Cold, dark, exhilarating: filming the Noordkaap Challenge on the Canon EOS C200

Key kit for the adventure

Choosing the right kit was an essential part of Michael's planning. He selected two zooms, a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM and a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM lens to focus in on the kite surfer in the ocean. This minimises the need for lens swaps and provides a large range of focal lengths without compromising quality. "I wish I could have taken a 400mm lens," he adds, "but it wasn't possible as I was shooting alone. I had to record sound, direct, produce and film, all at the same time. I couldn't tell the kite surfer to wait while I swapped lenses."

Shooting in a handheld style

You only have to watch Michael's films for a short time to realise he certainly has his own style, with many shots using a loose, handheld look to bring a real-world edge.

"I make films in my style – that's why I always shoot handheld instead of using gimbals and tripods," he says. "With my handheld footage, I throw in some in and out of focus breathing, so you get the feeling that you were actually there.

Working in Cinema RAW Light

One of the Canon EOS C200's unique features for such a small camera is that it saves Cinema RAW Light format to CFast 2.0 cards to give the ultimate in quality and flexibility in post. So it might come as a surprise that Michael decided not to shoot RAW but stick with the XF-AVC codec because he didn't feel the need to use a more data-hungry format.

"I shot in 1080p, because the output of the video was to be 1080p and I needed a lot of slow motion, up to 120fps," he says. "I see the benefits of shooting 4K, but we were on a road trip, so I wanted to keep my data low. It meant a far faster upload at the end of each day."

Despite the lower bit rate, the Canon EOS C200 can shoot in WideDR and Canon Log to maximise dynamic range, and the footage was incredibly detailed and rich, with subtle tones and very low noise despite much of it being shot in low light.

Low light challenges

"Most of the time I was shooting in low light, because the sun rises just a little bit above the horizon for a couple of hours and then goes down again. So it's not even fully daylight," Michael says. "It's a really weird, mysterious kind of light but it's beautiful. And I was surprised by how good the Canon EOS C200 was at dealing with it."

Michael did end up pushing the ISO, sometimes even filming with just the light from a phone screen. "I told Kevin to check the weather forecast on his mobile phone, and that light was enough for me to film in. Otherwise it was totally pitch black."

When you are shooting in very low light, it can be tough to get your subject in focus. Michael soon learned to rely on the Dual Pixel CMOS Autofocus on the camera, as well as the advanced Face Detection AF.

"The autofocus is a huge benefit. Not having to focus manually felt a bit weird at first, but I was really, really surprised by the AF of the Canon EOS C200. And I used the face detection, which impressed me too," he says. "It allowed me to be more focused on keeping the camera steady, instead of also having to pull the focus."

Natural audio capture

The Canon EOS C200's advanced audio recording also helped Michael when it came to capturing CD-quality sound. "The camera has two XLR ports, so I had two wireless microphones on different channels. I also had a small shotgun mic on the camera, which I could quickly plug in. But there were situations, for example, when we had to talk with a fisherman and I wanted to have it pure, not clipping a microphone on."

With such compact kit, Michael did afford himself one luxury for shooting video – to take along his trusty Canon EOS-1D X DSLR (now succeeded by the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III), which of course uses the same EF lens mount as the Canon EOS C200. He used this to shoot time-lapses that captured the majesty of the Northern Lights.

This footage provides a serene and colourful counterpoint to all the fast action of kite surfing, and shows the other-worldly beauty of the location. You could almost forget it was so cold.