Canon has just announced the C400. It’s a full-frame 6K cinema camera with RF mount and triple native ISO. The new CMOS sensor is backside-illuminated and it can record up to 6K/60p Cinema RAW Light. And there’s a lot more to brag about but is it enough?
It’s certainly a camera that will keep many shooters in Canon’s wheelhouse and might even tempt Sony users to jump ship. It certainly resembles the much older FX6, and although the Sony model is much cheaper, it’s missing a lot of specs and horsepower the C400 boasts.
EOS C400: A$13,500.00 RRP (A$12,999.00 general price)
SONY FX6: A$8,199.00 (general price)
The C400 works a cinema camera or ENG/live broadcast shooter. Despite its size, it packs a lot of options for TV and/or filmmaking into that tiny body.
THE GAME CHANGER – TRIPLE NATIVE ISO
Shooting documentaries in various lighting conditions can be challenging even with dual native ISO. Sometimes 12800 is too much and that’s where the C400 has you covered with triple ISO levels of 800, 3,200 and 12,800. This is available when shooting in Canon Log. To avoid ‘chasing’ low light settings, Canon also has an automatic switching mode that detects ambient lighting and adjusts the base ISO level to match.
THE SENSOR
At the heart of the EOS C400 is a new 26.7MP 6K full frame backside-illuminated, stacked CMOS sensor (BSI), connected to a DIGIC DV7 processor. Rolling shutter isn’t a real concern with faster readout from the sensor. You’ll also get a sharp image from the 6K oversampling for 4K and plenty of post production flexibility with 16 stops of dynamic range.
Super 35mm and Super 16mm are also options – cropped.
AUTOFOCUS
Canon is bringing its Dual Pixel CMOS AF II to its cinema EOS system with virtually 100% coverage across the sensor. C400 users will be able to select face | eye | body and animal detection and tracking. This is a bonus for solo shooters.
ND FILTER
The C400 has a mechanical ND filter with (2 / 4 / 6 / 8* / 10 stops*) * with extender.
RF MOUNT
The EOS C400 is the first high-end RF mount cinema EOS camera, although the R5C and C70 were also options. The RF lens options include integration with RF prime, zoom, hybrid, cinema and VR lenses. For more flexibility you can use EF-EOS R mount adapters as well as the new PL-RF mount adaptor. A 12-pin lens terminal gives greater control over lens operations.
RECORDING FORMATS
It’s all about RAW, in particular, Cinema RAW Light. Canon’s scalable 12-bit Cinema RAW Light is available in LT/ ST/ HQ. If you don’t need to use RAW then 4:2:2 10-bit XF-AVC and all-new MP4 based XF-AVC S and XF-HEVC S formats are also options.
The best of the best for PAL regions is: 6K 12bit Cinema RAW light 1780Mbps (50.00P ST).
You can download a full list of codecs and frame rates here.
DESIGN AND CONNECTIONS
The box design makes the C400 pretty flexible. It’s easy to build out for a film set tripod rig or strip it down for use on a gimbal. The camera weighs 1550g, 12% lighter than the EOS C500 Mark II.
The side handle grip is connected via USB-C with mappable buttons. The top handle connects to the multifunction shoe and duplicates it at the top. This is where you’ll find the monitor which you can mount directly to the body if you don’t want the handle attached. The display is a 3.5-inch LCD 2.76 million dots, touch panel.
There’s plenty of I/O in the C400, including built in Wi-Fi, G-LOCK/SYNC/RET terminal, ethernet terminal, SDI output, MON output and multiple input terminals. The G-LOCK/SYNC/RET and Ethernet terminals are located on the camera body. Just like the C70 the C400 has two mini XLR audio inputs.
Pricing and availability
The EOS C400 will be available in Australia this September for a RRP of A$13,500 RRP. But as stated above, you’ll find it available for pre-order at A$12,999.00 or less.
