Russ,

From the Canon USA site:

Interval Recording
With this feature, users can program the camera to record a specified number of frames at specified intervals. The technique can be used to observe natural phenomena over extended periods, making it ideal for time-lapse applications. The interval can be set in 25 levels ranging from 1 second to 10 minutes.
60i/30p: Selectable between 1, 3, 6 and 9 frames
24p/60p: Selectable between 2, 6 and 12 frames

Frame Recording
This setting allows a specified number of frames to be recorded – ideal for projects such as clay animation.
60i/30p: Selectable between 1, 3, 6 and 9 frames
24p/60p: Selectable between 2, 6 and 12 frames

Professional Camcorders - High Definition Camcorders and Lenses - Standard Definition Camcorders - Software - Professional Camcorder - XF300 - Canon USA Consumer Products (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=175&modelid=20321#ModelFeaturesAct)

HTH,
Paul

Does anyone know whether the camera has intervalometer and single frame functions? Any news on the viewfinder resolution?

If it really can capture a 11-12 stop luminance range, then I'm probably sold on it already.

Viewfinder is even higher than the LCD for resolution.

0.52 inch 1.55 megapixel VF, 100% field of view.

I had a 60MB/s card next day'd to me just for the test. And yep, found out the hard way the cameras do not record - they say in about 3 weeks...

Lonnie

Thanks for the info., Paul and Michael.

This thing is sounding more and more like a winner - a really well thought out machine. I'm a fan of "Citizen Kane" and other deep focus films, so no depth of field issues for me. I am a little skeptical about the luminance range, so I'm waiting to see some in depth reviews of the image quality. Maybe an Adam Wilt review....

-Russ

looks like i am begining to fall in love with this cam but so far I still want the SD so EX1r is still ahead

maybe i read wrong, but in an earlier post did chris not say canon told him it will have SD settings?

EDIT
i mis-read and therefore really evaluating my decision now.

chris wrote: I'm sorry Olakunle, it appears that you are right about this. I put a
query into Canon USA and have received a prompt reply confirming
that there is no Standard Definition recording capability.

I have withdrawn a couple of posts from public view which stated
otherwise, just to avoid any possible confusion. Olakunle is correct;
the XF series camcorders do not have any Standard Definition
recording capability.

for anyone who has been in the broadcast industry, is this a bad choice to not have SD for certain jobs? Thanks

It's only time that's lost Daniel. If the client wants SD then with this new Canon you've got to do the conversion in camera on replay so he can walk away with the SD footage. A camera that 'shoots in SD' isn't really doing that of course, it's downconverting on the fly between chips and recording medium.

Any chance you can ask Canon about the XL version of the XF cams?I did, as a formality and as a responsibility to you guys, but they told me exactly what I expected them to say:

"Canon never comments on future products; however, new products are always in development."

In other words, they could not say anything specific about an XL F, but they did say that there will be more to follow.

It would be nice if Canon would make a version of the A1 that recorded to a single CF card with the 25 or 35 mbit codec. I think this alone might be enough for most users who still prfer CCD. The main problem with the A1 isn't the camera itself it is the HDV tape.

Hear, hear! I'm afraid the XF300 is out of my price- and weight-range. However, I would seriously consider a solid-state XH-A1s, especially if it included some of the other XF300 improvements, such as the 3 ND filters, and the focus/exposure tools.

50 Mbps is no advantage to me. It will double my space requirements and increase the time to make a Blu-ray disc by as much as 10 times: Using my current XH-A1 (HDV MPEG2 25 Mbps), there is no conversion necessary from the camera to the time-line (Avid Liquid) nor from the time-line to the disc (up to 120 minutes). The only things that need rendering are edits, transitions and occassional colour- or exposure-corrections (which I use only when really needed), all of which are done in background as I go along. Moving to a higher bit-rate camer codec requires a complete render of everything, which is very much slower than rendering to DVD formats (on my system), and would probably not look any better on a customer's TV screen than my current work-flow. I realise that this analysis does not apply to those who do a large amount of post-processing as a matter or course.

