Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Have been a Canon camcorder fan for 12+ years. Will take some time to feel comfortable with new tapeless format.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

I use for event/Weddings & short films ,what I like is ease of use on the fly after a fair amount of training experience with it ,nice custom pic menu also great lens . What I don't like is not as good in low light as I expected but a draw back of all small sensor cam corders ,it takes some getting use to coming from DSLR video but the ease of uses and on the fly capability is well worth the price.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

I use this product for just about everything in the books. From events, to sports, to creative work. The 4:2:2 recording is a big plus. The one main Con is the ergonomics, this camera just doesn't have them right. The camera is too large and heavy to be a handheld camera but it is. A simple rig or just propping it against you shoulder (similar to the XL1) generally fixes the problem.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Simple to use and still you can get lost in the menu. The picture quality rival any thing I have seen with even more expensive cameras. The lens is not interchangeable but still amazing.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

I decided to upgrade from a XHA1s to Canon XF300 and I can say under typical lighting conditions the Canon XF300 records much better video even at 35mbps. Since I do lots of events where lighting conditions are less than ideal (although I always use at least one or two F&V LED lights), I checked the internet for custom pics settings and the one that I prefer the most is the truvid2 which looks natural but with some colour vibrancy.The video noise once the gain goes up to 9db (I sometimes even go as high as 12db but not higher)is objectionable but adjusting the noise reduction setting to 2 (as some other videographers recommended) made a big difference.
When I do interviews etc and I can get some good lighting then of course I shoot at 0db and that gives cleaner footage. I can always grade footage in post with magic bullet looks but for don't always have the time for that.
I wish I could compare it first hand to a Sony EX1r but I haven't been able to...
I still use my XHA1s as a second camera and the footage looks softer of course but usable. To make them match better I try to shoot neutral and then adjust in post if needed.
I'm wondering if using a Canon XF100 would be a better option...but the thought of paying over $3k in Canada for it is a too much! I could get a 5D MKII for that and more...hmm.
anyone has the XF300/XF100 combo?
I'm happy with the Canon XF300 AFTER making adjustments-videotaping with setting straight out of the box is not an option for me.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

This is a super camera as regards to ergonomics, ease of use, features and picture quality.
The reason for only 4 stars however is, you cannot set an assignable button for slow-motion, there's no 1/8" stereo input socket and the poor low light filming.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

My previous camera, for almost 10 years, was a Canon XL1s so I am kind of used to the Canon camcorder architecture. I will be using this camera for shooting instructional videos, and web content. The menu system does take some getting used to. There is a full auto switch located within easy reach when you need to "Run and gun" and the full auto mode works like a champ. I could go on and nit-pic about the power switch and hand strap but there are other cameras out there that have there own issues too. I love this camera, great picture, great color.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

I use this camera in a house of worship and a studio environment. Great quality, many features. I wish it had a firewire output.

I use my camera with Final Cut Pro X and have just recently learned from Canon that they do not have a driver to allow bringing the XF300 footage directly into FCP X on Mountain Lion. This issue does not apply to the Lion OS. Canon would/could not tell me if a Mountain Lion driver was in the works or not. The files are .MXF and must be converted using a third-party tool for use in FCP X on Mountain Lion. I can live with it, but it is a little frustrating.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

I am using this camera to increase the quality of my documentaries. They include the impaired Naugatuck River in Connecticut and its wildlife as well as documenting the rescue, rehabbing and release of birds of prey in Connecticut.I am an amateur and was unfamiliar with a camera with this much control. It took the Vortex Video and experimenting with the xf300 to feel real comfortable. It took only 4 days to figure out nearly all the commands. This short time surprised me. I am stunned at how beautiful this camera is. It helps having basic DSLR experience to understand its basic manual operation(s). The FX capabilities are exciting just by themselves. There are negatives of course. I use an HP desk top with 8gb ram, 1.5tb space and a pretty good processor. I use Sony Vegas Platinum 10. Though I can view the xf300 clips with the canon xf utilities, until I upgrade my computer system and NLE software "and" convert the mxf files to mov files my clips will be locked away on a hard drive while I continue to take and edit AVCHD footage with my older [$] HD camcorders. I was aware of this problem prior to the purchase of the xf300. With a budget of [$] for the camera and its accessories this was the camera I chose over others. I need to make it work in all kinds of weather/ under water and be spontaneous. The L series lens had much to do with my decision.Though I am a house painter and not a pro I was looking for the best that was within a budget. In my opinion the xf300 is as good or better than any within its price range. I feel that the xf300 is as good as the critics say. The 1/3 sensor is bound by physics and that is what it is. If you want better pay more.The xf300 is amazing for the money. I had great fear regarding these mxf files. I needed a smooth work flow. I was not looking to add to my many editing problems. I am patient and am confident with new software not unlike Final Cut ProX I can convert the wrappers if a proper procedure is followed. I expect Canon/Apple/Sony/Adobe has addressed any mxf>mov issues or they will soon. It is my belief people that ignored basic's ran into problems rewrapping the files. Make sure your software is ready for the task. Forewarned is forearmed. Don't blame it on the camera.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Coming from an A1 mostly for tapeless workflow since I had no issues with the A1 image or HDV. I was extremely surprised that the EX300 image would be that much better- it truly is a stunning picture and very post-friendly. I also have a 60D but the moire and alliasing was too much to take and a proper video camera just makes life easier.
I transfer to FCP6 using the naitive Sony codec and it's flawless and the file sizes are more manageable.
The EX300 seems to be a real under-the-radar camera but it's not because of the image- HDSLR's are just all the fasion.
Also a note regarding the power switch some have complained about- absolutely no issues with it for me.
My only knock is that I utilized the automatic zoom switch on the A1 conastantly and I do miss that function.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

