Around 9pm tonight we will be getting the first pictures of the new Canon large sensor camcorder more importantly the first specifications and pricing in fact Chris Hurd from DV Info Net has had an email from Canon…

Why is this news so momentous, so far all we have is teasing from Canon themselves…here is my take on this news.

Canon have been a major player in the DSLR race with the 5D Mk11 being the first camera to have HD video built alongside the photographic part of the camera setting a new benchmark in video/photography.

Until the announcement of the 1DX this year Canon have done little to amend the inherent problems that dog the DSLR from being a truly professional filming tool but even the 1DX has built in flaws that were explained by a Canon rep as being a part of the pro video input in other words “we are just about to launch a large sensor camcorder and would prefer if the 1DX was not a competitor”.

Why is this even newsworthy…Canon have a knack of looking at a marketplace and introducing camcorders that don’t need add on’s to make them broadcast friendly. They also want people to buy lots of Canon glass as they have had the best two years of all time because of the DSLR phase.

Canon also recognise that cameramen/women do not care for expensive add on’s like NanoFlashes etc in order to “make the grade” with the likes of the BBC etc thats why Sony missed the boat big time with the PMW-F3 making it 35Mbs claiming to speak to the “right people” when they clearly got it so wrong.

Thats why this Canon announcement is so important, professionals may at last have a large sensor camcorder that will be fit for purpose straight out of the box and the other most important point is the EF lens.

The Canon community have been waiting for an electronic solution for almost a year without success or delivery for the Panasonic and Sony large sensor camcorders, MTF are bringing out 3 adapters later in November for the AF101, FS100 and PMW-F3 but only to control the iris.

Many users have been disappointed with 8bit 4:2:0 processing which can cause banding in certain circumstances, I predict the Canon will come out of the box with 10bit 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 processing once again giving the competition a major headache.

What about that all important sensor…I think the Super 35mm sensor is just fine on my Sony FS100 but some people are predicting a 4K sensor which would be fantastic as long as you have the choice to still shoot 2K as for the majority of us 2K is as much as we need without a major rethink in the editing department.

My prediction : Firstly we will see a minimum spec camera as follows : 10bit, 4:2:2, CF cards, 50Mbs, EF mount, Super 35mm sensor, HD SDI, Hi Res viewfinder…beyond this we might get a second camera with 4:4:4, 12bit, 100Mbs, PL mount with EF adapter, 4K sensor. Pricing £6500 and £12,000.

This will have Sony and Panasonic in a major panic as they will be forced to show their hand on any new development for a PMW-F5 or an AF201, RED are also announcing Scarlet specs and pricing this evening but if Canon pull out the trump card as I predict then RED will have a lot less customers banging on their doors.

It’s all about “GLASS” the majority of Canon users have Canon glass now remember Canon may not introduce a specific EF mount camcorder but they will have an adapter for EF glass similar to Sony’s LA-EA1 that allows the Alpha lenses to be fully functional with the E mount seen on the FS100.

If Canon have been clever they will have designed their EF adapter to be controlled externally with a pull focus unit…only my thoughts.

You can be sure we will have all the specs and pictures as soon as Canon post them later on today.

The rumours are flying in thick and fast as to what Canon are going to announce tomorrow it seems that we are going to be treated to 2 camcorders a semi Pro version and a Pro version.

Rumours have it that both cameras share the ability to accept the full range of EOS lenses while the Pro version will also accept prime lenses.

We are talking 2-4K in line with a poke at RED and pricing from $15K down to $10K or lower for the semi Pro version all total speculation.

If Canon finally enter the large sensor marketplace I think they will put less effort into making the “prefect” DSLR because it will have a knock on effect on video sales which is why it was interesting that they down graded the recent 1DX DSLR with a non clean HDMI output.

If proof were needed Chris Hurd from DV Info Net is attending the special event, if you take on board that Chris lives in Texas and Hollywood is 1245 miles away it takes one special announcement to get someone to travel a 22 hour journey so you can take it from me this is a big time large sensor camcorder or two from Canon.

Please remember there is also a 7 hour time delay so if the news is not broadcast till 3pm as Chris seems to think it will be 10-11pm in the UK before news filters through.

Why is it taking so long to produce the review of the new Panasonic AF160…Simple…I live in Scotland, the land of the rain. I kid you not this part of the world is like monsoon season at the moment plus I have had some paying work in-between so I am afraid it’s not been easy putting together a review of the AC160.

I found myself filming my local fox this morning a wee soul that lives beside us in some spare land the picture below was taken earlier this year with her new cubs. The AC160 has a fantastic 22x lens and amazingly has a digital zoom that’s worth its weight in gold.