I don't expect my XH-A1 will need replacing for a few years yet, and when it does, I hope there will be a Canon competitor for the NX5/AX2000 that records in a Blu-ray native format. Otherwise, I'll have to snap up an XH-A1s before they are discontinued.

If it really can capture a 11-12 stop luminance range, then I'm probably sold on it already.

Me too. In the field with time pressure, limited resources and less than ideal light / conditions, lack of dynamic range is the #1 issue I struggle with using small sensor (<2/3") cameras.

Greater DOF control, clean low light images, better codec, higher resolution... such features are all nice, but if proven, a discernable leap in dynamic range over the competition would make me switch back to Canon.

I look forward to someone confirming this :-)

I'm really pleased Canon has addressed the LCD / VF issue and added histograms - one of the major reasons I switched from Canon to Sony was the lacklustre monitoring on my XLH1 & XHA1. The hi res 4" LCD is a big deal.

50 Mbps is no advantage to me. It will double my space requirements and increase the time to make a Blu-ray disc by as much as 10 times: Using my current XH-A1 (HDV MPEG2 25 Mbps), there is no conversion necessary from the camera to the time-line (Avid Liquid) nor from the time-line to the disc (up to 120 minutes). ........Moving to a higher bit-rate camer codec requires a complete render of everything, which is very much slower than rendering to DVD formats (on my system), and would probably not look any better ........
I seem to remember that it will also record to other formats - the 50Mbs is the "best quality" one, not the only one. Hence for your purposes, you may be better off using it in XDCAM EX mode (35Mbs). That should give noticeably better results than HDV, still be able to be put on a Blu-Ray without recoding, and not be as big a hit on memory as the full 50Mbs.

And you still have the 50Mbs mode if you need it.... :-)

I just saw the xf300 at NAB, wow what a cam....may have to add one to my arsenal soon. Very impressive LCD, best I have seen on any cam so far. Canon's film deo'ing its capabilities along side the XHA1 and 5D MkII, 1D MkIV and 7D was really quite impressive.

What did you think about the footage from the XF in comparison to the XHA1 in the demo?

I thought it looked very good. The whole film was simply amazing, in demonstrating what these cams can do. From that film, they cut together very well. I thought it too looked fantastic next to cuts from the other cams. I only saw it twice and obviosly could not stop or slow it down for more careful analysis, but the XH series certainly looked good up there. Canon should post that demo on their site.

Does anyone know whether the microphone holder will be removable when shooting MOS, or B?

Jonathan

It's removable. You can see the screws which hold it in place on my photos page here:

Canon’s Next Cam — Photos from SFO SuperMeet, Pt. 2 at DVInfo.net (http://www.dvinfo.net/features/canons-next-cam-photos-from-sfo-supermeet-pt-2.html)

About midway down that page.

Chris,

That's great. Thanks. You asked a question about what the switch on the front of the handle might be. I'm guessing that it might disable the zoom controls on the top of the handle maybe??? Or turn the zoom off??

Jonathan

Interestingly enough, that switch is gone now. See attached pic.

very funny tale to share with everyone. i was lucky and just sold my xh a1, and now having money, walked in to a camera shop to buy a 5D. talked to a guy for half hour and persuaded me with his talk about video cameras (that and my dad was not sold on the idea). sitting back at home now, my money high back down to normal, i am super glad i did not buy a 5D to replace my video camera. everyday i stare at this camera and cannot wait to see it. interesting to see if it will be out by ProFusion time, special deals maybe? anyway, interesting night i had, very glad i have decided to wait for the XF series.

Hi Daniel, ProFusion is June 18-19, not sure if the camera will be shipping by then but it's probably a sure bet that there will be working models to touch & try at that show.

if there are that would be great! is this a show you attend chris?

I'd love to go, but not sure that I'll make it. So we're all counting on you for a full report!

ahh, too bad chris! would have been cool to say hello. but yeah, guaranteed i will be take a million photos of it haha. a friend of mine from school actually went to NAB and brought me back the XF brochure, i am that much more excited! but that aside, the XF really is jam packed in my opinion for what is out there in terms of cameras. i was looking at the nx5u for awhile but until i realized the chip pixels, it was not for me. i just hope the XF cameras will hold up to the redrock adapters, im sure they will though. time will tell for all of my questions, just not soon enough =].

