Don’t let all those flashy YouTubers or commercial and narrative filmmakers with all their ad dollars and creative projects fool you. The future of the industry is broadcast, baby!
Although many might assume it's a dying form of media, broadcast production isn’t going anywhere soon. And depending on where you’re at in your career, doubling down on creating broadcast-quality or broadcast-ready content can still be very lucrative.
If anyone knows this, it’s Canon. The company's wide array of broadcast-ready camcorders, digital cameras, and other offerings are some of the best in the business for broadcast production.
And today the manufacturer has proved this once again by announcing two major new additions to its broadcast-verse with a new XF605 4K Camcorder and an 8K UHD Portable Zoom lens.
We’ll start with the camcorder because, let’s face it, cameras are just cooler than lenses. Always have been, always will be…
But don’t let this bad boy’s non-interchangeable lenses fool you, this new Canon XF605 is a more-than-capable offering that filmmakers of all types should at least pay attention to.
With a 1-inch CMOS sensor capable of 4K at 60fps (4:2:2 10-bit) recording, solid Dual Pixel autofocus, and a 15x zoom, the XF605 should slot in as a lighter, and perhaps better, alternative to Canon’s XF705.
It'd be great for run-and-gun documentary work, branded content, or just any on-the-run style of corporate, commercial, or even narrative production where you might need to rely less on prime lenses, and more on flexibility.
Here are the full specs and price:
- 1.0-inch CMOS sensor
- 4K/60p/4:2:2/10-bit/HDR video
- High frame rate of up to 120 FPS (Full HD)
- 15x zoom, 3-ring operation
- Canon Log 3 recording
- Dual on-board SD card slots
- Equipped with a new multi-accessory shoe
Price: $4,499.00 (Estimated)
Along with the news of the Canon XF605, Canon also unveiled a new 8K portable zoom lens for all your 8K broadcast cameras that feature a 1.25-inch sensor.
This fast, new lens should be helpful for any ultra-high-resolution production needs like documentary filmmaking and sports videography.
The lens should look great, too, with a fast constant aperture of f/2.8 which holds across the entire zoom range from 16mm all the way to 160mm—with a magnification of 10x.
It'd be a great lens to add to any sophisticated production arsenal, or at least a solid rental option if you need to ramp up for some high-end 8K broadcast-quality projects here or there.
Here are the full specs and price:
- 8K resolution 10×16 KAS S
- Constant aperture of f/2.8
- Zoom range from 16mm to 160mm
- Zoom magnification of 10x
- 16-bit absolute value encoder digital drive unit
For pricing, contact your local Canon rep (available October 2021).
