Yesterday, the press embargo lifted on Canon’s newest addition to its cinema camera line, the C200. Here are the tech specs:
- Internal 4K recording with Cinema RAW Light and MP4 format
- Continuous 120fps (maximum) High Frame Rate with no cropping at Full HD
- Up to 15-stops dynamic range (Cinema RAW Light)
- Super 35mm CMOS Sensor
- Dual Pixel CMOS AF Technology
- Dual DIGIC DV 6 Processors
- 4K DCI and UHD, 1920 x 1080
- 59.94p, 50p, 29.97p, 25p, 24p, 23.98p
- Canon RAW Light, MP4, MP4 Proxy
- Integrated EVF, 2 x XLR Audio Inputs
- Rotating 4″ LCD Monitor, Camera Grip
- 1 x CFast Card, 2 x SD Card Slots
- 1 x SDI Output, 1 x Ethernet Connector
Here’s a pretty good summary by Pro AV of the key features:
My opinion: This is a weird set of features for a camera that cost $7500.
The default recording mode in HD provides only 35Mbps of quality, which is pretty much the same as the C100 Mark I (yes, Mark I) from five years ago. I’m sure the image will look great, but that data rate is painful in this day and age.
But the camera comes with RAW Light, which is great, and comes with dramatically higher data rates and file sizes (bafflingly, the much more expensive C300 Mark II does not currently support RAW Light). RAW Light records at 12bit 4K DCI at 30p and 10bit 4K DCI at 60p. There’s also talk of support for the XF-AVC codec in 2018, so that’s a huge positive.
That being said, I think it’s also Canon’s first camera for under $8000 that allows for high frame rate capture (up to 120p) in full HD, something that competitors such as Panasonic and Sony have already featured for years.
There are also a bunch of other cool things, like the fact that it supports 2 SD Cards AND a CFast card, as well as a better top-handle system than the C100 Mark II.
There’s a lot that’s appealing about the camera. There’s also a few head-scratching decisions. I wish it cost about $1000-2000 less than it does. In other words: It’s a Canon camera.
For more reading, I’d recommend Erik Naso’s commentary on the C200.