Canon seems to be waking up and letting us get a glimpse of what is yet to come at NAB in April and later in 2015. In prior conversations, our source at Canon confirmed that upper management are taking 4K much closer to heart and seeing its potential than they were in the last three years. They’ve spent that time analysing the demand for 4K video acquisition and seeing how competitor 4K cameras are performing in the marketplace. Despite already having the 1DC, which does 4K, but never really took off as they hoped it would (neither did the C500 with its external 4K raw recording option), Canon are considering 2015 as a good year to jump in with both feet into 4K acquisition on all fronts – consumer, pro-sumer, and pro and high-end pro.
Expected 4K cameras at NAB are Canon C300 Mark II, possibly a new Cinema EOS 4K, and a 4K capable 5D Mark IV later in the Fall. Given the popularity of the original C300, if they get it right (with internal 4K recording) they may have some solid competitive cameras given the already saturated segment.
Earlier today I woke up to a tweet from Cinescopophilia, showing off Canon China CEO & President, Hideki Ozawa proudly holding a new 4K video capable DSLR-like camera with a fixed lens and a 1″ chip beside the the legend that is Jackie Chan. This happened at the Chinese launch event for the Canon 5Ds and 5Ds R large megapixel cameras, and you can see the new camera, which at this stage appears to be a concept and not a final production model.
Details of the camera at this point are unclear and vague to say the least, however Cinescopophilia is reporting a 1″ sensor, a possible name “EOS One”, Wi-Fi, removable EVF, and a fixed 10x 4K optimised zoom lens starting at 8.9mm f/2.8-5.6 with a 58mm filter thread, giving a 35mm equivalent of 24-240mm.
Whether this is the actual GH4 competitor that was rumoured is not yet known. Not sure if it’s just me, but I am somewhat unimpressed with the design of this camera, it looks like they borrowed some inexpensive screen from a consumer camera from the early 2000s, put a kit lens on it and called it a day. Looks a bit bulky compared to a Lumix LX-100, which is a mirrorless camera and from the looks if this could be too.
I hope I get proved wrong when this thing is actually released, and I really hope they do, but at this point I don’t know when, if ever we’ll see this 4K gem.
[via Cinescopophilia]
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