Canon Launches C500 4K Camcorder
Posted on Apr 12, 2012 by Alex Fice
Canon’s new C500 4K cameraCanon was still garnering headlines today at NAB 2012 with not one but two new camera capable of recording 4K signals. They were however at either end of the market, one the 1D-C was the realisation of the ‘Cinema DSLR’ tease back when they launched the C300 cinema camera last November. The real surprise was the C500, nearly identical to the C300, indeed with the same sensor but also with the ability to shoot 4K RAW signals out of two 3G enabled HD SDI connections (see picture below) to achieve 2160×4096 4K at 10-bit quality.
The camera will also shoot out a perhaps more usable at the moment 2K signal and with some ‘decimation’ (Canon’s term to vertical halve the signal) be able to provide a 444 signal up to 120 frames a second. The full 2K will be a 10bit or 12 bit signal depending on the recorder it’s attached to and the 120 fps resolution will be 2048×1080.
The full 4K signal will use both 3G HDSDI outputs as it’s steaming along at six gigabytes per second to achieve a 60p stream.
As with the Canon C300 the C500 will be available in two guises for two different lens makes, EF and PL. Availability for the C500 will in the last quarter of the year and the price is quoted at £20,000 and EURO 24,600.
Canon new 4K DSLR the 1D-CThere was more information on the ID-C 4K DSLR product mainly because it was trailed so well at the launch of the C300. The camera comes under the EOS banner and indeed looks like the 1D-X. The headline features are the 4K output, (4,096 x 2,160) video recording with 4:2:2 colour sampling.
Of course the camera has support for a range of resolutions and variable frame rates. 4K video is recorded using 8-bit Motion JPEG compression at 24p, and Full HD (1920 x 1080) video capture is available at frame rates up to 1080/60p. The camera supports internal recording to CF cards at all resolutions up to and including 4K. Video can also be output to external recorders (excluding 4K video) via an integrated HDMI terminal using an uncompressed YCbCr 4:2:2 signal.
Based on the core specifications of the EOS-1D X, the EOS-1D C is optimised for high quality video capture. During 4K shooting pixels are cropped to an area equivalent to an APS-H sensor, preventing the need to resize or scale the image, ensuring maximum image quality. Additionally, a Super 35mm crop in Full HD recording caters for cinematographers who typically work in the Super 35mm field of view.
Support for 24, 25, 30, 50 and 60p frame rates in Full HD resolution shooting provides additional flexibility, satisfying the shooting needs of professionals across the industry. Industry-standard timecode and codec support and a choice of compression methods provides compatibility with established workflow processes, facilitating straightforward editing and grading after shooting.
