New Canon Pro HD Camcorders Announced: XF300 & XF305

Cranky said:
Valerie and Simon Griffith, the producers of Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge series, thought differently.
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That's great for them. Guess that's why there is a little something called "opinions" that float around and everyone seems to have one.
 
Before running out and buying I would wait and hear first hand opinions of real users. None of the early reviews of HM100 mentioned the problems with the camera, even though they were obvious after about 1 hour of real usage.
I am happy Canon is going with CF cards- SDHC are the stupidest thing out there. They are fragile and fail. Out of 7 cards I had 2 of them fail- of course in the most critical moments, when the shots could not be retaken. IMO CF are way more reliable.
I also want to see what the workflow is going to be in FCP6- I don't want to upgrade to FCS3, since the benefit would not justify the cost, at least for now.
Also as far as competition with EX1 the question is if this camera records uncompressed sound? If not then I don't think it will be much of a competition.
 
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Look at the flip out lcd, it's worse than the ex1. It's even closer to the lens below it. looks like we need a different mattebox again.
 
The Sarlacc said:
Shame they didnt make the rumored bodies using the APS-C chip from the 7D and usable Canon still lenses.
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Seriously, did anybody really think that an APS-C camcorder with an EOS mount was going to happen anytime soon? It would have been absolute suicide for Canon's video market and alienated the customers that need camcorders that give professional performance and results in real world applications.
 
Brooksilver said:
This is not exciting news... maybe it's good for news and docs, and wedding videographers, but not filmmakers. Canon's departments need to have a meeting in the same room and combine their efforts, because they are more than capable of putting DSLRs in the right form factor with RAW, full color, variable frame rates, etc.
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OK - can we please stop talking about doc, event, wedding, news, & etc shooters like they're second class citizens to tiny indie filmmakers? Those shooters are the ones creating content constantly, and making money doing it. Those are the shooters that require proper gear that just plain works because there's no time to deal with compromises. Those are the shooters that spend money on cameras to make money with them, and there is a very real demand for this type of shooter from networks, corporations & employers; I would say there is much more of a need for these shooters than there is for indie filmmakers. There's a lot more doc & event type shooters making a living on their cameras than indie filmmakers making a living on their narrative projects. I'm one of them - and to us, this camera is very exciting news.
 
I think this is a great camera based on the paper... overpriced by $1000 though
maybe i was just spoiled by the hmc150's price range of $3000 :P
 
Assuming street prices 12%-15% lower than MSRP:

HPX170 + 6 16GB cards ~ $6K
XF300 + 6 16GB cards ~ $6K

The Canon does not have DV mode though, no standard definition mode at all, even crappy DVD-video like on NXCAM. The HPX has it. What is wrong with these guys? Seriously, DV is as good for tapeless storage as any other digital format. XDCAM can record it on PD or SxS, DVCPRO systems record it onto P2, even own Sony's tapeless recorders for DV/HDV systems record DV into DV-AVI files. What is the problem? Licensing? I doubt that Sony and Panasonic, who participated in DV creation, have to pay royalties to someone else.

Can this trend be explained technically? Like, the lens is designed for hi-res HD, so SD will not look good? What about current/older camcorders, that offer both SD and HD. Are they just not high-res enough, thus SD looks fine? I hope there is a technical explanation for this.
 
For a person like myself (a noob committed to learning as much as I can) who was holding out buying a camera until this was released, does it make more sense to go with one of the new Canons, the Sony NX5 or stick to the HMC150?

Whichever camera I get, will most likely be used for wedding/event work, high school sports work (highlights, recruiting videos, etc.) and possibly for taping church services.

I was hesitant on the new Canons (and the Sony) due to the CMOS sensors and the possibility of doing wedding work. But, I will admit that as more and more of the new cameras come out with CMOS and not CCD I am afraid to purchase the HMC150 just because it may soon become outdated technology. Is that an irrational fear or is there some validity to it?
 
Specs look great, but the price is a bit higher than I had hoped. With the current and possible near-future state of available cameras out there, this is definitely a case of "wait-and-see" what the footage looks like when these Canon cams hit in the summer. If the footage doesn't truly blow my socks off, then I can't see spending this kind of money on this camera right now. Not with the recent DSLR shake-ups and the potential for the Scarlet, although that's a very nebulous possibility until the Scarlets actually start shipping.

Call me crazy, but with these cameras priced at about $7,000 and up, wouldn't it make sense for Canon to release an AVC-HD based XH-A2 to fill the market gap they are leaving wide open for the HMC150 and the NX5U? I'm thinking all an A2 would basically need to be is the A1s body with these new 1/3 chips + DIVIC DV III + better lowlight. They could keep the tape drive, making the camera a hybrid DV-HDV-AVCHD camera, or lighten the camera's weight by taking the tape drive out and sticking with AVC-HD on SDHC cards. They've already got the SD card slot on the A1 and A1s right above the battery well. Seems like it should be a no brainer now with these MPEG-2 cams obviously competing directly with the EX1R/HPX170 end of the spectrum.

