Canon has debuted its new EOS C400 cine camera and given a massive boost to its support for the RF mount on cinema cameras.
The new camera model is a powerful device with a 6K full-frame sensor and emerges as the third in Canon’s line of RF-mount cinema cameras. The other two previously released models are the EOS R5C that was launched in 2022 and the EOS C70 launched in 2020.
In the case of the C400 though, its design is more hefty while at the same time being more flexible for attaching accessories and expansion tools. In other words, it’s even more of a serious workhorse cinema camera.
Canon’s C400 is slightly smaller than the brand’s similarly designed C500 II and also enjoys a wealth of connectivity ports and controls.
These include a lens power terminal, ND filter buttons, USB-C ports, a headphone jack, 3G-SDI and 12-SDI out ports, dual mini-XLR inputs, full-size HDMI port, return terminals and a time code sync.
There’s also no shortage of basic screw holes along the camera for piling on things like handles, grips, cages, lighting accessories and other mounts. Essentially, it has all the terminals and screw holes you’d need for serious broadcast work.
For media storage, the EOS C400 comes with a CFexpress Type B card slot and a second UHS-II slot for SD cards. It can record video in RAW to the CFexpress card at the same time as it records proxy video to its SD card.
Canon has basically made the C400 for professional-caliber live production and film production uses and both its design and price reflect this.
Moving onto this robust camera’s internals, we find a full-frame 6K CMOS back-illuminated, stacked image sensor that’s entirely new for Canon.
This beast of a sensor offers triple-base ISO ratings of 800, 3,200 and 12,800 and Canon promises superior noise handling along with improved dynamic range, even in low light.
Canon also claims that the sensor delivers 16 stops of dynamic range when used in optimal settings.
Dual Pixel AF II support is another winning aspect of this 6K sensor. Because of its back-lit design, Canon was able to implement wiring that improves the sensor’s ability to capture light.
Aside from allowing better low-light performance, this also lets the sensor autofocus more precisely across all of its breadth and height.
Another useful feature of the C400’s sensor is that it can record exceptionally good 4K video by being able to oversample from the full size of its native 6K resolution.
And speaking of the C400’s recording chops, it can shoot 6K full-frame video at up to 60fps in 12-bit Cinema RAW Light while also being able to shoot even faster if the sensor’s resolution mode is adjusted.
Also worth noting is the obvious point that this camera enjoys support from a very broad range of Canon RF lenses.
4K video in the C400 is available at up to 120p and 2K RAW footage can be shot at 180 frames per second.
Other recording options in Canon’s new cinema camera include Canon’s own XF-AVC codec, for shooting in 10-bit 4:2:2 with oversampling at up to 120p.
With this above codec being a Canon creation, it’s widely supported by many video editing platforms and in any case Canon will be adding in other codecs: XF-AVC and XF-HEVC S.
Overall, this newest Canon EOS cinema camera for the RF-mount is robust enough for seriously professional broadcast productions and live video while also being good for handling full virtual workflows.
Canon designed the EOS C400 to offer frame-by-frame metadata in real-time and 180-degree VR shooting too if used with one of Canon’s RF 5.2mm f/2.8 L dual fisheye lenses.
Considering its status as a full-blown cinematic production camera, the EOS C400 is also very reasonably priced at $7,999 with a redesigned top handle and detachable LCD monitor included.
This is about the same as the cost of some full-frame mirrorless photo cameras. Not bad on the whole.
