Canon Announces New Cine and Broadcast Products

Canon is making a huge splash in the cine and broadcast worlds, most notably with the updated XA75, XA70, XA65, and XA60 professional camcorders, which feature new recording modes, enhanced usability, and improved EVFs and LCDs, while retaining the proven imaging specs and UHD 4K recording of their predecessors. Canon is also launching a VIXIA HF G70 compact camcorder; the CINE-SERVO 15-120mm T2.95-3.95 EF/PL-mount cinema lens; the EU-V3 Expansion Unit for the C300 Mark II and C500 Mark II cameras; the CR-N700 PTZ camera; and the DP-V2730 27" 4K reference monitor.

XA75, XA70, XA65, and XA60 Camcorders

The quartet of professional camcorder updates—the XA75, XA70, XA65, and XA60—are successors to the XA55, XA50, XA45, and XA40 compact, ENG, and documentary-minded cameras offering UHD 4K recording in an all-in-one form factor. These new cameras keep many of the imaging specs of their predecessors with the upgrades focusing on usability, recording modes, and improved EVFs and LCDs.

Like their predecessor, the XA55, the XA75 and XA70 feature 1" CMOS sensors, support Dual Pixel CMOS AF, and have a built-in 15x optical zoom lens with built-in ND filter and image stabilization. These two new cameras distinguish themselves with the inclusion of a new larger 3.5" touchscreen LCD monitor with 2.76m-dot resolution, which greatly outperforms the 3.0" 460k-dot screen from the previous generation. The EVF has been updated, too, to a larger 0.36" OLED panel with 1.77m-dot resolution for clearer monitoring. Other key updates for these cameras include a refresh for various terminals, including a USB Type-C port; the XA75 gains professional-grade 3G-SDI and XLR terminals for higher-end workflows.

The XA65 and XA60 are the smaller models of the series, featuring 1/2.3" CMOS sensors, along with a similar series of upgrades compared to the XA45 and XA40. The cameras retain the 20x optical zoom lens, built-in image stabilization, and variety of recording modes, but gain the same 3.5" 2.76m-dot LCD and 0.36" 1.77m-dot OLED EVF as the XA75 and XA70. The other key addition to these new cameras is On-Screen Display (OSD) “Time Stamp” Recording, along with the inclusion of USB Type-C ports, and the XA65 also gains an SDI terminal for professional use.

VIXIA HF G70 Camcorder

The second camcorder launch from Canon is the more compact VIXIA HF G70, which succeeds the HF G50 and adds similar updates to what was announced with the professional XA series cameras—this new model incorporates the larger, higher-resolution 3.5" 2.76m-dot touchscreen LCD and 0.36" 1.77m-dot OLED EVF, offers OSD recording, and trades in the Mini Advanced shoe for a USB Type-C port for a single, streamlined power and connectivity port. Besides the updates to usability and design, the HF G70 keeps essentially all of the recording tech from the HF G50, including the 1/2.3" CMOS sensor, UHD 4K recording, and a built-in 20x zoom lens with image stabilization.

CINE-SERVO 15-120mm T2.95-3.95 Lens

In the interchangeable-lens portion of the broadcast and cine world, Canon has announced the impressive CINE-SERVO 15-120mm T2.95-3.95 lens, available in EF and PL mounts. This high-performing wide-to-tele zoom features optimized optics that limit aberrations and flaring, making it suitable for 8K productions, as well as HDR recording, and it offers coverage for Super 35 and full-frame formats. As the widest CINE-SERVO lens, it’s ideal for recording live events from ground level, and a built-in 1.5x Extender offers a bit more reach (22.5-180mm), particularly when using full-frame sensors. Additionally, the lens is designed to offer consistently warm color balance to match other CINE-SERVO lenses and produce pleasing skin tones, and it features an 11-blade iris for natural bokeh quality.

In terms of connectivity, the EF mount of this lens supports full lens communication and metadata recording; the PL mount lens, alternatively, supports Cooke /I Technology and ZEISS eXtended Data communication methods. Both lenses have two 20-pin connectors for remote zoom and focus control, and the PL-mount version has a third 20-pin connector on the drive unit for 16-bit encoded data transmission for use in virtual studios and for VR applications. Additionally, the servo drive unit can be removed to use this 15-120mm lens as a traditional cine lens, and it supports standard 114mm matte boxes and 0.8 and 0.5-pitch follow focus gear fittings.

EU-V3 Expansion Unit

As a related release, Canon is also introducing the EU-V3 Expansion Unit, which is compatible with the C300 Mark II and C500 Mark II cameras and helps ease their integration into live production and studio-recording environments.

Once attached to the camera body, this unit provides a V-mount battery mount for power; a 4-pin XLR input for continuous DC power; supports return video switching via an assignable button or zoom controller (like the ZSD-300D); adds an RJ-45 jack to support Ethernet and XC protocol input; adds 12V output via a 4-pin Hirose interface; and includes a 12-pin interface for lens power.

CR-N700 PTZ Camera

Another release intended for the broadcast, live event, and TV studio market, the CR-N700 is a PTZ camera offering 4K60 10-bit 4:2:2 HDR recording from a 1" CMOS sensor. This professional-grade camera also borrows a variety of features from other Canon cine and photo cameras, such as Dual Pixel CMOS AF, which uses EOS iTR AF X deep learning technology for intelligent, accurate, and fast autofocus performance, along with Touch AF control for making manual focus selections from a remote monitor. For integration in a production environment, the camera also has 12G-SDI and 3G-SDI connectivity, Time Code and GEN-LOCK, HDMI out, and supports SRT and NDI|HX protocols for streaming.

For versatile use, it has a built-in 15x optical zoom lens, which can be doubled to 30x with Advanced digital zoom, and a built-in Crop function enables homing in on regions of interest and outputting this cropped section as a second or third FHD signal.

DP-V2730 27" 4K Reference Monitor

Finally, perfect for reviewing and monitoring all of the footage recorded from today’s new cameras, Canon is also releasing the DP-V2730 Reference Monitor. This 27" UHD 4K monitor offers 1000 cd/m² peak brightness and supports a range of HDR monitoring tools, such as Waveform, histograms, and range checking, to evaluate content from a variety of sources. A series of connector types suit different production types, including an HDMI input and 12G-SDI terminals (4 inputs and 5 outputs), which is capable of delivering 4K60 4:2:2 10-bit or 4K30 4:4:4 12-bit signals. UHD 4K content can also be viewed in either Dual or Quad array form from either SDI or HDMI signals, along with individual picture profiles and user LUTs. Additionally, the DP-V2730 can be linked to a computer, tablet, or smartphone for control via the Remote Control Web user-interface for touch-based control and remote monitoring.

With all of Canon’s new releases, which one catches your eye? What are your thoughts on Canon's updates to its broadcast and professional ENG/documentary lines? Post your impressions in the Comments section, below.