Canon launches EOS C100 – a half-price C300 (with half the bit rate)

Canon’s new entry-level member of its large-sensor EOS Cinema camera range will be less than half the price of the acclaimed C300, but unfortunately it isn’t an XF camera, as it records 24Mbps AVCHD to SD cards rather than 50Mbps MXF.

However, it does have a lockable HDMI port with full, 4:2:2 uncompressed output, so anyone with a Ninja 2 or similar external recorder, can get the glorious C300 sensor at a sensible price.

For the full details, have a look at our EOS C100 preview on the UrbanFoxTV blog.

Sony PMW-200 rival for XF305

If Sony’s single-sensor PMW-100 is a competitor for Canon’s XF105, then the newly announced PMW-200 is certainly a (more expensive) rival for the XF305. Or it could be seen as an EX1R replacement, with 50Mbps recording, as it has three 1/2-inch Exmor CMOS sensors (compared to three 1/3-inch sensors on the XF305).

For a full rundown on all the features on the new Sony camcorder, have a look at our UrbanFox.tv Blog.

New XF firmware for 35Mbps recording

Canon has announced a new firmware update for its four XF cameras that will enable a new 35Mbps recording mode. 

It will essentially make them compatible with earlier Sony XDCAM HD codecs capturing 1440 x 1080 HD video at 35Mbps at 60i or 50i – which is still widely used for news. The 1440 x 1080 format was the standard resolution offered by HDV tape cameras (using 1440 instead of 1920 is a form of compression - the pixels are then stretched in the edit to cover the 1920 x 1080 image). It will help the XF camcorders integrate more easily with standard workflows used by some broadcasters.

Once the firmware is installed, the recording mode will be accessed through the regular mode selection menu on the camcorder and the frame rate will be automatically selected, dependent on the camcorder's PAL (50i) or NTSC (60i) setting. All previously supported XF-series video resolutions and frame rates will still remain available.

The firmware is expected to be available for download at the end of May 2012 and will be available on the individual product pages through the Canon website.

Canon EOS C500 4K camcorder launches

Canon has announced a new 4K digital cinema camera, the EOS C500, which will be available late this year for a likely list price of £20,000/€24,600 including VAT (US pricing hasn’t been revealed, but should be under $30,000).

Canon adds to XF language support

A new firmware update for the XF camcorder series adds seven additional languages – French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese and Spanish – to the XF300, XF305, XF100 and XF105.

The firmware, version 1.0.3.0, supports the languages across the camcorders’ menu system and is available now from http://software.canon-europe.com

XF305 and HPX250 comparison

Panasonic AG-HPX250

I’ve recently written a review of the Panasonic AG-HPX250 over on our UrbanFox.TV technology blog, but how does it relate to its biggest rival?

On this page I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast the HPX250 with the Canon XF305, its direct rival. I’ve chosen the XF305, rather than the XF300, because they both have the timecode in/out and Genlock (and the XF300 does not) so it is a more fair comparison.

FREE - freelancing survival talk - Bristol

At BVE this week I did my one hour seminar on "How To Survive As A Freelancer".

We had a great attendance with people sitting in the aisles and crowding outside the entrance.

But, if you missed it, and live in the Bristol area...

Standing room only at our BVE talk

Canon MXF FCPX Plugin launched

Finally - at last - and about time too!

Ever since I downloaded Final Cut Pro X I've been waiting for Canon (or Apple) to come up with a plug-in to import MXF files from my XF105 and XF305.

I went to an Apple press launch of FCP 10.0.3 on the 1st of Feb and they mentioned that it would be launched within the next couple of weeks.

Well,  it is now available.

Meet us at BVE – Free seminars

As usual, we’ll be giving talks at BVE/The Production Show at London’s Earls Court next week (14-16 February 2012). Our five sessions will be part of an extensive free seminar programme, with more than 300 seminars across the three days.

We’ll be doing our Production On A Budget sessions every morning (10am) in the Production Theatre with lots of advice on buying equipment and what to look at while you’re at the show, while Christina will do a session on How To Survive As A Freelancer at 3pm in the Producers Theatre (on Tuesday) and in the Production Theatre (on Wednesday) – both theatres are in the Production Show section right at the back of the Earls Court 2 exhibition centre.