Canon has announced the EOS C500 Mark II, a $16,000 full-frame cinema camera with a 5.9K CMOS image sensor similar to the one found in the company’s C700 FF. The C500 Mark II will come standard with an EF lens mount, but it will be user-switchable to PL mount, the company said. Further, it’s modular, with expansion options that add connectivity and functionality to the camera’s back end.
Canon EOS C500 Mark II
Canon USA
Shooting modes include Super 35mm and Super 16mm crops along with the option to oversample the full-frame image. The C500 Mark II records 5.9K and 4K (cropped) at up to 60p and 2K (cropped) at up to 120p internally to dual CFexpress Type B cards in Canon’s Cinema Raw Light (CRL) format. Those cards, which are just beginning to come to market, are required to handle the data rate of 5,9K 60p CRL footage, according to Paul Hawxhurst, Canon’s professional market specialist for cinema cameras. A single SD card slot allows proxies to be recorded simultaneously.
The camera can also record 10-bit 4:2:2 4K 60p and 2K 120p to Canon’s proprietary XF-AVC codec. 4K (4096 x 2160) and 2K (2048 x 1080) can be oversampled from 5952 x 3140, Canon said, while UHD 4K (3840 x 2160) and HD (1920 x 1080) can be oversampled at 5580 x 3140.
The sensor itself measures 38.1mm x 20.1mm.
Canon Log 2 and Log 3 are supported, and 12G-SDI output is also provided. Like the C700, Canon claims the C500 Mark II can capture more than 15 stops of latitude, and both PQ and HLG gamma are supported for shooting HDR. User LUTs are supported and, to help get just the right exposure, the C500 Mark II has on-board ND filtering with density settings of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 stops.
Canon EOS C500 Mark II with LCD screen and EVF
Canon USA
The camera body of the C500 Mark II is similar to that of its predecessor, though it’s a closer match to the C200 — just slightly bigger and heavier than that camera, Hawxhurst said. In fact, the camera has been designed to match lens height with the C700 as well as the C200, which is good news for anyone with a collection of accessories for those models. The camera body weighs about 3.8 pounds, Hawxhurst said.
Expansion Options
The design departure comes in the availability of expansion units for the camera, sold separately. For example, the EVF-V70 OLED viewfinder ($700) is an optional accessory. The C500 Mark II will ship with a newly designed 4.3-inch LCD touchscreen monitor — it’s similar to the one found on the C200, but a little larger, and enables touch activation for dual-pixel autofocus — but it does not come with a traditional viewfinder.
Canon C500 Mark II with EU-V1 expansion unit in place on back panel, above battery
Canon
The EU-V1 ($600) takes up a little more than half of the rear end, still leaving room for the battery to be plugged in underneath it (the camera ships with a BPA60), and it adds an Ethernet terminal, an RS 422 port, and genlock output to the camera back.
To really soup up the C500 Mark II, though, you’ll probably be looking at that box’s big brother, the EU-V2, which takes up the entire back of the camera — requiring the use of a V-mount battery — but brings two additional XLR inputs to the party (for a total of four) along with 12V P-tap output, 24V three-pin Fischer output, and a 12-pin Hirose terminal for ENG-style lenses, plus Ethernet, RS 422 and genlock. The camera can also be powered over 12V four-pin XLR inputs, Hawxhurst said.
Canon C500 Mark II with EU-V2 expansion unit and V-Lock battery in place
Canon USA
Yes, You Can Swap These Lens Mounts
While the camera comes with an EF lens mount, Canon stressed that users will be able to purchase and swap out the factory mount for a PL mount or EF locking mount. The locking EF mount, with a shim kit for installation, will run $2,200, while the PL mount, with shim kit, will be $1,600. A shoulder support unit, the SU-15, will also be offered.
Speaking of lenses and lens mounts, Canon says this is its first cinema camera with five-axis electronic image stabilization, and emphasized that stabilization on the sensor works even with a lens that lacks stabilization of its own. However, if the lens does include stabilization, it will work in conjunction with the in-camera stabilization.
Have you been doing the math? The C500 Mark II lists for $15,999. Fully tricked out with both optional lens mounts, the optional EVF and the more capable of the two extension modules, it will run you $22,099 when it ships in December. If that’s just a little too spendy, you can lay out $16,000 for the standard EF version — that includes a top handle and GR-V1 hand grip, the LCD monitor and bracket, power cable, a mic shock mount, and BPA60 battery and single-port battery charger, plus three hex wrenches — and add more accessories as the need arises. Of course, Canon is hoping that you’ll take it for a spin with some of those new Sumire Prime Cinema Lenses — PL only, natch — in your kit.
Canon’s C500 Mark II: everything in the box
Canon USA
Canon USA: cinemaeos.usa.canon.com
