Some thoughts on the new Canon C300 compared to the RED scarlet and the Sony F3
When the Canon C300 was announced there was a collective sigh of disappointment from legions of Canon EOS shooters, who were probably hoping for a camera under 5000 dollars that fixed up some of the issues they had been having shooting with their EOS cameras for the past couple of years. Maybe all our expectations had got a bit carried away, with rumors flying around about a new camera that shoots 4k at pro res while over cranking etc etc.
There is a lot that is good about the C300. Firstly, it is made by Canon, it therefore will work, will be reliable and have plenty of places that will sell it and its accessories (or take it in to be fixed should anything go wrong). Secondly, if you are already invested in EOS lenses, shoulder rigs, focus units and so on, you can continue to use those tools. Thirdly, it records with Canon XF 50Mbps 4:2:2 MPEG2 codec.
For people that want to upgrade from the Canon EOS range, the next price step up is the FS100 and the AF100 that solve EOS issues (such as audio and short record clip lengths). This is not the bracket Canon are aiming at with the C300. The C300 is priced much higher, and brings it to the same range as the Sony F3 and now the RED Scarlet.
The RED scarlet does have some great credentials on paper - mainly that it shoots RAW 4k footage. However, the biggest problem from my perspective is work flow.
Here is an example of how a conversation might run between me and a production manager with RED.
PM: "Do you have an HD camera we could use to shoot our next production."
Me: "Yeah, I have a RED Scarlet - it shoots 4K"
PM: "What is 4K, is it as good as 1080?
Me: "4k is higher res than 1080"
PM: "Oh RED, yeah we used that a year ago and our AVID shit itself, we had to take all the footage to a facilities house in Soho and it cost a million quid and took a year longer than expected."
Here is the same conversation with the Canon C300
PM: "Do you have an HD camera we could use to shoot our next production."
Me: "Yeah I have the Canon C300"
PM "Is it like the 5D Mark ii?"
Me: "Yes, it shoots on the same CF cards, but is has audio and you can record long clips and you don't have to convert the footage before editing."
PM "you're hired."
This may be a touch oversimplified, but you know what I am getting at. So the next consideration is The Sony F3. Sony is such an established name in the broadcast industry it doesn't need much introduction. People are used to using SxS cards and they seem to be very solid. The only real issue I have with the Sony F3 is the fact that it records at 35MBPS unless you go out of the camera to a nano flash. This puts it out of the considered range of "HD" by many broadcasters. The Canon C300 records at 50MBps in camera.
All in all I think the Canon C300 is a very interesting offering, however, with the price point being close to the F3, I am not going to be ordering one immediately. The next thing to look out for is how Sony will respond, perhaps an upgrade to the F3 so it can shoot 50MBPS?