XF300 vs Xf305

[Denny Kyser]

I am getting ready to order one of these and leaning towards the 300 but do not want to regret not stepping up to the 305.
What advantages does the 305 have?

I do some multiple cam weddings but have always synced in post manually.
Would multiple cam work between 305 & 300 or would.it require a second 305?

Any other real world advantages to the 305?

[Pete Bauer]

The ONLY difference between the cameras is what on earlier models they called "the jack pack" which are BNC connectors to allow timecode and genlock synchs. If you can achieve an acceptable timecode synch by other means, such as using a remote control to set 2 or more cameras to the same free run timecode (just guessing, but probably within a frame or two), then you probably don't need the jack pack. Manually synching the 300 with a remote would of course require cameras that respond to the same remote IR codes, so probably identical cameras. With jammed timecode, any pro camera that does this ought to work so if needed you could use different cameras on a shoot.

Cameras without timecode synch will gradually drift off, so on an all-day shoot you'd probably need to repeat the manual synch.

[Denny Kyser]

Since I needed to use a BH gift card and shipping discount anyways, and the 305 is all they had in stock I went with that one. It will be here tomorrow. :)

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Pete Bauer

The ONLY difference between the cameras is what on earlier models they called "the jack pack" which are BNC connectors to allow timecode and genlock synchs.

The "jack pack" also provides standard HD-SDI output of uncompressed Full HD video with embedded audio and Timecode. Even with the XF300/305 50Mbps 4:2:2 CODEC using a nanoFlash or similar to record in even higher quality will be a requirement for some.