I'm a documentary filmmaker focusing on nature. I bought this on several reccommendations from B&H as well as my web research to replave my Sony HDV cam. The complaints about the power/select switch are justified. This is the worst thing on the camera. The second issue is that a lot of functions I would like to see assignable to buttons remain buried in menus. Also, why can't Canon make 60p work in 1920x1080? That being said, this camera is capable of shooting gorgeous images, but plan to invest a lot of time learning its settings.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

At my old job we retired our well worn SD cameras with XF300s and a 100. We were looking over the market looking at the Panasonic, Sony, and JVC offerings in competition with this Canon, and none seemed to compete with it on value, image quality, or portability.

Image Quality
Image quality is what has impressed me most with this camera. We use the scene file as it came from the factory. It's easy to hear pixel peepers get worried about recording in long GOP or only shooting 50mbps, but the lens, imager, and signal processing in tandem are nothing shy of brilliant. With proper exposure and focus everything comes out crisp, with all the detail you would expect from a camera five times the cost of this one. No moire, no stair stepping, no nonsense, no chroma subsampling, no snaps at keyframes, just a beautiful picture.

Over the course of a year with these cameras the only times I ever felt like I saw optical imperfections or compression artifacts came from when shots had poor exposure and needed extreme colour correction. To be fair, I'm thinking of a few shots that were overexposed by about 2.5-3 stops. Even the best shooters have moments they aren't quite ready for - with this camera's image pipeline those shots can be made usable.

Speaking of overexposure, this camera seems to respond extremely well to overexposure. I've never used a camera - including RAW modes on Canon and Nikon SLRs - that responded as well to recovery in post. The headroom on the top is amazing.

The high gain performance isn't the best of things. I'm mainly editing, not shooting, so I don't really know what to consider the upper threshold for usable. It's clean without lights in about 60% of interiors, and it doesn't take a lot of light to get a clean signal. With LED lights it doesn't take a lot of gear to keep everything looking clean.

Value
The value of this camera is difficult to overstate. Here are the merits when considering its competitors.
Canon - CF cards are readily available in major cities in an emergency, batteries last forever and are reasonably priced, internal optics are top notch.
Panasonic HPX250 - You'll pay an obscene amount for P2 cards - by the time you get enough card to shoot for a day you'll add $2k to the cost of the setup. Batteries are similarly affordable, but don't have the stamina or handy meter the Canon batteries have.
Sony - You're stuck at thin raster 35mbps unless you add the bulk and expense of an external recorder, or you've go the same issue as P2 cards if you go with the internal SxS method. I've only used external batteries when using the EX1R, and I don't remember the battery situation there.
JVC 700 - Once again, thin raster, but the SD cards are affordable enough to leave on the shelf for important projects, but the added expense of some Anton Bauer batteries and a good zoom lens will push the price way up.

When considering what you get and what you're pay the Canon is a clear winner - the caveat to this is if you need the TC options of the XF305. The HPX250 might be a better option if you need TC in and hour - but that's if you can live with the coarse look of Panasonic footage.

Ergonomics
This is the most logically lain out camera I've worked with. All of the controls are where you expect to find them. The audio routing/phantom controls are by the XLR inputs, the audio level controls are on the back near the audio meters, the gain and white balance are where they belong, the screen opens on both sides so you can interview on the right and still see the picture, it's brilliant.
Unfortunately every camera has its issues. There are three ergonomic problems in my opinion.
• There are two different MF modes. There's a switch that toggles between AF and servo-motor driven MF. In servo-driven MF you turn the focus ring, which fires the servo motor to focus. There's also a MF clutch wrapped around the lens barrel which makes a physical connection between the ring and the focus mechanism, no servo motor involved. The MF clutch is fantastic, but it can get confusing to get back to AF if you have both MF modes going on.
• The ring/rocker switch for the focal length/zoom control is a bit annoying. In ring mode it adds hard stops on the ring, but it's still a servo motor firing the zoom mechanism. I'd prefer both always active to having hard stops.
• The menu is operated from the back using a Menu button, a wheel, and a Set button. It would be far more intuitive if the wheel clicked in instead of having a Set button.

