Canon Announces Professional C700 FF Cinema Camera with Full Frame Sensor

Canon has announced the EOS C700 FF. The new variant in the line of cinema cameras has a full-frame sensor. It is a new 17:9 chip with dimensions of 38.1×20.1mm and a resolution of 5952×3140 pixels.

Until now, Canon has equipped its EOS C cameras with Super35mm-sized sensors, similar to the aps-c sensor format of DSLRs. The newly developed sensor for the EOS C700 FF has a different ratio than the full-frame DSLR format of approximately 24x36mm, but a comparable surface area.

The new sensor requires lenses with an image circle comparable to that of a full-frame DSLR. All existing Canon EF lenses that work on full-frame cameras can also be used on the professional cinema camera. Canon claims that the sensor offers more than fifteen stops of dynamic range.

If the camera shoots 4k images, oversampling is applied. The full resolution of 5952×3140 pixels is used and scaled down to a 4k format. That, if processed properly, can produce a sharper image than a native 4k sensor. The EOS C700 FF records in Canon’s proprietary XF-AVC format or Apple ProRes. With an external, optional Codex recorder, it is possible to record images in full 5.9k resolution in RAW, at 60fps.

In the US, Canon is asking $33,000 for the camera. There will be versions with a Canon EF mount or with a PL mount. The EOS C700 FF will be launched in July. Customers of the existing EOS C700 with a smaller sensor will have the option to upgrade their device to the new, larger sensor. What that will cost is not yet known.