On the eve of its Canon Expo event at Javits Center in New York, Canon announced two new camcorders, the XF105 and XF100, that it said would allow for "easy" 3D video capture when paired on a 3D rig. Both cameras also have infrared image-capture built in for shooting in the dark. The as-yet-unpriced camcorders, which use the company's XF codec for HD image capture at up to 50 Mbps, are set to ship in early 2011.

Describing the newly unveiled camcorders as its smallest pro models – they weigh less than three pounds each – Canon said they would be targeted at news and documentary shooters, independent filmmakers, and event videographers, and sweetened the deal by building in features to assist stereo 3D shooters. “With true stereoscopic 3D production and infrared recording capabilities, they allow users to expand into new markets,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, executive VP and general manager of Canon USA’s consumer imaging group, in a prepared statement.

The difference between the two models is HD-SDI output and genlock and timecode support – those features will be available on the XF105 but not the XF100. Both cameras will have a Canon 10x zoom lens (with a 35mm-equivalent zoom range of 30.4mm to 304mm) and a 1920×1080 CMOS sensor, and will output footage in an MXF wrapper preserving metadata alongside video and audio. Both models share the same specs for resolution and frame rate, depending on the recording mode.

Mode	Resolution	Frame Rate
50Mbps (CBR*) 4:2:2	1920×1080	60i/30p/24p
	1280×720	60p/30p/24p
35Mbps (VBR**) 4:2:0	1920×1080	60i/30p/24p
	1280×720	60p/30p/24p
25Mbps (CBR) 4:2:0	1440×1080	60i/30p/24p
* Continuous Bit Rate ** Variable bit rate

Canon  XF105 camcorder

Other features of the new cameras include a rotating 3.5-inch, 920,000-dot LCD monitor, which can show a waveform monitor – as well as peaking, edge-monitor focus, and image magnification to assist with focusing – and a .24-inch 260,000-dot electronic viewfinder with “approximately 100 percent field of coverage.”

In a 3D shooting environment, the cameras offer a lens-shift feature to aid in optically aligning two camcorders and a “focal length guide” for calibrating zoom distances and preventing misalignments between the two camera lenses. The infrared-shooting feature has obvious appeal in military and law-enforcement applications, but is also aimed at nature and wildlife filmmakers, Canon said.

Canon XF100 camcorder

Both models sport dual XLR audio inputs as well as a built-in stereo microphone, and record 16-bit PCM audio at 48 kHz with level adjustments switchable between manual and automatic.

Bigger, Stronger, Faster CMOS

In other image-acquisition news, Canon said it had developed what it called the world’s largest CMOS sensor, measuring 202mm by 205mm. The super-sized sensor would need only one one-hundredth of the light required by a standard pro DSLR camera to take a picture – specifically, that means it could capture 60fps video under just 0.3 lux of illumination. The sensor could be used to capture images of stars in the nighttime sky, or of the habits of animals after dark, Canon said, without offering hints of when or how products using the chip might arrive.

For more information: www.usa.canon.com.