Press Release: Canon's New XF305 and XF300 Professional HD Camcorder

[Mikel Arturo]

Buffff, very expensive.
I was thinking something like XH A1s+50%. 5.000 $, more or less. Add 500$ if you want (is money).
And only one model: with SDI.
A mix of XH A1s+Sony NX5.

[Michael Galvan]

I've been waiting for Canon's announcement before I did some equipment purchasing this year. And now that its here...

Do you guys think it would be worthwhile to get a Canon XF or get a Nanoflash for my current XL H1S?

I do have to say that I've been extremely happy with the XL H1S and it provides a fantastic image, usability, versatility... just an overall excellent camera experience. Right now, I feel like adding a Nanoflash to it would make for a better upgrade overall, but just seeing what you guys think.

[Tom Roper]

If it was a question of one or the other, I would just wait.

[Jonathan Shaw]

Originally Posted by Thomas Smet

But if it is as good as the 1/2" you were going to buy then what exactly is the difference?

Difference is if the client (broadcaster) will pay for it or not, most probably if the footage is good you will get away with it but if the broadcaster asks you what you shoot on and it has 1/3" chips it could be a deal breaker. Why not make life easier and shoot with what they already approve of i.e. EX1R with nano flash or equiv, and lets face it, it isn't any more expensive.

[John Vincent]

Anyone here plan on buying or renting one? No rentals (at least for new gear) around me....

john

[Ravi Kumar]

I just saw the same sales spec sheet at a local Canon shop here on the 7th - and then found this post, where everyone is already miles ahead as usual.

I think this is fantastic news, and if I had a spare 7 or 8K I would definitely buy it. I love my A1S and tapes, but this gives a whole new set of options for shooters. I do have an MRC1 but this new 422 50Mbps codec and internal CF system take it to the next level, and rounds out an already solid Canon lineup.

[Olakunle Olanrewaju]

It appears that this new camcoder does not have any Standard Definition capability. I will be buying a camcoder any moment and for sure I cant be convinced to go canon way when EX1r is there with SDHC and the likes on the menu. Hopefully they will make an update later to include SD and probably reduce the price also, 4.2.2 is good but... i will still prefer nano for more varsatility.

I will be happy to see SD on thier specs 'cos around here most of the Jobs are still delivered in SD but HD is just around the corner, so i will like to future proof my puchase now.

[Thomas Smet]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Shaw

Difference is if the client (broadcaster) will pay for it or not, most probably if the footage is good you will get away with it but if the broadcaster asks you what you shoot on and it has 1/3" chips it could be a deal breaker. Why not make life easier and shoot with what they already approve of i.e. EX1R with nano flash or equiv, and lets face it, it isn't any more expensive.

If you have a client that concerned about quality then shouldn't you really be shooting for a higher end camera anyway and not a hand held form factor? Why not just go for a 20k+ camera then and have peace of mind. I mean if you have clients who are that concerned about quality I'm guessing they pay pretty well or at least they should be. From what I have heard on here it sounds like those clients would be much more concerned about CMOS then they would be about 1/3" chips.

[Kyle Root]

I am looking forward to seeing how it actually performs.

I do wish it had a slightly lower price point. I was hoping for the $5,000 entry range.

nonetheless, unless something is really bad with it, I will just save a little longer and probably get one. All depends on early adopters and reviews though :)

the old GL1 has been a trooper for the past 11 years. Hope this new Canon will last just as long.

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Olakunle Olanrewaju

It appears that this new camcoder does not have any Standard Definition capability.

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.

[Thomas Smet]

You know I was thinking back to the old days when the only option most of us had was DV. The only realistic step up for a better codec was DVCPRO50. In that case we were talking the only option was a 20k+ camera which cost a heck of a lot more then most of our Canon DV cameras. Now of course these were 1/2" or 2/3" full size cameras which made up a big chunk of the price. My point is that higher quality codecs especially those that offered 4:2:2 have always cost a huge premium. Well except for Panasonic with the HVX200. I guess my whole point is that yes the Canon camera is expensive when we compare it to other 4:2:0 cameras but what is the price like compared to other 4:2:2 cameras?

It all really comes down to how important is 4:2:2 to you. Just like in the DV days we had a choice to use 4:1:1 or sell our first born and use 4:2:2. If you really need 4:2:2 then this is a great camera at a steal of a price. How much do any of you think a EX1 with 4:2:2 would cost? None of us can really say what the cost of the codec is and it could be possible that if SONY did make a EX! with 4:2:2 recording that it would cost a lot more then the current EX1. Unfortunately we don't really have much to compare to right now to determine if the price is right or not for the new Canon cameras. I don't think it is really fair to compare it to a 4:2:0 EX1 even though that camera does use 1/2" chips. Codecs and chroma have always had a massive premium in this industry.

[Steve Phillipps]

A 422 EX1 couldn't cost that much more than the current one - think about it, for £2000 or so you can buy an entire separate unit (Nanoflash) that has 422 upto 160mb/s! Incorporating it into the camera would be a hell of a lot cheaper as you'd not need the casing, connectors, flash sockets and all other software and hardware in the Nano.
Could it be that Sony are protecting their higher-priced ranges and a 422 EX1 would be getting a bit too close for comfort? Shame on me for thinking such a thing!
Steve

[Dom Stevenson]

"422 EX1 would be getting a bit too close for comfort"

Agreed Steve. The Ex1 is such a bargain Sony will have to be careful about offering any more upgrades or they'll undermine their more expensive cameras.

As far as this camera goes, i agree it's a bit pricey but apart from the 1/3 chips this is a professional package that would have been undreamt of a couple of years ago. With its codec it probably deserves to be priced outside of the prosumer AVCHD options available from other manufacturers.

I'm interested to see what the glass is like on this camera, but knowing Canon it will be great, and i like the fact that it has the 82mm diameter.

We can only speculate what the chips performance will be at this stage, but this may well be a superb camcorder.

I look forward to seeing some side by side comparisons with the EX cameras, and wouldn't be surprised if Canon's latest effort is a serious contender.

[Tom Hardwick]

Originally Posted by Tom Roper

What will be interesting is if the light gathering of the larger 82mm glass will be an equalizer to the EX1's larger chips?

Nothing to do with front element filter sizes Tom - all to do with f stops (actually no - to do with T stops) and chip design and processing. I'm always suspicious of any camera manufacturer 'forgetting' to tell me what the maximum aperture is at full telephoto. This is a camera! Would you happily buy a 250mm lens with no idea what its max aperture was?

Come on Canon... or have I missed it?

We shall see. It certainly looks a handsome beast whereas the Z7 and EX1 look as if they've been involved in rear end shunts.

tom.

[Chris Hurd]

You've missed it, Tom, but only because we haven't really been talking about it.

The maximum aperture at full telephoto on this camera is f/2.8 -- yup, that's right.