Canon XF400/405 with 4K 60P

I have a need for a small, unobtrusive camera for crews out on small boats with racers coming onto and jumping off the boats into the water, grabbing quick soundbites and coaching strategy meetings. Shallow DOF is not needed at all, XLRs, 4K 60P and DPAF would be perfect for this use though. The smaller imager would be easier to keep everything in focus and the small size and weight would be a big bonus. Bravo Canon, these cameras will be a hit for B and C camera for documentaries and of course, for event work.

1. Does it have Face Tracking as part of it's DPAF?
2. I know it can shoot BT-709/WDR, think it could have C-Log 3?
3. Do you think the colorimetry, in general, would blend with the C300 MKII and the C200?

The fact that Canon specifically calls out WDR in the press release makes me think that is the limit of the non standard profiles.
 
Through the use of the Sony RX10 II I have found the 1" sensor size to be quite versatile. It is a perfect size for all around shooting. Some deep DOF and some shallow if you want it.

+1. It's basically Super 16

The body size of these cameras looks very easy to handhold. I wish the makers would take this body size, maybe a bit larger and put the $5,000 processing and codecs inside.

+2
 
So how would the Canon XF400/XF405 compare with the new Sony Z90/NX80 cameras ?

The notable differences are the Canon's have 4K/60p and image stabilization while the Sony's have its S-Log2/3 profiles and super slow-motion (1080/960p).

Both have 1" sensors and both should have great auto-focus (Sony's borrowing a9 AF here, which is currently its best focusing technology). Also, a $700 price difference; XF400 vs. NX80.

At the end of the day, both should offer similar performance with other various little differences (menus, settings, buttons, etc.) based on each company's software/hardware.

I am not expecting much improvement in video quality in any of them from previous generations, but the specs/included features sound great.

Here's a Z90 sample (shot with various settings) - https://vimeo.com/233764873
 
The notable differences are the Canon's have 4K/60p and image stabilization while the Sony's have its S-Log2/3 profiles and super slow-motion (1080/960p).

Hmmm... For me it sounds like it would be Sony's HD 10-bit LOG footage against Canon's 5-axis stabilizer.

Sony might have the better looking HD image, but being able to grab handheld shots with a good stabilizer is hard to give up.
 
That's worth mentioning too...

Z90V shoots XAVC-L in 10-bit 1080p and also offers MPEG (with a license key).

NX80 shoots XAVC-S (not sure it's 10-bit).
 
I see that News Shooter mentions ON/OFF for "Image Stabilizer", but haven't see anything at B&H/Adorama in the features (they could just be missing it).
 
Hmmm... For me it sounds like it would be Sony's HD 10-bit LOG footage against Canon's 5-axis stabilizer.

Sony might have the better looking HD image, but being able to grab handheld shots with a good stabilizer is hard to give up.

Is Canon's stabilizer that much better than Sony's? I've never used Canon's method so I don't know much about it.

Also has it been mentioned if the Canon does a full sensor readout in 60fps 4k mode? One advantage I just noticed when comparing the new Canon's to the Sony's is the new Sony models are 29mm on the wide end whereas the Canon's are 25.5mm, which is a substantial difference.
 
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I don't use these kind of cameras, but now that I'm looking through the older ones, you're right; a lot of them do have it.
 
Indeed. I travel internationally for many video shoots, and the XF400 looks far easier to deal with customs than the C100.

At this point I'm just waiting for reviews to come out to see how the high ISO performance looks. If it's at least on par with my C100 then I'm definitely getting a couple of these.

I thought that too - although I did cancel my pre-order. As much as I want to love this new camera - I don't think the high ISO performance will be as good as my C100. I'm in the market for a 2nd camera now for my C100 - and I was going to order 2 of these XF400's, and sell my C100 mark i, but I think I may just keep the C100 and get a C100 ii.
It's so hard to beat the battery lives of the C100 and after 2 years of heavy use on my C100, I just turn it on and it works, every time. So reliable.
I'll wait to see how the battery life and the low light is of the XF400 - and maybe I'll go that route, but I'm guessing the battery gets around 60-90 min on charge - where my larger C100 batteries can get 4-5 hours of off and on use.
 
I thought that too - although I did cancel my pre-order. As much as I want to love this new camera - I don't think the high ISO performance will be as good as my C100. I'm in the market for a 2nd camera now for my C100 - and I was going to order 2 of these XF400's, and sell my C100 mark i, but I think I may just keep the C100 and get a C100 ii.
It's so hard to beat the battery lives of the C100 and after 2 years of heavy use on my C100, I just turn it on and it works, every time. So reliable.
I'll wait to see how the battery life and the low light is of the XF400 - and maybe I'll go that route, but I'm guessing the battery gets around 60-90 min on charge - where my larger C100 batteries can get 4-5 hours of off and on use.

Yeah, battery life on the C100 is ridiculously good. I, too, can record for 4 hours continuously on a single battery. We'll see how the XF400 does on that front. But it's the high ISO that I'm most interested in comparing.
 
I have an XA30 which uses the same battery as the XF400 and 405. Battery life on the XA30 using BP-828 batteries, which is only an HD camera, will run about 2.5 hours. I suspect that the power consumption on the new cameras might be higher given that 4K requires significantly more processing power. I doubt battery life will be a strong point on the new XF cameras.
 
Will there be a Canon Vixia HF G50 or is that the GX10? Love my G40, and want to upgrade to 4k. Wish the GX10 was around 1200 to 1500$
 
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