Canon Just Stepped Up Their Full Frame Game

Well well well, look what we have here. Canon finally decided to step up their cinematography game and created a full frame cinema camera as an answer back to RED’s line of weapons.

The C700 FF (great name, Canon) has a 5.9K sensor and can capture 10-bit DCI 4K internally in ProRes. That’s a huge step for Canon sensors in terms of their previous lines. But wait, there’s more. The C700 can also capture 5.9K RAW, but there’s a catch: You have to purchase Canon’s “optional” Codex CDX-36150 external recorder. Sounds like a shit marketing scheme to me.

The sensor on the C700 FF has a 17:9 ratio, supports Super 35mm, Super 16mm and anamorphic modes and also has 15 stops of dynamic range, and a wide color gamut. It also supports internal 4K capture in ProRes, and offers minimal moire and noise. The “optional” Codex recorder will support 12-bit RAW files on 1TB or 2TB capture drives.

Without the “optional” Codex external recorder, the camera costs $33,000, which in terms of camera technology is one of the cheaper full-frame cinema cameras out there.

So would I get the C700 FF? Maybe. It does incorporate Canon’s Dual Pixel autofocus, which is surpasses most Auto Focus systems on the market, and it can record up to 10-bit ProRes with data rates up to 810 Mbps, but I might still be swayed towards purchasing a RED Epic-W Gemini 5K S35 for a rate cheaper than $33,000.