Filming the fox I found myself playing with the digital zoom which just happens to be on USER preset No 2, the downside is that you only seem to be able to toggle from 2, 5, 10 and off which is a pain as 5 and 10x are not as usable as 2x.

This would be a great wild life camcorder as the 2x digital zoom is very usable and at 44x you are getting a cracking very un-digitised picture, the OIS is not as good as the steady shot seen on the likes of the Sony NX70.

Low light is better than I was expecting from a 1/3″ camcorder but I will be doing some further low light testing this week. The weight of the camcorder is very illusive as it looks a lot heavier than it actually is.

Although it seemingly has a variable frame rate I have chosen to record my footage at 720 50p because it does not film at 1080 50p unless you are willing to forgo sound.

I have tried simultaneous recording onto both SDHC cards and I have also used the syncro scan feature with great success, this very useful feature is badly missing from both the Sony FS100 and the NX70.

UPDATE : Shot footage at 9dBs this evening in a dark pub setting and I was very impressed with the footage viewed on a 50″ plasma TV. The phantom power switches are very small and a tad on the fiddly side for my liking.

Unlike the NX70 although this camera has a 2 stop reduction in light from wide to tight, filming outside this evening you were not as aware of that loss of light that is very apparent on the NX70 and the 160 has twice the zoom ratio !

Outside daylight footage is excellent and reviewing the 2x digital zoom is very impressive the 1st camcorder NOT to look digitally enhanced when using a digital zoom. (Note. using 2x only).

Auto focus struggles sometimes in poor lighting conditions…no more than the competition to be fair to the 160.

My friend Alister and I will be compairing the Panasonic AC160 alongside the Sony NX5 this weekend using a Panasonic vision mixer and both camcorders plugged via HD SDI.

I have been informed that the Panasonic AG-AC160 is due to arrive next week and I should get a camera to review soon, the one thing that struck me about the 160 during IBC was the quality of the picture.

Since the AF101 Panasonic have been listening to their end users and producing a cracking range of non shoulder mount camcorders from the 10bit 4:2:2 250 down to the AVCCAM AC-130. We are now being treated to camcorders that are fit for purpose rather than those teetering on the edge of even being semi professional.

The AC160 sits plumb in the middle and is the most sought after at it’s price point of £3000 plus 20% vat and the major fact that it by passes the expensive P2 card system that the 250 uses.

With the 160 you get a lot of camera for your money here are just a few of it’s highlights…

1. AVCHD in PH mode 21 Mbps (VBR)

2. 22x optical zoom lens f1.6-3.2 (35mm conversion = 28mm – 616mm)

3. Synchro scan

4. SDHC (4-32GB) and SDXC cards (48-2TB)

5. Dual system 50 or 59.94 Hz

6. Interval recording

7. Variable frame rate plus over and under cranking

8. Linear PCM 2ch sound or Dolby Digital

9. SDI and HDMI out

10. 2 XLR 3 pin connectors for sound I/P

11. 2 card slots allow simultaneous recording

The 160 is packed with features from the manual aperture 22x lens to the ability to record dual memory cards at the same time all for the sum of £3000 plus vat.

I hope to get one next week and put it through it’s paces including a look at the camcorders low light capabilities.

It would seem logical given that Canon who are supplying the 8 winners with Canon products might just be referring to this contest rather than an expected large sensor camera.

Further info on Ron Howard’s competition : http://canon.thismoment.com/

This is an interesting move by Sony as this DSLR is clearly directed at the video marketplace even although Sony have all angles covered with their VG10, FS100 and the F3.

The A77 DSLR sports a brand new sensor as yet we don’t know if it’s full frame or APS. A 3 million dot OLED LCD that has a swivel function…very useful. FULL HD recording in 60p, 50p, 25p and 24p. Conforms to AVCHD Two, this is a 28mbps rate rather than 24. Thats all the technical info we have at the moment.

UPDATE : According to rumors the A77 is supposed to feature dual BIONZ image processors, a 24MP image sensor, HIGH ISO performance (really high), a quick AutoFocus system with 11 AF points, an electronic OLED viewfinder with a whopping 3 million dot resolution, capabilities for recording full HD (1920 x 1080) video are expected, GPS functionality, and finally built-in USB 3.0 support (USB 3.0 offers up to 10x the performance of USB 2.0, and USB 3.0 is faster than FireWire 800).

Info from Sonyalpharumorsc.com

Before you run out and order the A77, have a read at my next blog (Friday) which involves two Canon D60s and a Sony FS100…this sobering story may save your bacon one day.