Canon C300 video camera puts you in the director's seat

Make blockbusters on the cheap with Canon's C300 video camera

by Sion Touhig 

 

Updated 05:30 PM Feb 14, 2012

 

Canon has had an illustrious history of being a 35mm stills camera maker, minted most recently with its cutting edge EOS range.

The Canon C300 HD video camera.Photo by Sion Touhig.

From its original film-based EOS 1V to its latest flagship EOS 1DX, Canon cameras are used by everyone from wedding photographers to photojournalists working in the toughest conditions.

Aside from still cameras, Canon has a significant presence in the professional camcorder market too; its XF range of pro camcorders are coveted also by wedding videographers and TV journalists alike.

With the launch of Canon's new C300 video camera, the imaging company is now determined to stake a claim in the intensely competitive world of high end digital cinema production.

Cinematographers and directors of photography (DPs) will find many of the C300 functions deeply rooted in film-based workflows of serious productions.

The image from Canon's new super 35mm CMOS chip is extremely "filmic", with a wide tonal range, low noise and a top workable ISO of 20000 (that's four zeros). In short, it takes great footage in low light. By cutting expensive lighting setups usually required for exterior night scenes, you can imagine the savings made on the productions lighting budget alone.

The Canon C300's relative small size and low cost also means the camera can be used in more places, and in more numbers, than other professional video cameras which can cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and require more than one operator. With this nifty advantage, smaller video production houses can punch above their weight alongside the big boys.

Canon also displays its shrewdness with the C300: The video camera will satisfy many stills photographers who are using video DSLRs hoping "to take it to the next level". Canon has attracted a loyal following of DSLR videographers, especially since the launch of the EOS 5D Mark II - a DSLR that produces 'full frame' video with its 35mm sensor. These same Canon video devotees can simply attach their existing Canon EF stills lenses to the C300 for instant industry standard video/audio recording capability, while getting the cinematic look that sold Canon's video DSLRs by the truckload.

Here are some numbers for you camera-geeks: The C300 shoots up to 1920x1080 HD, to Compact Flash cards, in a variety of frame rates, shutter speeds and shutter angles. It outputs video in Canon's XF codec, an MPEG 2 MXF format that can be ingested by all the standard video editing softwares and post-production pipelines. It outputs a broadcast quality (and beyond) 50 Mbps signal in 4:2;2 colourspace, which makes for clean colour grading, compositing and keying.

The C300 is dust and moisture sealed with a built-in cooling system. It has an optional handgrip, carry handle and monitor unit, which can be configured in a variety of setups, while, of course, still working with all manner of existing support rods, matte boxes and handheld rigs. The camera comes in two versions - the C300, and the C300 PL, which takes the cinema standard PL lens mount.

The Canon C300 - the C stands for Cinema - is a grown-up camera, for grown-up camera operators with few, if any, gimmicks. Instead there is a massive range of bedrock professional functions, that will please the most diehard cinematic camera operator, while the image quality of the camera can easily go head to head with other cameras twice its size, and many times its price range.

The Canon C300 will be available at the end of February at an estimated price of US$20,000 (lens sold separately).



Source:  www.todayonline.com/TechandDigital/EDC120214-0000149/Canon-C300-video-camera-puts-you-in-the-directors-seat