New CMOS Fights Moirà©, Records Across Multiple 4 GB Files, Shoots 18 MP RAW at 12 FPS

Canon's new EOS-1D X digital SLR is built for still photographers, but the company has made key improvements to address HD video quality, including a new CMOS sensor with more light sensitivity and less susceptibility to moirà©. It's more edit-friendly, too, giving shooters the option to record files using intraframe compression, rather than the trickier IPB system, and offering timecode for syncing cameras or audio. It may not be Canon's best offering for filmmakers in 2012 – the company is already slated to make a big announcement at Paramount in Hollywood on November 3, and just opened a new tech-support and training center on Sunset Boulevard – but at $6800 it will likely find some takers among cinematographers. It's due in March.
Shooters were drawn to Canon’s DSLR line-up in the first place because of the breathtaking footage it could capture in skilled hands, and a new imaging sensor that Canon says has lower noise than any EOS camera to date is at the heart of the EOS-1D X. The 18-megapixel CMOS has gapless microlenses and larger pixels to gather more light, improving efficiency. Canon offers standard ISO settings ranging from 100 to 51,200, then extends that on both ends – there’s an ISO 50 setting for studio and landscape work as well as 102,400 and 204,800 settings that it says are usable for law enforcement and other field applications.

Video shooters can choose either intraframe or interframe compression options as well as SMPTE-compliant Rec Run and Free Run timecode to sync multiple cameras or sound-recording equipment. The camera also has manual audio-level controls.

Canon has obviously heard the complaints about moirà©, and promises less of that this time around. Happily, there’s no more 4 GB barrier; you can now record a continuous scene of almost 30 minutes in length across multiple 4 GB files that reconnect in post with no dropped frames. (The camera has dual CF card slots.) Available frame rates are 1080/24p, /25p, and /30p (29.97), and 720/50p and /60p. It also does SD in NTSC or PAL flavors.

For stills shooting, the camera has a revamped autofocus system, including new iTR options to track recognized faces and keep them in focus during a shoot – a neat trick if you’re shooting st speeds of up to 12 RAW still images a second. (You can get that up to 14 fps if you’re willing to shoot in JPEG mode at ISOs of less than 32000.) It also supports multiple exposures in camera, creating a single composite image on the fly, a feature that could be handy and save some Photoshop time.

For more details, take a look at Canon’s press release on the new camera.