C300 Discussion

[Henry Coll]

Well, the new Canon doesn't change a single thing in the camera world. Not a tiny bit.

The C300 is apparently nothing more than an F3 competitor (or clone), with essentially the same feaures, even worse ergonomics, no 60p@1080, at exactly the same price as the Sony.

Only that the F3 sports 3D SDI uncompressed RGB 444 connectors, which the Canon lacks.

I don't see why anybody would get the Canon rather than the F3, honestly.

I guess this might be in Japanese's DNAs. Move very conservatively and don't embarrass or destroy your competitor's products.


After this I guess we can't expect much from the upcoming 5D3 either. Just an incremental improvement and that's it. Typical Canon.

[Mark Kenfield]

Great article, thanks Chris.

I suppose we probably should have seen this coming really, an F3 competitor does make considerably more sense than an FS100/AF100 competitor if you're going after professional film/tv production.

Shame about the lack of 10-bit, but the XF codec is solid, trusted and widely accepted for broadcast, so that's okay.

I for one really like the sound of the sensor. The 4K downsampled to 1080p appears to be all about colour, added to the built-in LOG recording, I'm very keen to see how the C300 handles colour, tonality and highlights - all of which are FAR more important to me than outright resolution (as far as I'm concerned 1080p looks great projected on cinema screens).

I'll be very interested to see how it compares with the F3 price-wise down here in Australia, and whether the additional cost of SLOG for the F3 will make the Canon the more appealing option.

I can't afford either one anyway, so here's hoping Scarlet comes out at a more reachable pricepoint - or it's back to my original plan of getting an FS100, which I was just about to do before everyone went announcing their announcements.

[Dylan Couper]

Originally Posted by Daniel Browning

Does anyone else find it absolutely hilarious that an expensive new Canon camera cannot autofocus with it's *own* lenses, yet one of it's competitors will?

What Canon competitor will autofocus with Canon lenses?

[Steve Kimmel]

Anyone know if there's built-in ND filters? I can see an obvious place for them in the images of the camera?

Also, is the native codec 10-bit or 8-bit. I'm seeing conflicting reports.

[Daniel Browning]

Originally Posted by Dylan Couper

What Canon competitor will autofocus with Canon lenses?

From Chris Hurd's article:

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

But anyone wanting to use autofocus on a Canon EF or EF-S lens — which is a primary feature of the EF line — will be better served by choosing a RED Digital Cinema DSMC camera equipped with RED’s own DSMC Titanium Canon EOS mount, which fully supports autofocus and other EF lens features.

So, RED.

[Simon Wood]

Price is a bit disappointing. The AF100 & FS100 market remains unchanged it seems.

Looks like this and the F3 will be going head-to-head. From the specs it would appear that the F3 would remain the 'cinema' camera of choice, while the C300 would be the obvious choice for TV productions (with that broadcast standard codec ready to shoot out of the box).

My guess is while DSLR users are going to be disappointed, and Film Studios underwhelmed, this thing will sell by the bucketload for TV productions, documentaries, wildlife etc.

[Dylan Couper]

Originally Posted by Daniel Browning

From Chris Hurd's article:



So, RED.

My bad, I didn't count Red amongst Canon's competitors, was thinking of the DSLR market. You make an excellent point.

[Daniel Browning]

Originally Posted by Les Wilson

It would perhaps be one of those other models to which Allan Black refers. It looks like an HDSLR form factor .... so the Cinema 5D perhaps

Maybe Canon will host yet *another* big event to unveil it, this time on December 3rd. ;)

[Steve Siegel]

I've seen a lot of newly announced equipment on these pages over the years, and the response is generally something like "May not be perfect, but can't wait to get my hands on one". This time it's
"What were they thinking? Where's the door?" In future, business schools will study Canon in the 2000s as model for how to lose loyal customers. And Simon, by the way, this one will definitely NOT be bought by wildlife people. With it's big chip, big price, and 50mbps, 422, already available by Nanoflash for $3000, it is totally unsuitable for living creatures.

[Allan Black]

The RED guys faces won't be red, we'll see now why JJ hopped on the Nov 3 bandwaggon.

Cheers.

[Henry Coll]

Originally Posted by Simon Wood

this thing will sell by the bucketload for TV productions, documentaries, wildlife etc.

I'm not that sure. At the same price point as the F3, every independent Pro cameraman and TV network wil rather get the Sony instead, as it has better ergonomics, can use AF lenses for run and gun and with a cheap KiPro and S-log you get 14.5 stops (with the new firmware) for more cinematic projects.

Who's Canon targeting with this camera? I don't really get it.

[Brian Drysdale]

The camera comes with a choice of lens mounts either EOS or PL, they could just have the two versions in that picture.

To have traction against the F3 in the market, the pictures will need to be really impressive

[Daniel Browning]

Originally Posted by Dylan Couper

My bad, I didn't count Red amongst Canon's competitors,

Yeah, I didn't either, until today.

[Simon Wood]

Originally Posted by Henry Coll

I'm not that sure. At the same price point as the F3, every independent Pro cameraman and TV network wil rather get the Sony instead, as it has better ergonomics, can use AF lenses for run and gun and with a cheap KiPro and S-log you get 14.5 stops (with the new firmware) for more cinematic projects.

Who's Canon targeting with this camera? I don't really get it.

Well, the XF300 was passed by the BBC and various other networks, mainly based on the quality of the codec (and the lens). I reckon TV studios would see this as a strong contender for dramas, documentaries and other productions. The ability to shoot it straight out of the box, without any external recorders would be seen as a real positive by many (something not possible with the F3).

[Chris Medico]

Well, after reading the details about the C300 I don't regret buying a F3 at all.