Canon’s inexorable drive to release even more DSLRs in its EOS range continues.

The latest camera to join its lineup is the EOS 1D C, which builds on the high end EOS 1D X and adds professional level video recording for those producing content for the motion picture and television industries.

“Since the introduction of Cinema EOS we’ve had an excellent response from professionals who are hugely excited by the image quality and creative freedom the system offers,” commented Roger Machin, product manager at Canon SA.

Cinematographers, take note

“The new EOS-1D C will expand those creative options further – it’s a unique camera, supporting 4K video recording in a highly compact body that can be used in a number of different ways,” he continued.

Admittedly, the EOS 1D X, on which the EOS 1D C is based, is a feature packed DSLR in its own right. Thus, the new camera inherits the EOS 1 D X’s 61 point focus system (which impressed us no end on that camera as well as Canon’s EOS 5D Mark III).

However, the new camera brings several additional features to the mix in its own right, that cinematographers in particular may well be interested in.

For starters, the EOS-1D C supports in-camera 4K (4096 x 2160) video recording with 4:2:2 colour sampling using 8-bit Motion JPEG compression at 24p, while Full HD (1920 x 1080) video capture is available at frame rates up to 1080/60p. Video can also be output to external recorders via an integrated HDMI terminal.

Additionally, the camera boasts Canon Log Gamma, which facilitates the capture of high-quality video rich in exposure latitude and dynamic range. The company explained that this is ideal for video professionals who want to retain the maximum amount of information without huge file sizes.

It further elaborated that Canon Log Gamma offers a dynamic range “uniquely comparable to film, minimising shadow-detail loss and highlight-detail loss to provide greater grading freedom for colourists in post-production.”

 

Crop harvesting

 

No less important, the EOS 1D C sports a 18.1-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor which has been optimised for high quality video capture, and enables users to adjust image resolution to suit a subject or desired output. 

 

During 4K shooting, pixels are cropped to an area equivalent to an APS-H sensor, preventing the need to resize or scale the image, while a Super 35mm crop in Full HD recording caters for cinematographers who typically work in the Super 35mm field of view.

 

Canon elaborated that the sensor’s size further enables professionals to achieve “an extremely shallow depth of field with beautiful background blur, and sensitivity up to ISO 25 600 provides excellent quality and reduced noise in low-light situations.”

Devil and the details

The camera further supports internal recording to CF cards at all resolutions up to and including 4K. Up to 12 fps stills are also on offer, which can be viewed on the 3.2” screen.

Additionally, the EOS 1D C ships with an exclusive software package, including a suite that allows 4K/Motion JPEG and Full HD/60p video recorded on the camera to be output on an external monitor with no loss of image quality.

It similarly enables video captured with Canon Log Gamma to be output on a monitor with standard video gamma applied.

The only downside we can see with the camera is its price. At more than twice the price of the EOS 1D X’s already hefty $6800 (R55 000) pricetag, namely $15 000 (R120 000), we cannot see all but the most serious videophotographers or production companies shelling out for the new camera.

Other than an indication that it will be released during the course of 2012, we do not know when the EOS 1 D C will become available though, or at what price it will land in South Africa when it does.

 

 

To the point

Along with the recently launched EOS 5 D Mark III and even more recent astrophotography catering EOS 60Da, Canon’s strategy with the new EOS 1D C is slowly but surely coming into clear focus.

While the EOS 5 D Mark III offered many of the features of the high end EOS 1 DX, it did it at a far more palatable price point that that venerable camera, and explicitly catered to a broader range of photographic styles than its predecessor.

With the 60Da and now the 1D C, the company appears to be clearly, and aggressively, offering a camera focused on the needs of niche areas of photography as well.