Also, I'm not crazy about CMOS for my event work. I hate the way camera flashes look with a CMOS sensor. I worry my clients will complain about it too. So that potentially rules out these new Canons and the NX5U, leaving me the option of sticking with my A1 for a while longer or switching to the HMC150.
 
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tkpeterson12 said:
For a person like myself (a noob committed to learning as much as I can) who was holding out buying a camera until this was released, does it make more sense to go with one of the new Canons, the Sony NX5 or stick to the HMC150?

Whichever camera I get, will most likely be used for wedding/event work, high school sports work (highlights, recruiting videos, etc.) and possibly for taping church services.

I was hesitant on the new Canons (and the Sony) due to the CMOS sensors and the possibility of doing wedding work. But, I will admit that as more and more of the new cameras come out with CMOS and not CCD I am afraid to purchase the HMC150 just because it may soon become outdated technology. Is that an irrational fear or is there some validity to it?
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if your still planning to buy:
Buy what you need now. by the time you buy another, you wouldve earned it back.

if you have a current cam:
the question is would you spend the money for a new one or are you earning money with your current camera?

instead of shelling out for a new one, earn back the money you invested on your current camera before moving on to a newer one.
 
I would prefer this over the sonyEX- since I would be able to pair it with the 5D.
Does it shoot native 23.98 like the EX?
 
What it comes down for me is the price of gear. I don't know what world Canon lives, but 8 out 12 client I work with in the past (corporations and individuals) did not order any services in the past year due to budget cuts. A friend of my used to do 30-35 weddings a year, he gets maybe 10-15 in the past year and a half, and that's after lowering some of his rates. People selling through Getty Images have 15-20% lower revenues in the past 18 months. IMO this camera is quite overpriced. Let's do a math: 300 will be $6800, so let's say street price might be somewhere just above 6k. For that price I can get HMC150 plus Nanoflash, which at B&H would run you $6174. So essentially for the exact same price I can get a proven codec, accepted by the most demanding broadcasters, already proven with all major NLE's and a camera that never quits. Thank you-i'll take it.
 
robertrogoz said:
For that price I can get HMC150 plus Nanoflash, which at B&H would run you $6174. So essentially for the exact same price I can get a proven codec, accepted by the most demanding broadcasters, already proven with all major NLE's and a camera that never quits. Thank you-i'll take it.
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Camera is more than just the codec, did you read the specs of the XF300 at all? Sony seems to have no trouble selling the EX1 at it's $6300 price point.
 
robertrogoz said:
What it comes down for me is the price of gear. I don't know what world Canon lives, but 8 out 12 client I work with in the past (corporations and individuals) did not order any services in the past year due to budget cuts. A friend of my used to do 30-35 weddings a year, he gets maybe 10-15 in the past year and a half, and that's after lowering some of his rates. People selling through Getty Images have 15-20% lower revenues in the past 18 months. IMO this camera is quite overpriced. Let's do a math: 300 will be $6800, so let's say street price might be somewhere just above 6k. For that price I can get HMC150 plus Nanoflash, which at B&H would run you $6174. So essentially for the exact same price I can get a proven codec, accepted by the most demanding broadcasters, already proven with all major NLE's and a camera that never quits. Thank you-i'll take it.
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Sorry business is so slow for you. You probably shouldn't be spending that money at all. But it doesn't make sense to me to spend the same amount of money on older technology with fewer features. But, hey, if that does it for you, go for it.
 
I don't think the technology is old, looks more like Canon finally caught up. Nanoflash can record 4 times - tops out at 220Mbps, while Canon at 50. So what exactly are you talking about?
And what features are missing on HMC150 compared to new Canon. It works in PAL and NTSC without the need to spend another 500 bucks for an upgrade. Plus it has much wider lens, which eliminates the need for converters.
 
cowpunk52 said:
OK - can we please stop talking about doc, event, wedding, news, & etc shooters like they're second class citizens to tiny indie filmmakers?
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Ha ha. I laughed a little at that... and I agree.

I got hyped into the HDSLR fad and I'm a better shooter for it but I've learned my lesson(s).

I'm actually excited about this camera and will probably buy one. Many of my xha1 complaints have been addressed... looks to be a solid upgrade. And having spent the last 4 years working on Canon being able to stay on Canon is kinda important to me.

Talking about price... To make the 7D mildly functional at weddings/events I've had to drop almost 6,000 (lenses, supports, stabilizers, CF cards, batteries, audio, software, and hard drives). And even after all that, I now only use the 7d for controlled "money" or "wow" shots or fixed-focus-sitting-locked-down-on-sticks shots.

And then again... it's just a camera.
 
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