"High-speed data readout developed by Canon reduces the skew effects caused by rolling shutter, resulting in realistic reproduction of moving subjects." from Canon Professional Europe site. Was also mentioned in freshDV video.

Anyone at NAB that handled one confirm this? This is great news and hopefully an effective implementation.Did anyone end up confirming this, I am very interested/excited about this in particular.

No facts yet. But at NAB, I asked one of the Canon guys if they had addressed rolling shutter. Although he did not offer any specifics at all, he said with a smile, "When you get one in your hands, you can decide for yourself." Was he being coy about an unkown or confident about another elegant Canon solution? I'm suspecting the latter, but until we get our hands on production models, we just won't know.

It would be nice if Canon would make a version of the A1 that recorded to a single CF card with the 25 or 35 mbit codec. I think this alone might be enough for most users who still prfer CCD. The main problem with the A1 isn't the camera itself it is the HDV tape.


Hear, hear! I'm afraid the XF300 is out of my price- and weight-range. However, I would seriously consider a solid-state XH-A1s, especially if it included some of the other XF300 improvements, such as the 3 ND filters, and the focus/exposure tools.
How difficult would it be for Canon to produce a separate 2xCF card-recorder to mount on an XH- or XL-series cam, by repackaging the recorder used in the XF30x cams? The existing cams can feed 1440x1080 25Mbps mpeg2 through the Firewire socket, so the gadget would "just" need to record that to card, and maybe a Standard Definition "DV" stream instead. It would be nice to have a 10-second buffer, be able to record either in synch with the tape (stop/start button) or independently, and ideally share the cam's battery (might require a little ingenuity!) Having 2 slots would allow continuous recording beyond the capacity of one card (or one tape) and for copying between cards. It would be really useful to be able to copy from tape to card and vice versa (should not be difficult over the Firewire).

I know Sony already makes something like this, but a Canon product, debugged to work seamlessly with existing Canon cameras, would find a ready market, it seems to me, especially it it was competitively priced. Such a recorder would give the best of both worlds (tape and solid-state) and ease the transition from one to the other. In theory, it would work with older Firewire-equiped cams, such as HV20, GL2, XL2, or those made by other companies??

Being more ambitious, Canon could produce a more sophisticated version with HD-SDI input and the XF300's CODEC circuitry, so that you could record 35M 4:2:0 and 50M 4:2:2 from an XH-G1 or other HD-SDI cam. Give it an HDMI input too, and you could record from an HV20!! However, I think that might erode sales of the XF too much. I guess NanoFlash remains the best bet for that sort of thing.

Actually... I've just been reminded by private email (thank you, sir, and it was great to see
you at NAB) that Canon USA already offers a solution similar to what Mark Fry suggests. It is
an official 3rd-party accessory, sold by Canon USA as well as various dealers, which records
HDV to a single Compact Flash card on an external device via 6-pin FireWire. It is the Focus
Enhancements FS-CF (and FS-CF Pro) Portable Compact Flash DTE Recorder. Details here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/article/acquisition/canondvhdv/focus-enhancements-solid-state-dte-recorders.html

Thanks Chris. Looks intersting. Only one card slot, no mention in the press release of a recording buffer, and, at $1000, a bit more expensive than I was hoping, but worth a close look when (if) it appears in the UK. I guess discussion of the FS-CF should now switch to its own thread....

I'm pretty excited by this camera, especially the new mechanical lens, 4" HD-LCD, a real HD-EVF, and Edge detection/face detection focus aids. As much as I loved the A1 line, the CA was pretty bad and Canon claims to have fixed it on this lens. The slo-mo, stop-motion, and interval recording functions will be useful as well. I'm trying to determine if Vegas will support the MXF long GOP format (put in question to SCS support this morning). Otherwise, I'll have to join the droves going to the new CS5 Premier Pro with the Mercury Engine. May do it anyway as my computer hardware is ready for an update.

Does anyone know if the lens has Fluorite coating or is this obsolete with the newer L-Glass with UD elements? I'm not sure how much it matters, but Canon made a big deal of it in the past and many high end lenses tout Fluorite.