Overall I'm quite willing to say this is the best camera I've used. It outshoots the HPX500 by quite a bit, and you could buy a few of these for the cost of one of those HPX setups.

If you need a camera of this format it's positively brilliant. If you need TC support you may be able to find better value elsewhere, if you need shallow depth of field this can do it if you're zoomed tight and focused close, or look elsewhere, and if you need low light response look elsewhere, but if none of those are your needs go for it! If in doubt rent it and give it a fair go.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Got it to film educational talks. Excellent quality and versatlity. I purchased two 32gigCF cards with it and they work fine

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Best compact professional camcorder i have ever work with.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

I use the camera for promotional videos and mid size drama features. It has everything I need to create boadcast quality docos and entry level movies.

A couple of reviews I read before I purchased it said the depth of field wasn't as good as with some DSLRs. Crazy. All I can say is those people can't have taken the camera out of 'Auto'!

I've already got some beautiful shots with the XF that have a degree of detail and texture that is literally breathtaking - and great for post production processing.

Can't think of any negatives yet. It's heavier than I thought it would be when using handheld but overall I love this camera with a passion!

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

After using a used XL1 for a few years now I decided I had the money and it was time for a new workhorse camcorder. It couldn't be anything other then a Canon again. Ive been using it in parties and every day shoots and preparing for a trip to the Galapagos where i will test it to the extreme. If you dont want to spend a whole lot of money in a hard case underwater housing get the Ewa Marine VXF-3 flexible housing for underwater use and it fits the camera perfectly. Its even for diving and they also have it here at bhphoto. The camcorder's picture is extremely sharp. The audio with the built-in microphone is very good. I think it was better with the XL1 with the bigger microphone and wind protection though I haven't had time to analize the audio bit by bit one against the other one. I bought the Evolution wireless G3 model SEEW100EN3B (also here at bhphoto) which has a transmitter/receiver set for a lap mic and the extra transmitter for an xlr input microphone and works great and better for interviews if you add it in the second audio channel. Although for everyday use the included mic is perfect, I will get a better microphone with wind protection later. The included battery gives you around two to three hours depending if you use a lot of controls, the eyepiece or the screen. The latter hides perfectly when not in use and has great image quality. I got the Compact flash Sandisk Extreme 32 GB 60Mb/s first and then Money per GB I got a better deal on Trascend UDMA7 64GB 600x Compact flash. I already tested both and they work on the XF300. When it comes to downloading the images from the camcorder I use Canons XF Utility (included or downloadable) I got the hang of it and it works better and easier than Adobe bridge because you only see the clips and not all the other files. You can preview them before downloading and a good trick is to select the images click edit and export to mxf there you append all the clips from one day and save them to a folder with the date very easily. For editing I am using Adobe premiere pro production premium CS5.5. It reads the MXF files directly with NO PROBLEMS! I cant say anything about other programs as i have not used them. I had premiere CS4 before and it did not have the presets for 50 Mbits recording. on the new CS5.5 version the MXF formats read directly into the video sequence. In terms of size I think that for what the camcorder does it can barely get any lighter. It will toll on you if you carry it for a long time on one single spot, specially if you are trying to get a long interview standing without(obviously) a tripod. The main reason is that IT HAS NO SHOULDER SUPPORT like the canon xl1. Which is my only CON. There are aftermarket solutions for this though it will add to the "required's list". The stabilization works better than the xl1 and handles the camera shake really good on a tired hand if you dont have the tripod. Menus are easy to understand even without a manual( that i haven't read as allways) Overall I congratulate the Canon Team for creating a great product. I am and will be a loyal customer as long as you keep bringing great products. By the way I am NOT an employee of Canon or any of the other copyrighted brands included in the review, just an amateur camera and camcorder aficionado.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Been using two other major pro cameras for seven years and nothing I have used touches the Canon xf300. Makes me feel like I have finally joined the major leagues. The buttons are not only in the right place but Canon has given me plenty of choices for assigning buttons to suit my style of shooting for different kinds of situations. And one of my favorites that never changes is the assigned button: Delete Last Clip. That helps keep clutter off the card and makes for more usuable space. The picture quality is on the money. I have had very little to do in post in the way of color correction. Set it right in the camera and you will have a close to perfect, professional qualtiy output. And wait until you do your green screen shots. Thats when you will really appreciate whats under the hood of this baby with its 50Mbps and 4:2:2cbr. This machine has made my life as a shooter easier. The professional methods it includes from getting correct focus with peaking, etc., to very smooth rocker zooms and of course shooting to the over-under CF cards with no break in coverage and being able to set and keep custom settings on SD cards for other times but similiar situations just makes for a smoother easier shoots. So, for me, its an ideal tool for what I do, and why I say, "XF300 where have you been all my life!"

