Although there are numerous comparisons between those two workhorses, here you have two that worth watching. The ARRI Mini VS C200 comparison was not planned for benchmark testing, but to a real-world examination from a cinematographic point of view. The results are truly educating. Watch and learn.

$7,500 vs $75,000

The C200 costs $7,500. The Alexa Mini costs 10 times more ($75,000 for a ready to shoot camera). Are they analogous? If you’d like straight and dirty answer, well…, yes they are. However, it depends on the cinematographic environments, conditions and production demands.

Same results derived from different color science

When shooting side by side with regular and satisfying lighting conditions, probably you will not explore any difference. The Canon C200 performs well (Alexa twin in regard to color science). When trying to compare the images, you can’t tell which is which.  Sometimes, the C200 goes beyond the Alexa Mini, by producing truly extremely beautiful images with a wide dynamic range, together with precise and vivid skin tones.

Click on the images to get full-screen view. 

Sometimes, the C200 goes beyond the Alexa Mini, by producing truly extremely beautiful images with a wide dynamic range, together with precise and vivid skin tones

In some cases, it seems that the colors produced by the Alexa are more impressive and saturated. However, this look can be achieved in the C200 footage as well after a bit of grading (elevating the saturation for example as shown in the video below). 

Equal competitors in a friendly production environment

Unfortunately, the videos do not tell us anything about the codecs being used. Basically, there aren’t a lot of options, since the Alexa shoots ProRes/ RAW(Arriraw) and the C200 shoots mp4/ RAW(Cinema RAW Light). We can guess that the Raw files were compared, at least for the C200 footage, as it doesn’t make sense to examine the mp4 against the Arri Mini.

To sum it up, until now, when establishing a fair lighting condition, there is no significant difference between the two cameras. BTW, there is an option to apply an Alexa LUT to the Cinema RAW Light image in order to emulate the Alexa look. The emulation looks fantastic!

When establishing a fair lighting condition, there is no significant difference between the two cameras.

Challenging lighting environment

However, things get interesting when taking these two cameras out of the comfort zone, and throwing them into a much more challengeable and complicated cinematographic environment, like shaded object in front of a sunny window. While the highlights were blown by the C200, the Alexa Mini has managed to preserve details with beautiful accuracy. Moreover, those blown highlights couldn’t be restored on post (watch the in-depth video for the post-grading analysis and examination), while the Alexa Mini footage had a lot of stable imagery to play with. By observing the post process made on DaVinci Resolve, we can conclude the obvious that the ALEXA Mini initial footage has a more solid base to play with in post.

While the highlights were blown by the C200, the Alexa Mini has managed to preserve details with beautiful accuracy

Nevertheless, it’s important to mention that those lighting situations and obstacles can be solved and overcome easily by utilizing more key lights, or even by rigging up some portable light straight on the C200. Canon has done a really good job here and I personally think that this camera is more than enough for most midsize productions. Just add a bit of cheap mobile light on your C200 and you are done, making your life easier at post by reaching Alexa-like footage.

Different animals, different purposes

Regarding build quality, there is no debate. The C200 made from plastic compared to Magnesium in the Alexa Mini. However, the C200 has more possibilities and options regarding sound (XLS inputs). Shooting with the Alexa Mini requires sound crew.

Besides image quality, we are looking at whole different animals. One is dedicated to film crews, and the other is devoted to the lone shooter. Try to operate an ALEXA Mini by yourself and you will notice that it’s not going to be easy. You need a crew for that. On the other hand, the C200 was created to be capable of one shooter operation. The Alexa Mini is used in big Hollywood productions when un-compromised quality is needed, and the C200 can be the ultimate tool for documentaries and smaller productions.

One thing for sure, those two cameras are professional cinema cameras which produce marvelous images.

We’d like to thank Crimson Engine and Armando Ferreira for their extremely educating YouTube channels. We highly recommend you to watch those enlightening videos.

Are you an ALEXA Mini shooter? A C200 shooter? let’s know your insights.