GEAR CAMCORDER COMPARISON
when it will work perfectly and when you need to switch tomanual focus. On both the Canon and Sony, the lens only has one control ring rather than the traditional triple rings. But using the ring for manual focusing is not as bad as youmight think, despite it being a fly-by-wire electronic control rather than a manually-geared connection. And on the Canon, there is a very nifty display icon that shows you which way to turn the ring to get the image sharp, which is really useful. Even if you’re a manual-only sort of filmmaker, this kind of focus confirmation is very nice. On the Sony manual focusing is a bit more tricky, but still better than you’d expect. The camera has focus peaking to help, which is needed. Like the Canon, the Sony works very well when used in autofocus. There are 273 phase-detect points that cover 84 per cent of the image area, and like the Canon there are lots of settings you can adjust to taste, such as AF speed and sensitivity. Sony’s touch-to-focus is good, too, as well as lock-on AF that tracks your subject, and face detection that works incredibly well. You can alsomove the position of the AF point and change its size. In use, there’s nothing really to split the performance of both systems. Both work surprisingly well but require a bit of a learning curve to get the best from them. Any buyer would be happy with either. In terms of the lenses, the Canon and the Zeiss-branded optic on the Sony are similar, with both having a f/2.8 aperture at the wide end while losing a stop and a half at the
SPECIFICATIONS CANON XF405 Price: £3186/$3499 Sensor size: 1.0-type CMOS, 13.4megapixels Formats: 3840x2160 (UHD) at 24/25/30/50/60p, 150Mbps; 1920x1080 (HD) at 24/25/30/50/60p, 35Mbps Codecs: MPEG-4 Maximumframe rates: 50/ 60fps 4K, up 120fps 1080HD Dynamic range: 12 stops Shutter speed: 1/2-1/2000th sec Gain: 0-39dB Lens: 25.5-382.5mm equivalent, f/2.8-4.5 Stabilisation: Electronic Image Stabilisation and lens shift Filters: 2/4/6 stopND, Screen: 8.9cm/3.5in LCD touchscreen, 1.56million dots Audio: 2x XLR inputs Output: 3G SDI, HDMI Storage: 2 x SD/ SDHC/ SDXC slots Connectivity: 2.4GHxWiFI Dimensions (wxhxd): 150x216x267mm/ 5.9x8.5x10.5in (with lens hood, handle and battery) Weight: 1.67kg/3.7lbwith lens hood, handle and battery
longer end. The Canon has a wider optical zoom range with 15x zoom, while the Sony is 12x. This really shows up in the wider end where the Canon goes wider, whichmeans you can get more in at closer distances – vital in packed rooms or tight locations. Canon’s zoom is virtually parfocal, and the image stabilisation is built into the lens as well as a second system in the camera body. The images are sharp and contrasty, and flare is very well controlled. No complaints at all. Sony’s Zeiss lens may not have the optical range but is also a similarly stunning performer, with good sharpness right across the frame. Again, you won’t be disappointed with the performance of either, but the wider viewpoint of the Canon is a nice bonus. And if you want more reach, the Canon and Sony have digital zooms that work well. Both cameras come with decent lens shades, too. The larger sensor size means that it’s easier to get a shallow depth- of-field effect than on small-sensor camcorders, but it’s still only a 1.0-type sensor with relatively slow lenses. Shoot wide open at telephoto settings on a subject fairly close to the camera, with the background quite far away, and you can get a nice shallow depth-of-field. However, the laws of physics mean you’re never going to get the wafer-thin depth-of-field and creamy bokeh of a Super35 sensor with an f/1.4 tele lens from a camcorder packing a sensor that’s half the width on an f/4.5 lens. The Canon lens includes vibration reduction, which works in conjunction with the camera’s sensor-based image stabilisation. The XF405 has three different sorts of image stabilisation: Powered IS, standard and dynamic. Standard is a great do-all system, dynamic is for moving subjects and Powered IS tries to emulate putting the camera
ABOVE AND BELOW The Canon’s AF system is superb, and there’s an AF/MF button right on the side of the screen for fast use. The battery is small but lasts well.
More information
www.canon.com
on a tripod. This is good, but is prone to the occasional sudden slight jerk in the footage as it reaches its limits. Sony’s stabilisationmay not seem as advanced, but in normal use both Canon and Sony work very well. The Canon, with its two servomotors in the lens, wins out over the Sony in terms of range and stabilisation. In terms of handling, both cameras are very similar. The Sony is smaller and has some handling quirks, such as the menu button being on the left side of the body near the screen, but the joypad to change settings is on the right side where you would naturally use your thumb. So, it’s a fiddly
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