Canon announces development of 4K digital cinema cameras, lenses

[Chris Hurd]

The full, official press releases are located at:

Canon Announces Development of 4K Digital Cinema Cameras at DVInfo.net

and also at:

Canon USA Announces Development of Four EF Cinema Zoom Lenses at DVInfo.net

[Daniel Browning]

This is great news! 4K and 10-bit raw together. I wonder what the price and weight will be after the external recorder is added into the mix. There could conceivably be a recorder that compresses the data intelligently.

[Zach Love]

Anyone know why these came out today? I though Canon had an event on Sunday evening & that is when I was expecting a release. Were they just too excited & couldn't wait any more?

[Chris Hurd]

It might have been out of consideration for NAB-bound journalists like me.
I would have been way too busy at the show if they had dropped all these
PR's on Sunday evening. This way, I can get 'em published before leaving
for NAB, which is much more preferable.

[Steve Game]

Maybe the unexpected release of the FS700 had something to do with it.

[Jon Fairhurst]

Also, NAB starts on a Monday this year. Weekend press releases make little sense. Friday is the day people release bad news in the hopes that it will be ignored. Thursday it is!

[Chris Hurd]

Exhibits opening on Mon. has been the tradition for as long as
I've been going (since 1996). Of course, I'm not sure what it
was like before then, when it used to be hosted in Dallas.

[Jon Fairhurst]

These days I'm more involved in CES, which opens mid-week. Press day is the day before the show opens, with press events (from the big companies anyway) in hotel ballrooms while the booths are still being constructed. That makes more sense to me from a PR view. Who in the press wants to work on Sunday? :)

My first NAB was in Dallas, but I didn't realize it always opens on Monday. Lately, I go on whatever day(s) is/are convenient, and in the past, I'd go early for setup. Since my schedule has always varied, I didn't realize that NAB was so consistent!

Anyway, Thursday makes sense for an NAB announcement to me. :)

[Chris Hurd]

Ah, the meat grinder that is CES! But there's another topic...

[Brett Sherman]

Originally Posted by Steve Game

Maybe the unexpected release of the FS700 had something to do with it.

I guess, but I'm not seeing anything that even remotely competes with the FS700 on features for the price. The C500 will most likely be $20,000+. Canon's offerings just aren't making sense to me. The C300 should have had the features of the C500 with a C100 offering for less than $10K. Are there really two different markets for both the C300 and the C500? I think those that would have bought a C300 will now buy a C500 when it is available. What Canon is missing is the sub $10K market.

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Brett Sherman

I guess, but I'm not seeing anything that even remotely competes with the FS700 on features for the price. The C500 will most likely be $20,000+. Canon's offerings just aren't making sense to me. The C300 should have had the features of the C500 with a C100 offering for less than $10K. Are there really two different markets for both the C300 and the C500? I think those that would have bought a C300 will now buy a C500 when it is available. What Canon is missing is the sub $10K market.

The C300 is $16K so I am sure that the C500 will list at $30K if not more. It's a 4K RAW camera aimed to compete with the Arri Alexa or Red Epic. I couldn't afford one nor would want to handle the 4K workflow whereas the C300 is all that I have wanted in a video DSLR & some as a complete self-contained package. The FS700 still has the weird ergonomics & over-complicated controls of the FS100 & I don't want to have to hook up another box to my camera just so that it records in a decent editing CODEC instead of AVCHD. If I ever had a need super slo-mo I can always hire one but as my day to day workhorse no thank you the C300 is just perfect for my needs. Read the excellent article by Steve Mims on his experiences with shooting with a C300 particularly page 3 which covers the ease & simplicity of use & the gorgeous images plus low light sensitivity The One-Offs: A Short Film Made with the Canon EOS C300 at DVInfo.net

[Brett Sherman]

I don't mean to suggest the C300 is not a great camera. In fact I'll evaluate it alongside the FS700. However, on the feature list they are fairly equivalent in my view. Pros and Cons with each for my usage. Price is the one thing that will likely force me to the FS700 side.

[Robert Sanders]

Makes me wonder who's in charge of design over there at Sony. Ugh.

[Dylan Couper]

Robert, not sure what you mean, could you elaborate? You saying that the FS700 is ugly or badly designed?

[Robert Sanders]

On spec I think the FS700 looks very promising. But, yes, I think it's fugly. Very. But that would be a stupid reason to ignore it or dismiss it. But I would never use the word "sexy" to describe it, that's for sure.