Thought I’d do a quick C300 dynamic range test with the trusty ol’ DR650. My 7D tested in at 9 stops. Canon claims 12 for the C300, let’s see what it can do. Click on the pic to see the whole thing.

Here it is, ISO 850, f13, C-log, straight from the camera, imported into FCP 7 using log and transfer. I’m gonna say there’s about 10 stops there. That first stop on the dark side is really slight, but the last stop on the light side is awfully dark, so I think 10 stops is reasonable. But look what happens when you take it into Final Cut:

You can totally recover some highlights! (I brought down the whites in the 3-way color corrector.) I think it’s generous to say that the total dynamic range of this camera is 11 stops — 6 over the key, and 5 under.

If anyone is getting anything better, I’d love to hear about it. Next, I’m going to try some low con/ultra con filters and see if I can’t squeeze some more out of it.