Canon is a company that is well known for its cameras and they have a wide selection ranging from point and shoots to DSLRs and also cinema cameras. Cinema cameras are specialty cameras that record higher quality video than DSLRs and as such they are priced higher.
Canon launched their newest cinema line series of cameras in Kenya, the C200. The new camera is targeted to augment their current lineup which is led by the flagship C700, the C300 II and the older C100 II.
The C200 has the same design language as the C100. It sports a 8.85 MP effective super35 sensor that shoots 4K RAW (Cinema RAW lite) internally to the really fast CFast 2.0 cards and 4K UHD in MP4 to an SD card. RAW video allows you to do more with the video when compared to the traditional videos that are compressed and this means that they are huge files with a lot of data in them that you can manipulate later in video editors like Premiere Pro.
The 4K Cinema RAW lite video can be shot upto 50p in 10 bit colour (upto 1 billion shades of colour) and has a wide dynamic range. Dynamic range is the ability of the camera to highlight the dark and white parts of a video and the higher the number, the better the video looks.
The Cinema RAW lite is approximately a third to a fifth the size of the standard RAW format, which is crucial for people who want the advantages of RAW video but still are space conscious. This video format will be supported in DaVinci Resolve (a video editor). Canon says a 128GB CFast 2.0 card will record 15 minutes of RAW light footage.
The C200 also incorporates the excellent Dual Pixel autofocus that they have on their DSLRs and used in phones like the Galaxy S8, S7, HTC U11 and Google Pixel 2. It goes a notch higher with advanced autofocus options (slowing it down for a dramatic effect or speeding it up) and the touchscreen makes this feature even easier to use. The camera also has electronically controlled ND filters (10 stops) which are used to reduce to stop the amount of light hitting the sensor.
Unlike more expensive cinema cameras (*cough* RED *cough*), the C200 ships with Wi-Fi, XLR terminals for audio, built in EVF, 4 inch touchscreen, batteries and handle
The C200 will be priced at Kshs 960,000 at the various Canon dealers. However, for the next two weeks, they are running a promotion where you can get the camera for Kshs 900,000 as a promotional offer. The price is minus the lens (bought separately), the lens used in this camera is the Canon 70-200mm f 2.8L IS II lens which is close to $2000 new.
Here is an overview of the Canon C200 specs. The full list of specs can be obtained here.
| Feature | Caption |
|---|---|
| Sensor | 8.85MP effective Super 35 mm 16:9 CMOS |
| ISO range | 160-25,600 natively. Can extend between 100-102,400. 15 stops dynamic range |
| Processors | Dual Digic DV 6 |
| RAW video | Cinema RAW Light video support internal to CFast 2. card in DCI 4K |
| MP4 video | 4K UHD and Full HD (24p to 60p) including slow motion (upto 120p) |
| Lens mount | Canon EF Mount |
| ND Filter | Clear, 2,4,6,8,10-stop |
| Focus control | Manual via lens, Manual via RC-V100 , Dual Pixel AF |
| Screen | Touchscreen with focus control |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, audio in, HDMI 2.0, USB, Ethernet |
Check below a video shot with the C200 at night shot in RAW