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Great camera straight out of the box can't wait to clear up some editing so I can play with it!

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Good quality finishing, massive lens, nothing compared to "leicas", "zeiss" or other standard lends found in the same category camcorders. You can not use both rocker and manual lens at the same time, there is a switch to select rocker or manual.

The menu is intuitive and compact, character type is modern and nice, fast settings no usual time wasting. Someone said audio xlr conectors are flimsy maybe because of the plastic covering this part of the unit, but are strong and solid neutrik connectors dont expect them to fail.

The battery place has a strangely well created door, when you open it, seems like a lunching platform. insert batt, close door. You start to see how good this camera was conceived. Big batt gave perfect balance, but XF300 is not small nor light camcorder.

CF cards doors disable cards when opening but there is still necessary to push the stick to take cards off. Nice feature.

The camcorder is long and heighty because the eye viewfinder in the rear protrudes enough to give some trouble in small bags. The external mic holder is also taking some centimeters height. take in count when selecting your bag, mine is a Petrol PC300 and the XF300 fits too tight there because of the Lens cup, ext mic holder, so i had to remove those to be confident.

Image Quality amazing sharpness and detail to extreme. FCP 7 can take files to Prores or Prores HQ (install plugin from CD or find it in canon europe) and native format (have to install XDcam ex plugin from sony for Ex series, which is the same native format of the camcorder) this way prores uses x 5 the original size, native uses x1 size but native is mpeg2, both codecs same good Quality.

1/3 Cmos gave a little less light than a EX1, nothing to worry as i purchased a small light gun. Strange that selecting both internal mic wont allow to control separated channels just one dial for both in this way.

Lens hood is old styled and lens cover is easy to loose, Canon shoud learn this from Sony. Should have provided a better cap, would have been a femme fatale.

There are many assignable buttons but i would like more. There are also a lot of external buttons. The cam is a step forward in helping your workflow. Easy to review last clip and delete, no menu need, save valuable time. Fully customizable settings. Good Vectorscope and Waveform there are enough modes to work. Image stabilizer is top and is a feature to be used much more, same with face detection focusing. Using the utility software you can save original clips as back up in computer deleting non used ones and keeping just selected clips, no need to save the whole card.

Is a must to keep eye viewfinder glass away from direct sunlight use always the provided cover. LCD screen is hugest and hi res, simply best among any other.

I had a lot of time comparing to other brands in same category, but now i can say i have bough a unit that is a step ahead in technology. The right choice. This Camcorder is kinda jewel. Wont give 5 stars just because the lack of removable lens.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

After years of waiting for the right camera to officially take my business to tapeless HD, I finally pulled the trigger on the XF300. This camera replaces my overused and outdated XL2. (I've been playing with tapeless HD workflow with a Canon Vixia and a Sony A33, but the XF300 marks a complete shift in this direction).

Switching from my XL2 to the XF300 wasn't all that difficult. I shot my first paid project with it not 5-days after unpacking it. It's definitely going to take a little more time to get fluid with all the settings and being able to make manual adjustments on the fly, but Canon's layout has always made sense to me, so I'm not worried about it.

The picture quality is to be expected... really nice, even with the shipped settings. The lens is beautiful, although i do wish it were interchangeable like the XL cams were. Manual controls are easy to figure out and seem well designed. I do wish, however, that AE shift was NOT a menu setting, but a dial as on the XL cams.

The camera is not small, but neither is it uncomfortably large. Its close enough to the XL2 for me to feel right at home carrying it around. I even felt comfortable enough to take it over the ocean on a raft on its first shoot.

Ergonomics are nice. A little front heavy and not made for long interval handheld shooting. Placement of LCD, XLR ins, zooms, and various buttons all work for me. Manual audio level control dials are a little small and sometimes difficult to make small adjustments. I'm getting faster at navigating menu settings and think that the menu structure is pretty well laid out.

32GB Sandisk Extreme cards have worked well so far. In-camera playback is nice and easy to navigate. AMA linking in Avid MC is pretty easy and very quick in terms of accessing/editing MXF files. I'm still playing with the ideal workflow for my setup, but MXF files are much nicer to work with than AVCHD files.

The camera makes a pretty loud internal sound on start up. It had me worried, so I called Canon and they pulled one off the shelf while I was on the phone and fired it up and I could hear it make the same loud motor sound, so don't freak out when you first hear it.

Is it worth the price? If it lasts as long and produces as much content for me as my XL2 did, then it should pay for itself many, many times over the next few years. To me, that's a good investment!

Time will tell.

I'd give it 4.5 stars if that were an option. Can't give it 5, simply because it's not quite perfect by my book (but it comes pretty close for what my needs are).

