Canon's EOS C100: The new entry point into Canon's cinema cameras

IBC is fast approaching, and in anticipation of the show, Canon just announced the EOS C100 Cinema Camera, its new entry-level model. According to Digital Photography Review, the C100 is approximately 15% smaller than the C300, but it has the same basic design. It has a Super 35mm 8.3 Megapixel sensor, and the camera supports any lens with an EF mount, including Canon's Cinema lenses. Unlike the C300 and C500, both of which use Canon's 50Mbps 4:2:2 video codec, the C100 is strictly AVCHD-based, with a 24Mbps 4:2:0 codec. It has two SD card slots and can record to both cards simultaneously for automatic backup, or in relay mode to permit one card to be replaced while the camcorder records on the other card. The C100 records in 1080p at 24/25/30 fps, and 1080i at 50/60 fps. ISO sensitivity is from 300 to 20,000.

With the C100, Canon has included many of the automatic features that were left out of the C300: One-shot auto focus, auto iris and auto white balance. Continuous auto focus and iris adjustment when used with Canon's EF stepper motor lenses (STM) will be added with a firmware update next year. The C100 has built-in ND filters and dual XLR audio inputs. Video output is via a lockable HDMI connector. Expected list price when the C100 ships in November is $7.999 (U.S.).

The camera that the C100 will most likely be compared with is Sony's FS700, which has the same $7,999 list price without lens, and overall, very similar specifications. The FS700 uses AVCHD, but unlike the C100, it offers the 2.0 version that supports 28Mbps recording and 1080p at 50/60 fps. It also has full HD slow motion to 240 fps, and up to 960fps at lower resolution, while Philip Bloom notes that the specifications for the C100 don't say anything about slow motion support. The FS700 also has a 3G HD-SDI output, while the C100 is limited to HDMI out. On the downside, the FS700 uses Sony's E-mount, which has fewer available lenses than Canon's EF mount. In addition, it uses the "Lego bricks" design of the FS100, which seems to be about equally loved and hated by cinematographers.

My suspicion is that this could turn into the video equivalent of Canon vs. Nikon still cameras, with camps of users who simply prefer the video from one manufacturer over the other. In any event, the C100 is likely to be a very popular camera with users and a very important camera for Canon.

JVC's 4K $5K Camcorder

After showing it at the 2010 NAB Conference as a non-working mock-up and at the 2011 NAB show as a working prototype, JVC has formally announced the first prosumer 4K camcorder, the GY-HMQ10, at CES 2012.  The GY-HMQ10 records at 3840 x 2160 resolution, or four times the resolution of a conventional 2K (1920 x 1080) camcorder, using a single 1/2" CMOS imager and a fixed 10X zoom lens. It supports frame rates of 24P, 50P and 60P. The camcorder can also record in 2K mode for compatibility with existing infrastructure at 50/60P and 50/60i.

The camcorder uses AVCHD compression...but the AVCHD standard doesn't support 4K. To do it, JVC splits the 4K image into four 2K images that it records and compresses simultaneously using the company's new Falconbrid processor. Each 2K image is compressed at 36Mbps, for a total bit rate of 144Mbps. Each 36Mbps stream is then recorded on its own dedicated SDHC card. So, yes, the HMQ10 has four memory card slots. For live broadcasts and external recorders, the HMQ10 has four (yes, four) HDMI outputs. The camcorder can also down-convert the 4K images to 2K on the fly, so if 2K is all you need, you can use a single SDHC card and HDMI interface. It's also got two XLR microphone inputs.

Does it work? I saw footage that was shot on JVC's prototype at NAB last year, using a true 4K monitor. The picture quality was stunning, but there was no way to test the camera under real-world operating conditions--panning, zooming, low light, etc. So, how much would you pay for all this? When the camcorder ships in March, JVC plans to charge $4,995 (US). That's right--$5K for a 4K camcorder. The 4K mode isn't terribly practical today, and with a 1/2" imager and without a removable lens, the HMQ10 isn't going to be as flexible as a camcorder like Sony's FS100 or Panasonic's AF100/101. Nevertheless, 4K for $5K? That's pretty amazing pricing.

New 300Mbytes/second SD Card Format

The SD Association, which develops standards for SD memory cards, has announced a new dual-row pin SD card design that can achieve theoretical bus interface speeds of up to 300Mbytes/second, which is more than enough for 4K cinema applications. (By comparison, the fastest data transfer speed available with the current single-row design, UHS, is 104Mbytes/second.) The new design is backward compatible with devices that can use existing SD, SDHC and SDXC cards (although devices will have to support the dual-row connector in order to take advantage of the full speed of the new cards), and will be available in both full-size and micro formats. The new interface will be formally defined in the SD 4.0 specification, which the SD Association expects to release in early 2011.