Canon’s Tim Smith recently did a National Australia Bank interview Regarding the upcoming trade show next month, he said the company will display a new 8K camera at the show. While Canon has been expected to release an 8K camera for some time, it now seems likely that it will come in the form of an updated C500.
Despite relatively sub-par specs, the Canon C100/C300/C500 cameras have performed extremely well over the past few years, especially in event, documentary and reality TV production. While a handful of narrative films (even blockbusters) have used C-Series cameras, interest in them among filmmakers seems to have waned over the past few years.
That’s largely thanks to companies like Sony, Blackmagic, and others, who offer more impressive features at more affordable prices. Canon’s cameras still do well among rentals and certain types of owner/operators, but their camera lineup isn’t nearly as established as it once was.
For years, filmmakers have been waiting for Canon to step back up and release something groundbreaking like they once did with the 5D MKII. While things haven’t looked promising in recent years, if Canon is planning to do something big – this is the year to make it happen.
8K C500
Canon recently lowered the price of its C500 camera Down from the previous price of $16,000 to $10,000. This clearly indicates that a new model is in the works, and we can only assume that Canon will reserve 8K recording capabilities for its most high-end cinema camera models.
But does it matter? Do we really need 8K?
It depends on who you ask. Personally, I don’t care much about 8K, and for most of my projects I’m still happy to shoot in HD. Other factors such as color quality and dynamic range are more important to me, but at the same time, there is a professional market that can benefit from extremely high-resolution video.
Productions handling highly complex visual effects shots may benefit from the high resolution of 8K cameras. It can also be used for aerial work, allowing filmmakers to stabilize and reframe images in post to a great extent. These are just a few examples of scenarios that might require an ultra-high-resolution camera, and while I would definitely not shoot in 8K on the vast majority of my projects, there’s no denying that it’s a feature that can be useful in some professions.
In Tim Smith’s interview, he specifically mentioned 8K “camera” – Plural. Does this just mean that there will be multiple models of the same 8K camera on display at the show? Or will Canon release a more advanced camera than the C500 – perhaps a C700 or something similar?
We’ll have to wait a few more weeks until NAB 2016 to see what Canon has in store for this year, but I think it’s safe to say that while the 8K C500 may be an impressive camera, it’s unlikely to win back any of its predecessors. A camera.
If Canon really wants to win back more market share, they need to focus on the lower end of the market. They need to find the answer for cameras like the Sony A7S II or FS5, which offer great quality and innovative features at an affordable price.
As the past few years have passed, it’s looked increasingly unlikely that Canon will bring anything substantial to the low-budget market, but if things are going to change for Canon, it’s going to happen this year. It’s safe to say that the company has lost a large chunk of its filmmaking customer base and is running out of time to redeem itself as many competitors are still circling them.
Tim Smith talks vaguely about low-cost cameras in this question:
Q: What do you predict will become “popular” or very popular on NAB?
A: I think you’ll see some low-cost, high-quality products that offer a variety of possibilities for both big and small-budget productions.
While he didn’t specify that these “low-cost, high-quality products” will come from Canon, he did mention that Canon has some surprises. It’s certainly possible we’ll see some new lower-end cameras from Canon, or some updates to current models, to compete with the likes of Sony, Blackmagic, Panasonic and others.
Even considering all this, I’m not holding my breath. Canon has missed the mark time and time again over the past few years, and while I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on them at NAB this year, I don’t expect them to steal the show.
