Canon XF405 low-light demo video: "Night Circus"

[Chris Hurd]

Shot with XF405 but applies to XF400 as well. Best viewed at full screen.

I know the folks who put this together, so I'm probably a bit biased when I say I think they did a fantastic job here. But what do you think?

Night Circus - Canon XF-405 on Vimeo

[Dave Barnes]

Wow... looks amazing..... makes me want to upgrade from my XF300 :)

Very nice job.

[Al Bergstein]

Very nice Chris. My only thought, and this is not meant to be negative, is that the xf300/5 did very well with stage lighting. Would love to know a bit more about the technical details that they used to shoot it (camera settings, lighting types, etc.) Always looking to be able to discuss with stage managers at the next shoot, whenever it happens.

I always struggled with low light on the xf305 when the stage wasn't the thing. i.e. shooting doc interviews in people's homes, etc. But the shadow detail in her legs, for example, is quite nicely rendered.

Overall a fine production, and it seems like the camera does a great image. I looked at the specs and found some things have not been carried over from the 300 series and that my first impression of the specs was more of an upgrade to the 205. I've owned over the last decade, the xf105, 205 and 305. I still feel the image quality and overall feature set of the 300 series was the best. I'll be shooting with one again at the end of the month. Would love to get my hands on a 405 and see if I'm mistaken.

Would also love to have the cameraman tell us about his feelings pro and con on the camera.

[Erick Perdomo]

hi there. I am so late to this conversation..
I own a XF100 and a XF300 and I've used them for concerts,dance recitals and with decent stage lighting I have gotten good results..I use the XF100 for some parts in events such as weddings and for the artistic parts I use a Canon 90D with a SIgma 18-35mm f1.8. ok...but I would like to upgrade my XF100 to a better camcorder-this XF400 is a bit "old" but I still think it could be a good "upgrade" to the XF100 even if I honestly don't think the XF400 is as robust as the original XF line of cameras...but the video I saw shot with the XF400/405 is encouraging...Did any of you upgrade from the XF100/300 to the XF400 for event videography? How did you find it? Some reviews have been less than kind. From ergonomics to lack of physical controls-someone even said that changing the battery on the XF400 was a problem when using a tripod! Dunno what to think. I like the size of my XF100 but low light (not complete darkness!) is a problem-even with noise reduction set to 3 I can see too much grain if I go over 9db gain. I saw a used XF400 in good shape for the equivalent of $1200 US (but I live in Canada)...it's tempting but...I'm not sure...
I was looking at the new Panasonic HCX2000 but that one has a tiny sensor.
What did you upgrade to? I can't afford the XF705 (and it's too big for my monopod-my XF300 is almost too big for my Surui monopod and I use it mostly on a tripod).
thanks and sorry for reactivating this thread...
E