03 Feb 2010, Posted by David Torcivia in Articles,Filmmaking,General, 0 Comments

Something Cooking at Canon

On Friday, February 5th at 3:30 PM PST, Canon will be introducing a new tapeless camera at the Ninth Annual San Francisco SuperMeet. This forthcoming announcement coincides with yesterday’s press release of a new codec: MPEG-2 50Mbps 4:2:2 (warning PDF).

The official quote reads:

“…the first US public announcement that they are going to introduce a new Canon MPEG-2 codec and workflow to the industry at the San Francisco SuperMeet. They are also going to have the first US public preview of their new tapeless HD video camera.”

Details are sketchy but the hope is that this new tapeless HD cam will be the often discussed and much wanted replacement to the XH-A1 complete with APS-C sensor (as found in the 7D) and an interchangeable, DSLR lens mount. If priced competitively, this cam could keep Canon competitive with the imminent release of the RED Scarlet line. It is possible, and unfortunately knowing Canon perhaps likely, that this is simply a tapeless refresh of the current XH line, a move that would seal the success of Scarlet as the only viable, affordable large sensor camera system on the market – at least until the Canon DSLR line updates.

So what will Canon give us, the revolutionary competition to an equally incredible forthcoming system, or more of the same old equipment that has been the hallmark of the Canon video line? Both are questions that will be answered on Friday.