Canon unveiled at the 2012 NAB Show two digital cinematography cameras as part of its new Cinema EOS System of professional cinematography products.
Designated as the Cinema EOS C500 for use with EF-mount lenses, and the Cinema EOS C500 PL for use with PL-mount lenses, the cameras are capable of originating 4K (4096 x 2160-pixel) resolution digital motion imagery with uncompressed RAW output for external recording.
The Cinema EOS C500/C500 PL digital cinematography cameras not only support 4K-resolution video but also output this as a 10-bit uncompressed RAW data stream with no de-Bayering.
The cameras offer the additional versatility of being able to output quad full-HD (3840 x 2160), 2K (2048 x 1080), full HD (1920 x 1080) and other imaging options. All of these digital image source formats fully conform to established SMPTE production standards. All 4K formats can be selected to operate from 1fps to 60fps. The cameras employ a 12-bit RGB 4:4:4 signal format during 2K output, which can be selected to operate from 1fps to 60fps as well. If switched to a 10-bit YCrCb 4:2:2 mode, the camera can operate up to 120fps.
The Cinema EOS C500 simultaneously records in-camera a 50Mb/s HD proxy video to a CF card that is immediately available to support offline editing. Equipped with a newly developed Super 35mm-equivalent approximately 8.85-megapixel CMOS sensor, the cameras are compatible with Canon’s wide range of interchangeable EF Cinema and PL-mount lenses and EF lenses for Canon SLR cameras.