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Have been a Canon camcorder fan for 12+ years. Will take some time to feel comfortable with new tapeless format.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

I use for event/Weddings & short films ,what I like is ease of use on the fly after a fair amount of training experience with it ,nice custom pic menu also great lens . What I don't like is not as good in low light as I expected but a draw back of all small sensor cam corders ,it takes some getting use to coming from DSLR video but the ease of uses and on the fly capability is well worth the price.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

I use this product for just about everything in the books. From events, to sports, to creative work. The 4:2:2 recording is a big plus. The one main Con is the ergonomics, this camera just doesn't have them right. The camera is too large and heavy to be a handheld camera but it is. A simple rig or just propping it against you shoulder (similar to the XL1) generally fixes the problem.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Simple to use and still you can get lost in the menu. The picture quality rival any thing I have seen with even more expensive cameras. The lens is not interchangeable but still amazing.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

I decided to upgrade from a XHA1s to Canon XF300 and I can say under typical lighting conditions the Canon XF300 records much better video even at 35mbps. Since I do lots of events where lighting conditions are less than ideal (although I always use at least one or two F&V LED lights), I checked the internet for custom pics settings and the one that I prefer the most is the truvid2 which looks natural but with some colour vibrancy.The video noise once the gain goes up to 9db (I sometimes even go as high as 12db but not higher)is objectionable but adjusting the noise reduction setting to 2 (as some other videographers recommended) made a big difference.
When I do interviews etc and I can get some good lighting then of course I shoot at 0db and that gives cleaner footage. I can always grade footage in post with magic bullet looks but for don't always have the time for that.
I wish I could compare it first hand to a Sony EX1r but I haven't been able to...
I still use my XHA1s as a second camera and the footage looks softer of course but usable. To make them match better I try to shoot neutral and then adjust in post if needed.
I'm wondering if using a Canon XF100 would be a better option...but the thought of paying over $3k in Canada for it is a too much! I could get a 5D MKII for that and more...hmm.
anyone has the XF300/XF100 combo?
I'm happy with the Canon XF300 AFTER making adjustments-videotaping with setting straight out of the box is not an option for me.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

This is a super camera as regards to ergonomics, ease of use, features and picture quality.
The reason for only 4 stars however is, you cannot set an assignable button for slow-motion, there's no 1/8" stereo input socket and the poor low light filming.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

My previous camera, for almost 10 years, was a Canon XL1s so I am kind of used to the Canon camcorder architecture. I will be using this camera for shooting instructional videos, and web content. The menu system does take some getting used to. There is a full auto switch located within easy reach when you need to "Run and gun" and the full auto mode works like a champ. I could go on and nit-pic about the power switch and hand strap but there are other cameras out there that have there own issues too. I love this camera, great picture, great color.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

I use this camera in a house of worship and a studio environment. Great quality, many features. I wish it had a firewire output.

I use my camera with Final Cut Pro X and have just recently learned from Canon that they do not have a driver to allow bringing the XF300 footage directly into FCP X on Mountain Lion. This issue does not apply to the Lion OS. Canon would/could not tell me if a Mountain Lion driver was in the works or not. The files are .MXF and must be converted using a third-party tool for use in FCP X on Mountain Lion. I can live with it, but it is a little frustrating.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

I am using this camera to increase the quality of my documentaries. They include the impaired Naugatuck River in Connecticut and its wildlife as well as documenting the rescue, rehabbing and release of birds of prey in Connecticut.I am an amateur and was unfamiliar with a camera with this much control. It took the Vortex Video and experimenting with the xf300 to feel real comfortable. It took only 4 days to figure out nearly all the commands. This short time surprised me. I am stunned at how beautiful this camera is. It helps having basic DSLR experience to understand its basic manual operation(s). The FX capabilities are exciting just by themselves. There are negatives of course. I use an HP desk top with 8gb ram, 1.5tb space and a pretty good processor. I use Sony Vegas Platinum 10. Though I can view the xf300 clips with the canon xf utilities, until I upgrade my computer system and NLE software "and" convert the mxf files to mov files my clips will be locked away on a hard drive while I continue to take and edit AVCHD footage with my older [$] HD camcorders. I was aware of this problem prior to the purchase of the xf300. With a budget of [$] for the camera and its accessories this was the camera I chose over others. I need to make it work in all kinds of weather/ under water and be spontaneous. The L series lens had much to do with my decision.Though I am a house painter and not a pro I was looking for the best that was within a budget. In my opinion the xf300 is as good or better than any within its price range. I feel that the xf300 is as good as the critics say. The 1/3 sensor is bound by physics and that is what it is. If you want better pay more.The xf300 is amazing for the money. I had great fear regarding these mxf files. I needed a smooth work flow. I was not looking to add to my many editing problems. I am patient and am confident with new software not unlike Final Cut ProX I can convert the wrappers if a proper procedure is followed. I expect Canon/Apple/Sony/Adobe has addressed any mxf>mov issues or they will soon. It is my belief people that ignored basic's ran into problems rewrapping the files. Make sure your software is ready for the task. Forewarned is forearmed. Don't blame it on the camera.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Coming from an A1 mostly for tapeless workflow since I had no issues with the A1 image or HDV. I was extremely surprised that the EX300 image would be that much better- it truly is a stunning picture and very post-friendly. I also have a 60D but the moire and alliasing was too much to take and a proper video camera just makes life easier.
I transfer to FCP6 using the naitive Sony codec and it's flawless and the file sizes are more manageable.
The EX300 seems to be a real under-the-radar camera but it's not because of the image- HDSLR's are just all the fasion.
Also a note regarding the power switch some have complained about- absolutely no issues with it for me.
My only knock is that I utilized the automatic zoom switch on the A1 conastantly and I do miss that function.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

