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The Canon C300

As many of you know, Canon has introduced the C300; its first camera in the new Cinema EOS line of products. Since its introduction, the Canon C300 has garnered a lot of criticism, especially when viewed in light of the RED Scarlet, which was announced in its final form that same day.

The $20,000 price tag on the C300 gave a lot of photographers pause, especially when you compared it to the Scarlet’s $14,000 production-ready package (or just under $10,000 for the body alone). There were other considerations, too; the Scarlet shot 24fps at 4K resolution to the C300’s 1080p. The Scarlet can autofocus Canon lenses; the C300 is manual-focus only. The Scarlet shoots in REDCode, which is kind of like shooting 24 RAW images per second at 14 megapixels each.

Clearly, the RED is the superior camera.

Or is it? (more…)

Welcome to the Weekly Recap. Today’s post recaps new and newsworthy items related to photography from around the web for the week ending on November 6, 2011.

1. In case you missed it, Canon made its Hollywood debut last week. Lots of hoopla and a $20,000 camera in EF (standard Canon lens mount) and PL-mount version. Martin Scorcese and Vince LaForet both made appearances.
2. Not to be outdone, outspoken and brash CEO Jim Jannard of RED trumped their introduction with his own – a $10,000 RED Scarlet-X that shoots 4K resolution at up to 30p.
3. Of course, Canon added a very Jobsian “One more thing” nugget at the end of its presentation, announcing an HDDSLR that would capture 4K footage at 24fps in MotionJPEG.
4. Lawsuits against photographers filed by angry clients isn’t exactly old news, but this one takes the cake. Actually, this guy wants his photographer to pay for his cake. And the rest of his wedding, apparently, so he can restage the whole thing SIX years later. After he’s been separated from his wife. It was enough for Anderson Cooper to add him to the Ridiculist.
5. What is it these days with the law and photographers? First there’s the guy above, suing for $48,000. Then, an Oakland cop fires a rubber bullet at a photographer. And somewhere along the way, a Milwaukee photojournalist was arrested while covering an Occupy Milwaukee protest. Photography is not a crime, people!
6. At least the folks in New Hampshire have it right. A judge there dropped wiretapping charges against a man for recording a police officer during a traffic stop.
7. Going back to new gear releases, Panasonic unveiled the GX1, it’s newest Micro 4/3 camera. The category continues to grow…
8. Our friends at DPS have a list of their top 10 photographic accessories, as presented by their readers.
9. The folks at DIYPhotography have a rundown of the latest, greatest, most cutting edge camera flash technology – from 150 years ago.
10. And finally, because everyone who shoots Canon knows that white lenses are better than black, one photographer painted his sub-$100 50mm f/1.8 lens white, with a red ring. Presenting: the 50mm f/1.8L (not really ‘L) lens.

RED vs Canon

Canon says hello to Hollywood.

For a few years now, Hollywood has had a burgeoning love affair with Canon’s EOS HDDSLRs, using them in productions ranging from Transformers to Captain America to TV shows like House. Now, Canon is making its formal entrance bid into Hollywood with the $20,000 Cinema EOS C300. Check out Canon’s new site dedicated to all things Cinema EOS.

More importantly, check out our friend Vincent Laforet’s post on his newest video, Mobius, shot with the C300. There’s an awesome behind the scens video, both embedded here for your viewing pleasure.

Mobius from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

Mobius :: Behind The Scenes from Blake Whitman on Vimeo.

The camera looks pretty impressive and the video, if Mobius is any indication, is of excellent quality. The Super35 sensor is a 4K sensor, but captures a 1080p file, and Canon has a DSLR concept that can capture 24fps in the MotionJPEG codec at 4K resolution.

Yeah, we’re salivating.

3 hours later, RED unveiled new specs, pricing and availability of their answer to the C300, the Scarlet-X.

And what a coup – the Scarlet-X is all grown up. 5K at 12fps (that’s 14 megapixel stills at 12 frames per second) and 4K at up to 30fps, incredible dynamic range and a price that starts at $10,000. A fully equipped package, ready to shoot, minus lenses, is $14,000. It has the same sensor as it’s big brother, the EPIC; the difference in the two – besides the price – is the processing power in the camera’s brain; the EPIC can handle higher frames per second at higher resolutions because of it.

Um, wow.

Since canon announced the C300 before RED put their announcement out, we’ve yet to hear what Canon’s reps think of the Scarlet-X. Either way, as the folks at Pixiq say, “The battle for amateur filmmakers is about to commence, and things are are about to get properly interesting…”

Red Logo

We’ve been waiting for this moment for some time now.Ever since BorrowLenses.com stepped into the video arena, adding cameras like the Panasonic AG-AF100, the Sony EX3, NEX-VG10, and, of course, the wide range of Canon HDSLRs, people have been asking, “Where’s the RED?”

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