New Camera

[dpryke]

Big showing at SuperMeet tonight by Canon.

http://www.supermeet.com/

7:55PM West coast time.

"Joe Bogacz of Canon will present the first worldwide public unveiling of Canon's new MPEG-2 Full HD (4:2:2) file-based recording codec and workflow to the industry and will also introduce the first US public preview of Canon's upcoming file-based professional video camera."

[dbwolfe]

here are some pics of the camera from the supermeet. it's quite large. I was told by the canon rep 1/3" sensor (he didn't say CCD or CMOS) and two slots for compact flash cards. I also asked him if the MPEG-2 4:2:2 50M codec would ever make it into the HDSLR's and he didn't know.

[arroway]

Does this thing have a name? Is it CMOS? Why isn't this bigger news? A quick search revealed nothing.

[Huy Vu]

The mock-up was already revealed a few weeks ago at trade show but no new details has been released. There's a thread about it in the News section.

[Moseph]

Wow, that thing really does look quite large. If you look at the XLR inputs, they give a good idea of how big the thing is. At least the battery goes inside of it.
Also, looks like they may be going for a real focus and zoom ring, look at the little notches on them, as well as a window for a distance indicator next to the focus ring. I'm honestly betting this will cost significantly more than the A1S based on that alone.

[Huy Vu]

Also, looks like they may be going for a real focus and zoom ring, look at the little notches on them, as well as a window for a distance indicator next to the focus ring. I'm honestly betting this will cost significantly more than the A1S based on that alone.

I doubt it. The A1s also have those notches and the rings spin infinitely. I don't see a hard stop on the focus ring. It does look like they've improved on the way the on-board microphone is mounted though, no more BS about the mic falling off.

[Moseph]

I didn't even think about the mic, I know that we've had that problem with the A1 in the past at my school. But when I was talking about the notches, I meant the really little ones that are found on TV lenses that are used by the servo zoom and focus controls. The A1 lacks those. To me, it looks like it'll be a similar setup to a TV lens in terms of how it works - controlling the rings by gears that are driven by motors inside the handgrip (or somewhere off to the side in this case), and having a switch to move them away for manual operation. They would definitely be going in the right direction by doing that, after all, none of their cameras have true manual zooming capability.

[Duke M.]

It seems to have the jack pack (HD-SDI, Genlock, etc) so it may be a tapless G1. If it has 1/2" CMOS instead of 1/3" it'd be in the EX1 category. If 1/3" I hope it stays CCD. My only gripe about the EX1 is it doesn't do as well with movement as my A1 did.

[Huy Vu]

It seems to have the jack pack (HD-SDI, Genlock, etc) so it may be a tapless G1. If it has 1/2" CMOS instead of 1/3" it'd be in the EX1 category. If 1/3" I hope it stays CCD. My only gripe about the EX1 is it doesn't do as well with movement as my A1 did.

That's not a guarantee Jackpack, since the A1s Canon has implemented that style of inputs in the back.

[Cranky]

The camera does not look very well planted on the table because of raised bottom surface, looks like a roly-poly toy. This is like halfway between the XH and XL. Does Canon want to combine two families into one? But the XL is not just a "semi-shoulder mount", it also has interchangeable lenses, which this prototype does not. The front of the camera sits on the hood, is it the way it is supposed to be? Are the hood and the threads built to withstand the weight of pimped-out camera?

The LCD is located further to the front and up, which again indicates that the camera is supposed to be used as shoulder-mount. OTOH, this should work for handheld too.

The raised handle is not just a straight bar, but with some kinks. Is it meant to simplify using large matte boxes and filters? As users report, new Sony cams have the handle protrude over the front edge of the lens, and it has the mic removable to allow using square filters. The Canon does not seem to have the mic removable. At least the mic does not hang on a rubber sleeve, so hopefully it won't be prone to accidental damage.

As to sensors, new or old, I don't think it matters much. BBC's Alan Roberts measured that the G1/A1 can deliver 1600x1015 in interlaced mode and 1600x940 in progressive mode. http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/w...Canon-XHG1.pdf Whoever is saying that Canon's progressive mode is not real progressive should compare 940 lines of vertical resolution with resolution of some other, "true progressive" cameras first. To me, these numbers are still competitive in 2010. Even if Canon reuses the same sensor, improvement in recorded horisontal resolution and in reduced artifacting because of higher bitrate will be noticeable. I think that all the factors combined -- high-res CCD, high-bitrate long-GOP with 4:2:2 color, Canon's high-quality MPEG-2 codec and hopefully, inexpensive media -- will give make a good fight to handheld DVCPRO HD cameras. Panasonic needs to up the ante by introducing AVC-I/100 on handhelds if it wants to stay competitive.

Canon still can screw the pooch by using SxS or, even worse, yet another proprietary media. I hope that Canon, promising "amazing performance for amazing price", will stick to budget solutions like SDXC/SDHC or CF. After all, JVC managed to break out of Sony's SxS jail, and now offers recording with XDCAM EX container onto standard SDHC cards (the original version of the HM700 recorded XDCAM EX only onto SxS cards).