Canon's new EOS C300 cinema camcorder, which aims to give users the functionality of a video camera with the large sensor of a DSLR, is on pre-order for less than expected.
When Canon announced the C300 in November, it quoted a likely price of US$20,000 (around £13,000). In the UK it's now available for pre-order at £11,760, over £1,200 cheaper than expected.
Choose your weapon
Canon's cinema camcorder comes in two versions – the C300 which uses Canon's own EF mount DSLR lenses, and the C300PL which uses PL mount cinema lenses from the likes of Zeiss and Arri.
The C300 uses a Super 35mm equivalent 8.29 megapixel CMOS sensor that Canon claims is better in low light than conventional professional camcorders, producing a brighter image with less noise.
Promising to bring the ease-of-use of conventional camcorders together with the cinematic effect that DSLRs can produce with their interchangeable lens system, the C300 is certainly getting a lot of attention.
While the form of the camera itself is brand new, the resolution it uses is not. The C300 shoots at 1080p (1920x1080 pixels), which is a resolution that most pocket camcorders can now achieve, though with huge difference in quality. By comparison, the recently updated RED Scarlet-X shoots at a staggering 4K (4096x2160 pixels) and doesn't cost as much.
We wait to see what the reception of the C300 will be like when it comes out in March.
To see what the EOS C300 is capable of, Jonathan Yi's video entitled Canon EOS C300 = Awesome should give you a pretty good idea.