Adding this camera to the stable may present political challenges in the household government. The wife may hold out for more than flowers.

Roger, flourite is still used by Canon in high-end lenses. It's not replaced by UD glass. I assumed flourite was an anti-reflective coating, but I could be wrong.

I'm trying to determine if Vegas will support the MXF long GOP format.You're aware that we have the download links to a couple of native .MXF files posted in other threads on this forum? Self-testing should be relatively quick and painless that way.

Does anyone know if the lens has Fluorite coating or is this obsolete with the newer L-Glass with UD elements? Not sure about Fluorite -- I thought I had heard that it doesn't, but I can't seem to locate that reference in my notes. It definitely has the new UD (ultra-low dispersion) elements, though, with a resolution of 1000 TV lines supposedly.

Adding this camera to the stable may present political challenges in the household government. An occurrence common enough around here to warrant its own sub-forum perhaps.

You're aware that we have the download links to a couple of native .MXF files posted in other threads on this forum? Self-testing should be relatively quick and painless that way.

Yes, it works - I have Vegas 8.0c Pro and have happily downloaded and played back the clip at http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-xf-series-hd-camcorders/477472-native-1080i60-mxf-clip-bounce-card.html

Regards
David

Thanks for the .mxf file. They seem to load fine. I'm rendering the bounce card file to .mp4 to see how it looks.

I was really hoping this camera would come in at less money. I have the Ex1r, but its overkill for what I need. I just refuse to go back to tape, and figured Canon would come out tapeless.
I do not see selling the ex1r to get this, especially with out a lot of real world testing. I was in that boat when the 1d mark III. Will either stay with my ex1r or look at the mid range sonys for now.

I was really hoping this camera would come in at less money.

With new technology Canon usually comes out with the more expensive version first. They will still need to fill the gap between the $1000 high end consumer model and these new models. Somewhere in that range will be a single large sensor camcorder. Panasonic's early XF100 announcement is likely a defensive move against what Canon will come out with this year.

We're entering a transition period towards IQ not being a major differentiator between camcorders. There's going to be plenty of tempting equipment released over the next two years. That's a nice change from the small incremental improvement of the last few years.

But getting rid of tape brings the same archive issues as still cameras.

We sure are living in exciting times with camera development making huge strides lately. Thanks Chris for this great forum, I check it out quite regular as I watch how things are unfolding, especially with the Canon XF300. I've used Canon cameras for wildlife filming since 1991 starting with the L1 in Hi8 for 6 years, than the XL1 for 8 years, and the XLH1 for the last 4 years.

Does anyone have an idea when Canon will release their interchangeable lens model? I would like to see larger sensors than the XF300 has, however I hope their new sensors will be a least on par with the Sony EX3.

Any thoughts on, will this camera be 100% content approved by Discovery HD and National Geographic HD?

Leon Lorenz
Canadian Wildlife Productions: Grizzly Bears, Bighorm Sheep in Alberta & BC Rockies DVD Videos (http://www.wildlifevideos.ca)

These videocams are in Canon's mid-level body with 1/3 inch sensors and in the EX price range. Canon must be confident in the IQ.
It seems Canon would want to be done with HDV in pro cameras. So maybe they will come out with a removable lens camera this year. I doubt they can sell many more H1 series as the specs are looking old. Like you, I'm hoping there removable lens camera with sensors larger than 1/3.

All of the Canon HDV cameras (H1a,H1s,A1s,G1s) are considered current until the end of the year.....according to our Canon rep.

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

the body when compared to the xh series is much bigger. even when held in interviews, compared to a hand it looks much bigger, more solid. beside the chips, i think this will be my choice over the ex1, but that can only be said once footage is out.

in an interview, tim smith said that canon will still offer the xh series because of its tape system and archival purposes. he did state that we are going to a tapeless generation, but not quite yet, the need for tape is still there. plus at 4000 the xh series is a great value for HD content.

dan

I did notice the 82mm lens filter requirement. I wonder why the body needed to be bigger.

We do know it's not top-of-the-line due to lack of removable lens.

This thread's long enough now -- please start a new one or use one of the others -- thanks,