I'm a documentary filmmaker focusing on nature. I bought this on several reccommendations from B&H as well as my web research to replave my Sony HDV cam. The complaints about the power/select switch are justified. This is the worst thing on the camera. The second issue is that a lot of functions I would like to see assignable to buttons remain buried in menus. Also, why can't Canon make 60p work in 1920x1080? That being said, this camera is capable of shooting gorgeous images, but plan to invest a lot of time learning its settings.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

At my old job we retired our well worn SD cameras with XF300s and a 100. We were looking over the market looking at the Panasonic, Sony, and JVC offerings in competition with this Canon, and none seemed to compete with it on value, image quality, or portability.

Image Quality
Image quality is what has impressed me most with this camera. We use the scene file as it came from the factory. It's easy to hear pixel peepers get worried about recording in long GOP or only shooting 50mbps, but the lens, imager, and signal processing in tandem are nothing shy of brilliant. With proper exposure and focus everything comes out crisp, with all the detail you would expect from a camera five times the cost of this one. No moire, no stair stepping, no nonsense, no chroma subsampling, no snaps at keyframes, just a beautiful picture.

Over the course of a year with these cameras the only times I ever felt like I saw optical imperfections or compression artifacts came from when shots had poor exposure and needed extreme colour correction. To be fair, I'm thinking of a few shots that were overexposed by about 2.5-3 stops. Even the best shooters have moments they aren't quite ready for - with this camera's image pipeline those shots can be made usable.

Speaking of overexposure, this camera seems to respond extremely well to overexposure. I've never used a camera - including RAW modes on Canon and Nikon SLRs - that responded as well to recovery in post. The headroom on the top is amazing.

The high gain performance isn't the best of things. I'm mainly editing, not shooting, so I don't really know what to consider the upper threshold for usable. It's clean without lights in about 60% of interiors, and it doesn't take a lot of light to get a clean signal. With LED lights it doesn't take a lot of gear to keep everything looking clean.

Value
The value of this camera is difficult to overstate. Here are the merits when considering its competitors.
Canon - CF cards are readily available in major cities in an emergency, batteries last forever and are reasonably priced, internal optics are top notch.
Panasonic HPX250 - You'll pay an obscene amount for P2 cards - by the time you get enough card to shoot for a day you'll add $2k to the cost of the setup. Batteries are similarly affordable, but don't have the stamina or handy meter the Canon batteries have.
Sony - You're stuck at thin raster 35mbps unless you add the bulk and expense of an external recorder, or you've go the same issue as P2 cards if you go with the internal SxS method. I've only used external batteries when using the EX1R, and I don't remember the battery situation there.
JVC 700 - Once again, thin raster, but the SD cards are affordable enough to leave on the shelf for important projects, but the added expense of some Anton Bauer batteries and a good zoom lens will push the price way up.

When considering what you get and what you're pay the Canon is a clear winner - the caveat to this is if you need the TC options of the XF305. The HPX250 might be a better option if you need TC in and hour - but that's if you can live with the coarse look of Panasonic footage.

Ergonomics
This is the most logically lain out camera I've worked with. All of the controls are where you expect to find them. The audio routing/phantom controls are by the XLR inputs, the audio level controls are on the back near the audio meters, the gain and white balance are where they belong, the screen opens on both sides so you can interview on the right and still see the picture, it's brilliant.
Unfortunately every camera has its issues. There are three ergonomic problems in my opinion.
• There are two different MF modes. There's a switch that toggles between AF and servo-motor driven MF. In servo-driven MF you turn the focus ring, which fires the servo motor to focus. There's also a MF clutch wrapped around the lens barrel which makes a physical connection between the ring and the focus mechanism, no servo motor involved. The MF clutch is fantastic, but it can get confusing to get back to AF if you have both MF modes going on.
• The ring/rocker switch for the focal length/zoom control is a bit annoying. In ring mode it adds hard stops on the ring, but it's still a servo motor firing the zoom mechanism. I'd prefer both always active to having hard stops.
• The menu is operated from the back using a Menu button, a wheel, and a Set button. It would be far more intuitive if the wheel clicked in instead of having a Set button.

