GEAR CANONEOS C70
“The image quality is excellent right across the range of settings, with the natural colour that Canon is famous for”
function, the audio is recorded and stored as a separate file for you to use in post if you want to. One day, all cameras will offer this. The Dual Gain Output (DGO) sensor works at all ISO levels to give a boost in quality at all ISO settings, and is ideal for HDR. Each pixel is read out with two different gain levels – one high for control of noise in shadow areas and one low for better saturation and detail in brighter areas. These signals are electronically combined to make a single image. It doesn’t work in cropped 4K above 60p though, although it does on 2K Super 16 crop up to 180fps. When using DGO, the result is a very high dynamic range of up to 16+ stops when using C-Log2. There is also C-Log3, plus HDR in PQ and HLG. And for standard colour profiles, Wide DR maximises dynamic range for a faster workflow. There are built in LUTs and you can upload your own, too. The image quality is excellent right across the range of settings, with the natural colour that Canon is famous for. As you’d expect,
shooting All-Intra in 4:2:2 10-bit 4K, using C-Log2, gives a huge dynamic range and depth of colour that are very easy to play with in post. With files of this quality, few would ever feel the need for Raw files. Canon claims the reason the camera doesn’t shoot Raw Light internally is because of the limitations of using twin SD cards. Drop to 4K/60p in 4:2:2 10- bit Long GOP and you’d be hard pressed to notice any degradation in image quality, unless you really are a pixel-peeper. As you drop to lower settings, in terms of bit rate and resolution, there is a small drop in quality but even the HD is very, very good. There are certainly no complaints over image quality, with rolling shutter well controlled, too. Things start to fall apart slightly with rolling shutter effects when doing high-speed whip pans, and when the ISO starts to creep up really high. Low light is where cameras with full-frame sensors really come into their own. At high ISO settings that professionals actually regularly use, up to around 12,800, then the noise is there in
shadows, but can be reduced in post. Of course, a Super 35 sensor means the angle of view is different to a full-frame camera using the same focal length lens, so to get the same shallow depth-of-field, you’d need to use a faster lens, which means the AF is more critical than ever. Canon has that covered, as the C70 is the first Cinema EOS camera to use the EOS iTR AF X Intelligent Tracking and Recognition autofocus system seen in the EOS-1D X Mark III. This uses a face and head detection deep-learning technology and works in conjunction with face detection AF. This is to improve the reliability of focusing and subject tracking. This all sounds great, but the AF only covers 80% of the screen and isn’t the new Version II of the Dual Pixel AF technology as found in the EOS R5, which covers pretty much 100% of the screen. Despite this, the AF is among the best fitted to any video camera
ABOVE The screen folds out to reveal the audio controls, which have proper dials to select levels
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