than the URSA Mini.
-4 EV
When we get to this point, the color hasn’t shifted too bad on the C200 but the noise is very bad! Getting a lot of magenta with the URSA Mini.
ISO Test
We’re going to start at 400ISO which is below native for both these cameras.
400ISO
The images actually look really similar in this studio setting.
800ISO
That’s extremely clean on the C200 – there is no grain on the 800ISO. On the URSA, you do see a little grain on the purple and blue chip.
1600 ISO
This is where we’ll start to see some differences. The URSA is definitely getting more noise here. But both are still very good for being at 1600.
3200 ISO
I seem some more noise now but it’s still a stop cleaner. The transitions to blacks are still really clean, but the URSA is definitely more green and a bit faded.
The C200 does go to 6400 ISO and it looks amazing! Having a C200, I would definitely push the ISO before I’d let it be underexposed.
Wrap Up
Som comparing these 2 cameras head to head, I think the C200 is a pretty clear winner here. It handles the ISO getting pushed so well, and it did better with the highlights, which means if you’re shooting a documentary and you’re out in the sunlight, the C200 is going to do better than the URSA would. But then if you need to shoot low light, you can push that ISO on the C200, so it’s kinda the perfect combo for documentary stuff. But once it was underexposed, it fell apart really quickly.
The thing is, if you’re going to be using the C200 for a documentary, you’ve got to have a lot of RAW cards and still, you’ll run through them really quickly. So I think that’s a downside and an expense to consider.
The URSA Mini has a really nice form factor that the C200 is kinda lacking. The URSA also has better high speed options where you can shoot up to 120 fsp 4k and 150 fps HD!
You could absolutely talk yourself into either one of these cameras, and that’s the thing – the picture quality is going to be so good on all of these cameras that you really just need to go with what you prefer when going through the different details.
Keep those cameras rolling and keep on clicking!
GEAR USED:
Canon C200
B&H: https://bhpho.to/2Crtkr8
Amazon: https://amzn.to/31DDe4N
Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro G2
B&H: https://bhpho.to/2Jn3qwX
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2MFE6S8