C300 Mark II announcement discussion

[Darren Levine]

C300 Mark II press release, USA version: Canon USA Announces C300 Mark II at DV Info Net

C300 Mark II product pages, USA version: Canon C300 Mark II - Cinema EOS Cameras - Canon USA

C300 Mark II specifications brochure attached below for download.


-New sensor
-4k internal
-Up to 15 stops dynamic range
-internal 4:2:2 10bit @ up to 440mbps
-Dual Digic DV5
-5! ND filters: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
-Supports ITU-R BT.2020 colour gamut
-Log2 - an update to original Clog
-ISO up to 102,400 and improved over mark 1
-XF-AVC intra codec
-CFast media
-2k/HD up to 120fps
-Output's RAW 4:4:4 4k
-Overall same design but with many improvement/refinements
-EF mount, but mentions optional upgrade to PL mount or EF with cinema lock
-Price 11299euro

[Adrian Tan]

2K and 1080 can be recorded at 12 bit?? That's an interesting feature.

Thank goodness for the high frame rate improvements.

It's interesting that it can record raw... that puts it into competition with C500, no? Though C500 does higher frame rates at 4K.

[Andy Wilkinson]

Quoted UK price of £11,299 ex VAT. Available 3rd quarter of 2015...going go be a long 6 months!

[Kyle Hawthorne]

Better than I expected. Canon is going to sell a ton of these.

[Mark Dobson]

Same price as the original C300.

If some one can offer me nice trade in deal I would definitely be interested but as Canon has just dented the value of my C300 this might be a bit difficult.

The specs are absolutely superb. Bit confused about whether the the LCD has a new display but the EVF has gone OLED.

What I'll probably do is hang onto my C300 and buy the new XC10 which I can afford.

[Mark Fry]

Originally Posted by Andy Wilkinson

Quoted UK price of £11,299 ex VAT. Available 3rd quarter of 2015...going go be a long 6 months!

I guess you're referring to the C300mk2, Andy? I expect the XC10 will be much closer to the Sony RX10 and Panasonic FZ1000 price - under £1000, once things settle down.

[Jon Roemer]

It's an OLED screen. I would assume similar to the C100 Mark II - which has a very nice screen. Much better color & better contrast.

[Mark Dobson]

Originally Posted by Jon Roemer

It's an OLED screen. I would assume similar to the C100 Mark II - which has a very nice screen. Much better color & better contrast.

Thanks Jon. So that points to the other alternative for cash poor C300 owners - buy a C100 Mark II as a second camera and get some of the benefit of the OLED screen and new digic processor.

I think this new camera looks absolutely fabulous but am disappointed that the step up to buy it will be as great as the original C300. And to add to the cost is the need to build up a new set of batteries and cards. But it all seems like a natural evolution to 4K acquisition and editing. Having said that none of our clients have the ability to play 4K at the moment and large amount of end delivery is still at 720P!

There has been a lot of negative feedback about the price and maybe this will drop before the camera actually hits the street.

[Andy Wilkinson]

Canon USA "walkaround" video of the C300MkII.

Walkaround of the Canon EOS C300 Mark II - YouTube

Also, more detail about features here:

YouTube (Short URL)

[Dan Brockett]

Heard $20k, then $17k, B&H now has it listed at $15,999.00. Canon will sell a ton of them but I do think they are missing an FS7 chunk of the market. The jump from $5,500.00 for the 1080 only C100 MKII to $16k for the 4K C300 MKII is too large. They should have come out with a 4K version called a C200 for $10k and re-aligned features to make that acceptable to an FS7 buyer. But they will sell a ton of C300 MKIIs so what do I know?

[Kyle Hawthorne]

If I was a C300 owner and didn't do any broadcast work, I would sell it and purchase a C100 Mark II.

The C300 Mark II price will likely come down between now and the time camera starts to ship. They will have another price reduction around March 2016 and I expect a decent used market this time next year in the 10k range.

This trend keeps true with the historical pricing changes on the C300 Mark I and C100 Mark I:

[Kyle Hawthorne]

This is going to be a wonderful camera and Canon will sell them like hotcakes.

My only gripe is I wish the OLED was located toward the back of the camera and on the camera body itself much like the C100. Being able to detach the top handle on the C100 is great for shooting with a low profile and not drawing a lot of attention to yourself.

[Daniel Epstein]

So Darren do you think people will prefer this over the Sony Fs7? The video I saw said the new 300 II was a bit heavier and taller than the old one. Also wonder what edit system will handle the Canon Codec. Also I think the Sony will be able to do faster frame rates then the 300 II. Of course real side by side test can't happen until they deliver. I think Advantage Sony for the moment.

Originally Posted by Darren Levine

US price still not announced, probably a few days away:

Canon USA Announces C300 Mark II

-New sensor
-4k internal
-Up to 15 stops dynamic range
-internal 4:2:2 10bit @ up to 440mbps
-Dual Digic DV5
-5! ND filters: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
-Supports ITU-R BT.2020 colour gamut
-Log2 - an update to original Clog
-ISO up to 102,400 and improved over mark 1
-XF-AVC intra codec
-CFast media
-2k/HD up to 120fps
-Output's RAW 4:4:4 4k
-Overall same design but with many improvement/refinements
-EF mount, but mentions optional upgrade to PL mount or EF with cinema lock
-Price 11299euro

[Kyle Hawthorne]

Canon customers love to complain and whine about their cameras not "out specking" the competition, while then proceeding to write a big fat check to purchase the new release. I suspect deep down they know specs are really not all that important.

[Mat Thompson]

"C300mkII actually looks a lot better than I had expected. I think they've certainly done enough to prevent a tidal wave of C300 owners switching over to the Sony FS7"

"Hot Cakes"


Really ? - Why would you go for this when you can get an FS7 for £4000+ Cheaper and you get many more frame rate options.