Canon debuts XF305, XF300 pro camcorders with direct-to-CF recording
By Donald Melanson 
posted April 8th 2010 5:33AM
posted April 8th 2010 5:33AM
Looking for a pro-level video camera that's somewhere south of an ARRI ALEXA or RED ONE but still impressive-looking enough (and feature-packed) to not be mistaken for an average, off-the-shelf prosumer camera? Then you might want to consider Canon's new XF305 and XF300 models, which both come in under $8,000 and not only offer the usual native 1080p recording, but support for recording directly to CompactFlash cards as well. Both cameras also use the same MPEG-2 4:2:2 50Mbps codec and DIGIC DV III image processor, and pack the same 4-inch LCD, 0.52-inch electronic viewfinder, built-in stereo microphone and dual XLR audio inputs, while the XF305 adds support for multi-camera or 3D setups as well. Hit up the gallery below for a closer look, and look for both cameras to be available in later June.
[Thanks, Stephen C]
[Thanks, Stephen C]
WIN...for lower budgets
Does it do 24p?
@Camperton Yes the previous versions of these cameras did 24p so it's safe to say these do 24p also
@IppikiOkami
These models new have 24P, but their XH Series, HDV camcorders had 24F, whatever that means. 24F was Canon's smoke and mirrors marketing, but they are still decent camcorders. Canon has a product that competes feature to feature with Panasonic's AVX2000, a 5 years after it was introduced.
I'll be psyched if Canon decides to fuse the XH A1S with the 5D.
@Marc B
3 things:
1) AVX2000? Sony had a camera called the VX2000, and Panasonic has a camera called the HVX200, but in almost all ways, both are actually spec-wise inferior these Canons. The HVX, while it is an excellent camera, uses pixel shifting to up-res an image from a 720 block, and only does a decent job of it. The Digic DV Processors are the very thing that made cameras like the XH-A1 so fantastic, and I'm going to go out on a limb and say this one will be no different.
2) "24F" was actually not "smoke and mirrors marketing." If you'd ever worked with an XH-A1, you would know it is a HDV form of native 24p, and when you import into Final Cut, it is native 23.976.
3) Canon won't merge the XH-A1 with the 5D, because they don't want to kill their camcorder lines. The 5D is a hack cam, designed for photo, not video. The lack of decent audio, lack of servo zoom and the 12 minute cap on record time gimp the hell out of it for most production settings. You can bet they have a decent hybrid prepping for release, but they'll only drop that bomb if competition forces it.
The specs don't bother me, just looking at this beauty makes me weak at the knees :O
naaaaa............i want my sony
Sleek.
Does it also do SD cards as there is a logo on the side?
@Fat Wombat
At least in the Panasonic cameras the SD slots are used to store custom presets and such. So maybe it's the same thing here.
Looks pretty sweet.... but I want specs, damnit! Anyone know what codec it's recording in?
A 422 50mbps codec would put it on a par with Panasonic's new AVC-I camera I assume.
@Bashthebox its MPG2, same codec as the Sony PDW700 and PDW800 record (50Mbps 4:2:2) wrapped in MXF files.
My only problem is I bet it is 1/3" based, if it had 1/2" sensors like the EX range they would have it in the press release, the lack of information pretty much tells the storey on that one....
@GuyB
Yeah, found that out too. I wonder how it compares to AVC-i? I'm guessing the dynamic range of AVC-i is a lot greater... We're looking to upgrade our studio camera and we need as much colour info as possible.
@GuyB I can confirm that it's 1/3" based... This is a tough market Canon is entering, considering the ex1r / ex3 are 1/2" at similar price points. But I'll reserve judgement until I can test it. For what it's worth, the panasonic hpx370 is still 1/3", and the noise reduction is quite good- image quality is as clean as a sony ex...
@81dollar
Canon already has been in this market for a bit
@81dollar Btw its a 1/3 CMOS sensor not a CCD
@81dollar Yeah, but XDCAM EX is only 4:2:0 isn't it? So the image on the EX1/3 is potentially sharper, but with less dynamic range.
@Bashthebox Canon XF codec. Read the source.
Goddamn.
But does it have an AK-47 in it?
@Spuc
No, this is the scope for the AK-47!
@Spuc
Nope no ak.47, and it does not even run Crysis as well :(
Looks too much like a gun. Too dangerous these days.
@scnarf
zing. wikileaks?
@richardstheterrible Yup.
@scnarf
lol nice :)
Meh... no real wide angle. No depth of field control... Almost just for observational documentaries - and even then, wide angle is nice.
@JtheB
Maybe you haven't used this class of camcorder before but you can do some great stuff with them. There are also dslr lens adapters that you can use with them.Many more things are filmed with camcorders like these than you think
I feel like I'm being sniped every time I look at this thing..
uhh.. mpeg2? Why do I want to record to a delivery format, and a 10-year old one at that?
@Ethan Maybe because it's good?
Wow! That actually looks really nice! I'm so tired of HDV tapes :P
Im very sick of HDV as well! I think its almost dead.
LOVE the concept and the camera looks great.
But, if you're looking for a more economical solution, go with the XH A1s and add a Sony HVR-MRC1 Compact Flash recording unit. Total is about $4k for that solution. Granted it's still HDV, but you can record to CF, MiniDV or both. Recording to both gives you the file based solution for immediate ingestion into your NLE but having the tape is good for archival purposes.
Anyway, I'm excited about this. Great looking cams and file based workflow is definitely the way to go.
FYI, the Canon press release says that both models do 1080i, not 1080p (they both do 720p.)
@Ike Turner
nice
I like the concept of recording to CF, but I would imagine it would have the same limitations that the 7D & 5D have when recording video, you can only record 4 gigs of video per clip due to FAT32 formatting spec of CF cards.. which makes this feature near useless. If anyone knows differently I would love to know, it could mean some big breakthrought that canon would hopefully pass to to EOS line!