For just over a year I have lived with the Panasonic AF101 then the Sony FS100, both cameras for around six months each. As a technical person the bug bear with both the Panasonic and the Sony was the lack of accurate aperture.

The Panasonic AF101 was my first step down the large sensor road and at the time I loved the camera but the lack of resolution (800 lines) and mish mosh of lenses made me rethink my ideas when the Sony F3 became available.

I used the Sony F3 along side the AF101 during an NHS job and the resolution was night and day not to mention the low light capabilities of the F3, when the Sony FS100 came along I was not so keen as the lack of ND was appalling and a technical nightmare.

The resolution and stunning pictures persuaded me to jump ship to the Sony FS100 and you get to work around the ND, firstly with resin filters then when they became more commercially available the costly vari-fader ND filters.

I was now totally committed to using Nikon glass but that fatal decision taken by Mr Nikon all those years ago to have the lens focus anti clockwise is fine when used as a photographic tool but a total mess when used manually with a large sensor camera.

ENG camera men and women are programmed to pull focus clockwise from an early age and if you dare to go against the grain you start loosing good shots and more importantly cocking up interviews as you automatically pull focus the wrong way with Nikon glass.

The Canon C300 ticks all my boxes, a large range of Canon EF glass that focuses clockwise, 50Mb/s, 4:2:2, 720 50p, Super 35mm low noise sensor, three ND filters and uses relatively low cost CF cards.

No other camera on the large sensor market comes close to the Canon C300 for choice of quality dedicated glass that does not need an adapter or a bolt on recorder just to attain 50Mb/s.

Thats the C300s magical ingredient and why both Sony and Panasonic will find  it hard to compete, Nikon glass is very sharp but the anti-clockwise focusing is a major turn off as is a camera dedicated to PL glass unless you can afford the £4K per lens asking price.

Canon have nailed it with the C300 EF camera and no matter what Sony or Panasonic produce they will always be fighting against the dedicated EF mount   seen on the C300…a very powerful and clever move by Canon.

Alister Chapman “But you do forget about the EF lens Achilles heel which is the way the iris steps in small increments as opposed to smooth iris step less iris control that you can get with a Nikon lens or PL lens. So no exposure changes mid shot with an EF lens”

Give me a Canon EF lens every time, Nikon on an adapter plus focusing anticlockwise is a non starter and if you are willing to pay £4K for a PL lens you would expect it to have a manual iris.