Canon’s XF305 and XF300 pro camcorders can now shoot in 3D… if you are going to buy two of them

Make no mistake: that whole 3D -everything trend is snaking its way into professional-grade products. Canon has issued a firmware update allowing its year-old XF305 and XF300 pro camcorders to record 3D HD video. There’s a catch, though: you’ll need two of those bad boys, which cost a princely $8,000 and $6,700, respectively. For people with a well-stocked studio, Canon’s “3D Assist Feature” aims to take among the grunt figure out of installation two cameras to record in 3D by optically aligning their lenses and calibrating their zoom settings. The corporate also beefed up the scan reverse feature a good way to flip the orientation of the video to horizontal, vertical or diagonal — a robust likelihood in case you’re using a 3D mirror rig. Canon slipped in a number of extra goodies in addition, including the facility to show off relay recording from one memory card to a different, and to simultaneously record to 2 memory cards, if you happen to be paranoid about data loss. So what are you looking ahead to? Download the update. And, you recognize, get yourself a second camera.

Canon Enhances The XF305 and XF300 Professional Camcorders With New 3D Capabilities
New Firmware Enables 3D HD Video Capture Assist and a bunch of latest Features

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., April 7, 2011 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a frontrunner in digital imaging, today announced significant enhancements to the Canon XF305 and XF300 Professional Camcorders, including the power to configure two units for 3D HD video capture. Canon’s new firmware upgrades the XF300-series camcorders to incorporate Canon’s 3D Assist Function that enables two units to be easily establish for 3D HD video, in addition to an updated Scan Reverse function, Double Slot Recording for instantaneous backup, and the choice to disable Relay Recording. Canon could be demonstrating quite a number professional applications for the Canon XF305 and XF300, including 3D image recording, on the Company’s booth # C4325, on the 2011 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show within the Las Vegas Convention Center, April 11th-14th.

“Our professional imaging equipment continues to present cutting-edge features and capabilities that professionals need within the field and helps open new doorways to endless possibilities for creative expression,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice chairman and general manager, Imaging Technology and Communications Group, Canon U.S.A.

3D Shooting Capability

Canon’s 3D Assist Function facilitates the setup of 2 XF305 or XF300 Professional Camcorders when used together to capture 3D HD video. The recent firmware includes the flexibility to accomplish OIS Lens Shift to assist in optically aligning two XF305 or XF300 camcorders and a Focal Length Guide to display the zoom position of every camera in terms of one another and help calibrate zoom settings. This adjustment might be done during the menu system while the camcorders are mounted to a rig or tripod. Once aligned, the quantity of the attitude-of-view change is displayed after zoom adjustment, preventing camera misalignment and simplifying adjustment. That is resembling the 3D shooting functionality present in the corporate’s XF105 and XF100 model professional camcorders.

Scan Reverse

The brand new firmware updates the Scan Reverse functionality of XF300-series camcorders to permit for recorded images to be flipped at the horizontal axis, vertical axis, or both simultaneously to facilitate recording with 3D mirror rigs.

Double-Slot Recording

This new function allows the camcorders to record footage simultaneously to both card slots for immediate backup of significant footage and files. Ideal to be used in production environments to make sure multiple copies are secured for every take.

Relay Recording On/Off

Relay Recording, an innovative feature where footage is seamlessly recorded to the second one CF card because the first fills up, can now be turned off to avoid capture data from automatically being recorded to the second one card. This permits the second one card to be protected against recording and used only when designated or to permit the user to just copy or back up select takes to the cardboard.

Professional Feature Set

The corporate’s XF300-series camcorders employ Canon’s XF Codec, an MPEG-2 4:2:2 50Mbps codec for native 1920 x 1080 HD video recording onto affordable, universally available Compact Flash (CF) cards. Uniting video, audio and metadata right into a single file, the Canon XF305 and XF300 use an MXF (Material eXchange Format) File Wrapper, a widely supported open-source format, to maximise compatibility with existing industry infrastructure and non-linear editing (NLE) systems.

The Canon XF305 and XF300 Professional Camcorders include a real Canon 18x HD L-series lens, three Canon developed and designed native 1920 x 1080 CMOS image sensors, and Canon’s own XF Codec that delivers the extraordinary color detail required for accurate chroma-keying, color-grading and compositing for digital filmmaking. As well as, Canon’s XF305 model features industry-standard HD-SDI output, genlock, and SMPTE time code (in/out) terminals for multi-camera, broadcasting or 3D production.

Priced under $8,000 and $6,700 per model respectively, the Canon XF305 and XF300 Professional Camcorders are designed for multiple production applications including broadcast news, documentary and independent filmmaking and event videography.