GEAR CANONEOS C500MARK II
FULL FRAME CINE EOS
Canon’s new EOS C500 Mark II can be fully rigged up or stripped right back to suit lots of different users
WORDS ADAM DUCKWORTH
W hile the majority of EOS C300Mark II, the Japanese imaging giant took things a step further with a bigger, full-frame camera that’s a do-all machine, thanks to its newmodularity. The brand newMark II version of Canon’s Cinema EOS C500 has the same 5.9K full-frame sensor as the C700FF flagship camera, internal Raw Light recording like the EOS C200, and 4K 4:2:2 10bit XF-AVC recording – all recorded to a pair of affordable and fast CFexpress cards. You can strip it down for lightweight use by removing the viewfinder and screen, or build it up for broadcast or big-screen cinematography with different Canon fans were eagerly waiting for an update to the four-year-old
and Raw recording, there will be no compromise on image quality. The only other two full-frame cameras on the market recording in 6K are the Sony Venice and Panasonic S1H, both of which record in a 4:3 format. This is ideal for anamorphic shooting. However, Canon realised the vast majority of shooters use conventional spherical lenses to deliver 5.9K in a far more useful 17:9 or 16:9 aspect ratio. If you want to use the Canon for anamorphic then you record in 4:3, so you do lose some resolution by cropping the edges of the frame. But the reality is that there is lots of resolution anyway, and 5.9K in widescreen is far more useful. The camera has a newDigic DV7 processor to support 5.9K internal Cinema Raw Light in 12-bit from the
Sony-like extension units. It’s also the first Cinema EOS camera to support electronic image stabilisation and an EFmount that is user-interchangeable inminutes: just unbolt some hex-head screws and you can fit a PLmount. That means the camera will be fully compatible not only with the huge range of PL glass that’s been around for years, but also the new Canon Sumire primes. If you want to bolt on an eye- wateringly expensive Cooke anamorphic lens, you can do that. Or you could revert to the EFmount and use a nifty 50 for a few hundred dollars or pounds, thus achieving an incredibly lightweight solution. The C500Mark II is a camera that can be made to suit pretty much any application, and with a huge sensor
ABOVE With an extension pack, big V-lock battery, servo zoom lens and mic, the new C500 will suit broadcast or live stream professional use
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PRO MOVIEMAKER WINTER 2019
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