credit: ThePhoblographer.com
After the largest CMOS and the 120MP sensors, Canon continues with their display of future technologies at the Canon Expo 2010. You can see detailed coverage from the show at Luminous-Landscape, Thephoblographer and PhilipBloom.
The star of the show was definitely the Canon 4k camera that is able to shoot 4k (4096×2160 resolution) video @ 60 frames per second with a 8MP 2/3-inch CMOS sensor. Yes, RED should be afraid.
Links to detailed coverage after the break:
Canon 4k concept camera:
Canon Wonder Camera (mentioned before here):
Other interesting products shown at the Canon Expo 2010:
Hands on with the Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6 L IS, 8-15mm f/4 L fisheye zoom and 400mm f/2.8 L IS USM II, 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM II lenses.
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8 Comments
YEs! I really like the idea Of a ultra HQ fixed lens midrange zoom backed up with a high ISO capable 120mpix large sensor.
:)
I can see where Canon is going with this.
And digital zoom for video? Awesome!
Umm, is it just me or does a lot of this seem really impractical? Cool concepts, but some glaring flaws.
Most obvious is the 4k camera. I get that this is a camera that probably will cost less than RED’s offerings, but there is a huge difference; the RED One is APS-C format, and the RED Epic is going to be full 35mm format. That may not mean anything to a lot of people, but it means a LOT to anyone who’s serious about film making. You simply cannot get that short depth of field or quality ISO from a smaller sensor. At that rate, the Canon 5D MkII shoots way better video than this new 4k chip would.
Also, there are a few other things RED did with their camera that are worth noting. Red uses their own codec for their video that captures a much higher dynamic range, similar to RAW files on dSLRs. On top of that, RED makes their cameras modular, which allows the camera to adapt to the shooter’s needs, not the other way around. Should RED be scared? I really don’t think so. That’s like trying to say that Leica should be scared of Canon’s dSLRs. It’s a totally different market.
Honestly, the only thing that sounds appealing is the 300mm sensor. Of course, 300mm is quite the gimmick, since it should really be 3dm, or 30cm. That’s also about a foot. I could see this being really important to the view camera market, and could put Canon into competition with manufacturers like Phase One. That will be interesting to see.
The use of full frame 135 format for digital motion picture is a fad. The smaller format of cameras like the EOS 7 is what 35mm lens maker Arri have chosen to match their 35mm film motion picture lenses to. Their industry standard lenses would vignette badly on full frame.
The standard 35mm motion picture frame formats (all smaller than 135 format) are far more likely to gain popularity as they offer ample DOF control for film making.
135 format in film making is extremely hard work as the default DOF is much shallower and in most cases unwanted. Yes of course people will use it now when EOS 5′s can shoot on EOS glass… But other than a small gain in low light it is a pian in the ass to shoot.
RED’s larger formats will be for specialist film making. They need to go for the niche markets to exist.
Sony just brought out pro cams with traditional very small sensor for the type of work that even 35mm format would be way too big for..
Sensor fabrication will make any gain in a larger format like 135 a short lived advantage, at best a couple of years advantage on each release. No one serious about film making would curse themselves with a format too large for their needs. You are exaggerating the importance of 135 format
this design is not really new, they came up with something similar for a (so-called) compact camera in 24×36 then they redid it for the film APS serie !
They seem to be willing to adapt this designe to all their cameras !!!
Well it seems Canon is trying to make a market for their ideas. It’s kind of hard to fathom what that market is as far as volume. As more whizz-bang gadgets come out with a lot of capabilities – like do everything palm sized data/text/camera-still capture and ‘movie’ capable, web browsing products that market audiences are buying and using, where is the market going to come from? Add the M4/3 rds compacts which already have ‘short film’ capability that is more than acceptable for most users and will only get better.
They are completely different animals, but is there even enough of a difference over more design specific ‘motion-capture’ products to pull people into a DSLR based camera that will bring nice results but not better. It seems like a bit of a stretch.
Red should be afraid ?? ha – Canon will never release anything to stop Red Scarlet. Canon released zit this year ….oh yea , a 60d. Nice Rebel upgrade with an articulating lcd !! They´re doing all of this ¨future concept¨stuff because they don´t have anything in the real pipeline , and then when they do have some real products , they´ll want to bleed us dry with improvements on a feeding tube approach . Looks like to me, Sonys´the gorilla in the corner to watch. And , of course Red is still circling the wagons ! Canon blew it this year, and next year might be too late. And , my opinion of the prototypes….. jetson junk !
I basically agree with kurth – but would restate to say that Canon’s releases this year will have a hard time finding a large audience. The recent body isn’t substantially better than any others currently out there, and note that the lenses are, for the vast majority of people, fantasy items for amateurs, and pros will just rent them for a few days/year so that a very few units will actually be sold. Given the price of development, these things may be money pits that only contribute bragging rights. Sony will sell a thousand NEX- or A-series body and lens for every single bazooka lens Canon sells.
Best quote comes from fakechuckwestfall–
“In the future Canon DSLRs may closely resemble a hairdryer.”
Maybe it will have a built-in hairdryer, to go with all the useless bells and whistles camera makers are sure to put in future cameras (Pet modes, smile detection, “art” filters, etc.).