the c300 is a modern version of a 20 year old camera

J

Joshbalti

Active member
so i was just browsing the interwebs, looking for a "new" old camera, as i have a fetish for old retro gear and for some reason have become taken with the idea of getting an old early 90's hi8 camera, not really sure why, but i'm sure ill find some use for such a piece of equipment somewhere down the line...

so anyway, i was browsing around and came across this thing:

http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/...91_lx-1.html?lang=us&categ=crn&page=1991-1992

now is it just me, or does thing bear an uncanny resemblance to the c300? the thing is, is that it was released 20 years ago, but the whole philosophy of modern camera design is in there; compact form factor, dslr style handgrip, interchangeable lenses, lots of easily accessible manual controls and so on. there's a youtube video here of some bloke rambling on about the camera, its pretty boring but if you're on this forum you probably have some nerd in you and will pick up something interesting from it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIOsShsS5DE

It really does look like canon were on the right track 20 years ago, but were just to far ahead of thier time or something, funny how what goes around comes around eh?

(also the first link is a really cool resource if you're interested in the development of camera technology, it lists pretty much every stills and motion camera canon has ever released in chronological order, with pictures and info. if you go through it, it's crazy to see how much stuff has developed over the years, people are always complaining about gear not being good enough, but we have it so good now compared to how it was just 10 or 20 years ago!)
 
Yep, Canon have created a few design classics, including this, the XL1 and going back further, the Scoopic. It's funny, but to me the C300 is the more conservative for it's time.
 
You have to hand it to them. Canon makes serious cameras in every market that they are in. I really respect them for that.

When I was making Super 8 sound films 35 years ago, the Canon 1014XL-S was one of the cameras to have, along with the Beaulieu 5008S, Chinon Pacific 12SMR and maybe the Nizo 4080/6080.

Nikon made Super 8 cameras, but they never produced a sound camera and left the Super 8 business in 1979. Unlike Canon, Nikon was unsuccessful in making the transition to video in the 80s, leaving the video business after their initial foray with the poorly received S-100. Ironically, Nikon's failure to create a successful camcorder line in the last few years of the 20th century freed them to add video to the D90, eight years into the 21st (unbelievably, less than 4 years ago).

Of course, Canon rose to the challenge with the 5DmkII -- and the rest is (still unfolding) history. Can't wait to see what happens next.
 
Yeah, I had one of those. The video was terrible. It didn't stick around long as the first Sony DV cameras came out soon after.
 
Canon's interchangeable lens camcorders have been an evolving design over the years - they don't start from scratch each time. It's not surprising that there is a family resemblance, even decades later. L2, L2, XL1, XL2, XLH1 - they all share the same basic shape. When the lens mount changed to the EF mount, the camera shape morphed even closer to the lens mount donor's SLR body shape - but it's still recognizably a Canon camcorder.
 
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