Overall I'm quite willing to say this is the best camera I've used. It outshoots the HPX500 by quite a bit, and you could buy a few of these for the cost of one of those HPX setups.

If you need a camera of this format it's positively brilliant. If you need TC support you may be able to find better value elsewhere, if you need shallow depth of field this can do it if you're zoomed tight and focused close, or look elsewhere, and if you need low light response look elsewhere, but if none of those are your needs go for it! If in doubt rent it and give it a fair go.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Got it to film educational talks. Excellent quality and versatlity. I purchased two 32gigCF cards with it and they work fine

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Best compact professional camcorder i have ever work with.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

I use the camera for promotional videos and mid size drama features. It has everything I need to create boadcast quality docos and entry level movies.

A couple of reviews I read before I purchased it said the depth of field wasn't as good as with some DSLRs. Crazy. All I can say is those people can't have taken the camera out of 'Auto'!

I've already got some beautiful shots with the XF that have a degree of detail and texture that is literally breathtaking - and great for post production processing.

Can't think of any negatives yet. It's heavier than I thought it would be when using handheld but overall I love this camera with a passion!

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

After using a used XL1 for a few years now I decided I had the money and it was time for a new workhorse camcorder. It couldn't be anything other then a Canon again. Ive been using it in parties and every day shoots and preparing for a trip to the Galapagos where i will test it to the extreme. If you dont want to spend a whole lot of money in a hard case underwater housing get the Ewa Marine VXF-3 flexible housing for underwater use and it fits the camera perfectly. Its even for diving and they also have it here at bhphoto. The camcorder's picture is extremely sharp. The audio with the built-in microphone is very good. I think it was better with the XL1 with the bigger microphone and wind protection though I haven't had time to analize the audio bit by bit one against the other one. I bought the Evolution wireless G3 model SEEW100EN3B (also here at bhphoto) which has a transmitter/receiver set for a lap mic and the extra transmitter for an xlr input microphone and works great and better for interviews if you add it in the second audio channel. Although for everyday use the included mic is perfect, I will get a better microphone with wind protection later. The included battery gives you around two to three hours depending if you use a lot of controls, the eyepiece or the screen. The latter hides perfectly when not in use and has great image quality. I got the Compact flash Sandisk Extreme 32 GB 60Mb/s first and then Money per GB I got a better deal on Trascend UDMA7 64GB 600x Compact flash. I already tested both and they work on the XF300. When it comes to downloading the images from the camcorder I use Canons XF Utility (included or downloadable) I got the hang of it and it works better and easier than Adobe bridge because you only see the clips and not all the other files. You can preview them before downloading and a good trick is to select the images click edit and export to mxf there you append all the clips from one day and save them to a folder with the date very easily. For editing I am using Adobe premiere pro production premium CS5.5. It reads the MXF files directly with NO PROBLEMS! I cant say anything about other programs as i have not used them. I had premiere CS4 before and it did not have the presets for 50 Mbits recording. on the new CS5.5 version the MXF formats read directly into the video sequence. In terms of size I think that for what the camcorder does it can barely get any lighter. It will toll on you if you carry it for a long time on one single spot, specially if you are trying to get a long interview standing without(obviously) a tripod. The main reason is that IT HAS NO SHOULDER SUPPORT like the canon xl1. Which is my only CON. There are aftermarket solutions for this though it will add to the "required's list". The stabilization works better than the xl1 and handles the camera shake really good on a tired hand if you dont have the tripod. Menus are easy to understand even without a manual( that i haven't read as allways) Overall I congratulate the Canon Team for creating a great product. I am and will be a loyal customer as long as you keep bringing great products. By the way I am NOT an employee of Canon or any of the other copyrighted brands included in the review, just an amateur camera and camcorder aficionado.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Been using two other major pro cameras for seven years and nothing I have used touches the Canon xf300. Makes me feel like I have finally joined the major leagues. The buttons are not only in the right place but Canon has given me plenty of choices for assigning buttons to suit my style of shooting for different kinds of situations. And one of my favorites that never changes is the assigned button: Delete Last Clip. That helps keep clutter off the card and makes for more usuable space. The picture quality is on the money. I have had very little to do in post in the way of color correction. Set it right in the camera and you will have a close to perfect, professional qualtiy output. And wait until you do your green screen shots. Thats when you will really appreciate whats under the hood of this baby with its 50Mbps and 4:2:2cbr. This machine has made my life as a shooter easier. The professional methods it includes from getting correct focus with peaking, etc., to very smooth rocker zooms and of course shooting to the over-under CF cards with no break in coverage and being able to set and keep custom settings on SD cards for other times but similiar situations just makes for a smoother easier shoots. So, for me, its an ideal tool for what I do, and why I say, "XF300 where have you been all my life!"

