How to reduce noise when filming with the Canon R5C

In our previous blog post, we reviewed the brand new Canon R5C VR video camera and now our team has come up with some useful techniques for getting the most out of this impressive piece of kit. 

We noticed a problem with noise in the shadows and dark areas when shooting VR footage at ISO 3200. After more days of thorough testing, we have discovered the optimal settings for shooting in Canon RAW LT 8K 60FPS, which removes the need to de-noise in post-production. 

The answer is to set the camera’s ISO to 800, and the base ISO to 3200. The Canon R5C has a useful feature that allows you to choose a higher base ISO and set the camera ISO to a lower number. This limits the dynamic range to eliminate noise, while still preserving details in the dark areas. To get more light into the sensor needed to shoot at ISO 800, the iris must be wide open at f2.8. 

The camera operator should check the focus of the camera before every shoot as it is easy to accidentally nudge the focus ring. It’s worth noting that you can zoom in 3x on the LCD screen by pressing the magnifying glass button then pressing the set button twice, or the joystick button to help you focus the lens.

To get maximum sharpness at f2.8 you must focus on an object at the hyperfocal distance of the lens which is 12.75 inches away from the sensor of the camera or about 10.5 inches away from the front of the dual fisheye lens. This will give you the maximum depth of field, ensuring everything from 6.38 inches away from the sensor (or about 4 inches away from the front of the lens to infinity) will be crystal clear.

It also helps to adjust the black balance of the camera before putting on the lens. This is done in the Camera Setup menu, under ABB.

Overall, our team is very happy with this camera and solutions such as the above should help deliver even better results going forward.