Pro video blog…Produced by Philip Johnston DoP/Editor

Whilst listening to an interview Dan Chung (Right) asks the Canon rep Mark Burnhill, why the new Canon 1DX has a limited HDMI output and Marks reply is very interesting.

Dan “Why is that” in reference to a non clean output from the HDMI.

Mark…Has a large hesitation…”I think the video guys are kind of still in discussion in Canon about a conflict between the EOS and the video market…”

In other words this EOS 1DX has been deliberatly tamed down in order to make way for a video version due to be released to the world on the 3rd of November 2011.

This makes sence as Canon cannot afford for it’s photographic side of the business to interfere with the Pro Video side and it’s very refreshing that the Pro Video side still have some clout.

As sexy as the 1DX is and from all accounts very clean in low light to deliberately reduce it’s video specifications after adding a ton of new video features is a tad strange unless you are guarding a new video product further down your timeline which is the most reasonable explanation.

I have also got to add here that if you are contemplating buying this DSLR for video use at £5600 it is now dearer than the Panasonic AF101 and the Sony FS100 which are far superior large sensor camcorders for SDoF video work.

You can see Dans interview here…

 

http://vimeo.com/31175496

author

Having been working in the video business since 1988 I have amassed a great amount of knowledge of both the kit and production values over the last 30 years.

5 thoughts on “Canon 1DX “tamed down” by Canon Pro Video ?

  1. I’ve got mixed feelings about the 1DX for both photo and video and this is the “flagship model.”
    On the video side:
    No headphone jack and most definitely still an H.264 4:2:0 codec. HDMI as you’ve mentioned is not clean. There are some improvements over previous models. Reduced aliasing, moire and rolling shutter as well as (with 3 dedicated processors) no overheating and a longer run time. However all of that just brings us to where we should have been 18 months ago. Interesting that with DSLR’s it used to be a megapixel race – now it’s changed to a low-light race.
    On the photo side: Improved burst rate and hopefully in practice improved autofocus. Pity though that they still think we need a diamond shaped focus zone. What about the rule of thirds?
    Overall, I can see this model ageing very quickly. There are big hopes out there for a ball-tearing 5DMKIII but I’m not holding my breath. Instead I’m looking forward to November 3rd.

  2. That’s really always been my primary complaint with Canon – they are always crippling their gear to protect price points. The popularity of hacked firmware for their cameras prove that the cameras are capable of being more fully featured, Canon just chooses to lock them down.

    That said, I remain puzzled by those who expect Canon’s 11/3 announcement to be of interest to the consumer / prosumer world. All the hype indicates the announcement will be a new Hollywood production camera, something to compete with Epic, Alexa, and F65. I’ll be very suprised if what they announce costs much less than $100,000.

    But my crystal ball has been wrong plenty of times before.

    PS: One minor typo – I think you meant “clearer” rather than “dearer” in the last sentence.

  3. Silly me, just realized “dearer” means “more expensive.”

  4. Idiots. Canon are not competing with Canon they are competing with Nikon, Sony, Panasonic etc.
    Nikon clean hdmi Canon not, so which bit of Canon is going to get my money? The Nikon department is.
    That 300c video camera might be what the video market needs right now but it ain’t what they want. I’d be surprised if it lasts a year in the market and to think Canon crippled (again) a pro camera for that. Idiots.

  5. Keven you are spot on with your comments about how stupid the faceless men in Canon are for deliberately crippling the new breed of DSLR’s because of internal politics.

    The big picture is SALES, not which dept gets them and I fear such a dopey decision not include such simple things as headphone out and clean HDMI or a crop mode may cost Canon many sales as shooter may simply jump ship to Nikon.

    I suspect and hope like crazy, that the reason for the delay’s in the release of the 1DX and hopefully the 5DIII/X is because the Nikon D4 & D800 has clean HDMI & headphone out has FORCED Canon to go back and re-engineer the 1DX & 5DIII ti include headphone jacks and clean HDMI.

    In my view the C300 is way overpriced and should be no more than $9999 USD, realistically $8999, they would sell a bucketload, hell I would buy a C300, 1DX and 5DII and have all jobs covered – Stills/Video for news, sports and pure video for TV work.

    Do any of you agree that maybe Canon are backward engineering the 1DX & 5DII to include headphone & clean HDMI because of Nikon?

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