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Great camera straight out of the box can't wait to clear up some editing so I can play with it!

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

Good quality finishing, massive lens, nothing compared to "leicas", "zeiss" or other standard lends found in the same category camcorders. You can not use both rocker and manual lens at the same time, there is a switch to select rocker or manual.

The menu is intuitive and compact, character type is modern and nice, fast settings no usual time wasting. Someone said audio xlr conectors are flimsy maybe because of the plastic covering this part of the unit, but are strong and solid neutrik connectors dont expect them to fail.

The battery place has a strangely well created door, when you open it, seems like a lunching platform. insert batt, close door. You start to see how good this camera was conceived. Big batt gave perfect balance, but XF300 is not small nor light camcorder.

CF cards doors disable cards when opening but there is still necessary to push the stick to take cards off. Nice feature.

The camcorder is long and heighty because the eye viewfinder in the rear protrudes enough to give some trouble in small bags. The external mic holder is also taking some centimeters height. take in count when selecting your bag, mine is a Petrol PC300 and the XF300 fits too tight there because of the Lens cup, ext mic holder, so i had to remove those to be confident.

Image Quality amazing sharpness and detail to extreme. FCP 7 can take files to Prores or Prores HQ (install plugin from CD or find it in canon europe) and native format (have to install XDcam ex plugin from sony for Ex series, which is the same native format of the camcorder) this way prores uses x 5 the original size, native uses x1 size but native is mpeg2, both codecs same good Quality.

1/3 Cmos gave a little less light than a EX1, nothing to worry as i purchased a small light gun. Strange that selecting both internal mic wont allow to control separated channels just one dial for both in this way.

Lens hood is old styled and lens cover is easy to loose, Canon shoud learn this from Sony. Should have provided a better cap, would have been a femme fatale.

There are many assignable buttons but i would like more. There are also a lot of external buttons. The cam is a step forward in helping your workflow. Easy to review last clip and delete, no menu need, save valuable time. Fully customizable settings. Good Vectorscope and Waveform there are enough modes to work. Image stabilizer is top and is a feature to be used much more, same with face detection focusing. Using the utility software you can save original clips as back up in computer deleting non used ones and keeping just selected clips, no need to save the whole card.

Is a must to keep eye viewfinder glass away from direct sunlight use always the provided cover. LCD screen is hugest and hi res, simply best among any other.

I had a lot of time comparing to other brands in same category, but now i can say i have bough a unit that is a step ahead in technology. The right choice. This Camcorder is kinda jewel. Wont give 5 stars just because the lack of removable lens.

Comments about Canon XF300 Professional Camcorder:

After years of waiting for the right camera to officially take my business to tapeless HD, I finally pulled the trigger on the XF300. This camera replaces my overused and outdated XL2. (I've been playing with tapeless HD workflow with a Canon Vixia and a Sony A33, but the XF300 marks a complete shift in this direction).

Switching from my XL2 to the XF300 wasn't all that difficult. I shot my first paid project with it not 5-days after unpacking it. It's definitely going to take a little more time to get fluid with all the settings and being able to make manual adjustments on the fly, but Canon's layout has always made sense to me, so I'm not worried about it.

The picture quality is to be expected... really nice, even with the shipped settings. The lens is beautiful, although i do wish it were interchangeable like the XL cams were. Manual controls are easy to figure out and seem well designed. I do wish, however, that AE shift was NOT a menu setting, but a dial as on the XL cams.

The camera is not small, but neither is it uncomfortably large. Its close enough to the XL2 for me to feel right at home carrying it around. I even felt comfortable enough to take it over the ocean on a raft on its first shoot.

Ergonomics are nice. A little front heavy and not made for long interval handheld shooting. Placement of LCD, XLR ins, zooms, and various buttons all work for me. Manual audio level control dials are a little small and sometimes difficult to make small adjustments. I'm getting faster at navigating menu settings and think that the menu structure is pretty well laid out.

32GB Sandisk Extreme cards have worked well so far. In-camera playback is nice and easy to navigate. AMA linking in Avid MC is pretty easy and very quick in terms of accessing/editing MXF files. I'm still playing with the ideal workflow for my setup, but MXF files are much nicer to work with than AVCHD files.

The camera makes a pretty loud internal sound on start up. It had me worried, so I called Canon and they pulled one off the shelf while I was on the phone and fired it up and I could hear it make the same loud motor sound, so don't freak out when you first hear it.

Is it worth the price? If it lasts as long and produces as much content for me as my XL2 did, then it should pay for itself many, many times over the next few years. To me, that's a good investment!

Time will tell.

I'd give it 4.5 stars if that were an option. Can't give it 5, simply because it's not quite perfect by my book (but it comes pretty close for what my needs are).