Film News South Africa

Canon enters movie production industry

Canon has entered the motion picture production industry having launched its Cinema EOS System, which takes in the lens, digital video camcorder and digital SLR camera product categories.

The Cinema EOS System targets a new area of imaging expression for Canon. It offers compatibility with Canon's range of high-performance EF lenses and provides cinematographers with a range of creative possibilities.

"As a leading company in digital imaging, Canon's debut in the film and TV production industry provides a tremendous opportunity to enter into a thriving market. In South Africa this industry is definitely growing at a tremendous rate and local films have been palming in many international awards over the past few years," said Roger Machin, photo video product manager of Canon South Africa.

"Reflecting upon the achievements that Canon EOS Digital SLRs have had in the industry thus far, we are confident the new Cinema EOS series products will bring that success to a whole new level, at an affordable price. We've managed to combine great value with the best technology available."

Seven new 4K EF Cinema Lenses

With the debut of the Cinema EOS System, Canon introduced seven new 4K EF Cinema Lenses (four zoom lenses and three single-focal-length models), which complement the company's current diverse line-up of interchangeable EF lenses for EOS SLR cameras. The company also announced the launch of the EOS C300/C300 PL interchangeable-lens digital video camcorder, equipped with a Super 35mm-equivalent CMOS sensor, and a new digital SLR camera currently under development that features a 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor supporting the recording of 4K video.

Canon's Cinema EOS System's seven new 4K EF Cinema Lens models feature: four zoom lenses covering a wide zoom range from 14.5mm to 300mm (two models each for EF and PL lens mounts) and three single-focal-length lenses for EF mounts. All seven new lenses deliver 4K (4096 x 2160 pixels) optical performance and offer compatibility with Super 35mm-equivalent sensors. Additionally, the three single-focal-length lenses can be used with cameras equipped with 35mm full-frame sensors.

New digital video camcorder

The Canon EOS C300/C300 PL is an all new digital video camcorder available in two models: the EOS C300, equipped with an EF lens mount for compatibility with the wide array of lenses that make up Canon's current interchangeable EF lens line-up; and the EOS C300 PL, offering a PL lens mount for use with industry-standard PL lenses. The camcorder features a Super 35mm-equivalent approximately 8.29-megapixel CMOS sensor suited for digital cinematography.

Next-generation digital SLR camera

Equipped with a 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor and supporting the recording of 4K video* (at a frame rate of 24P, with Motion-JPEG compression), the next-generation digital SLR camera currently under development will enable exceptional image quality for the creation of innovative and expressive images. Additional details, including the product name, specifications and scheduled launch date, have yet to be decided.

* Cropped to APS-H-equivalent size (dimensions measuring approximately 80 percent vertically and horizontally of a 35mm full-frame sensor) when recording in 4K.

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