Canon announces C300 Mark II, complete with internal 4K video and 15 stops of dynamic range

Three and a half years after its original release, Canon has updated its C300 camera. Deemed C300 Mark II, the update provides a handful of incremental improvements that should keep cinema users happy across the board.

The most notable change in the Mark II update to the C300 is the capability to internally record 4K video in 10-bit 4:2:2, up to 410 Mbps, thanks in part to a new high-bitrate codec called XF-AVC. To pair with the faster transfer speeds, Canon has changed out recording methods from two CF card slots to two CFast 2.0 slots, a growing standard.

Speaking of speed, Canon has greatly improved the high-speed capabilities with the C300 Mark II. Capable of 30p at both 4K and 2K resolution, you can also bump it up to 120p in 2K and Full HD. If you really need the utmost in image quality, the Canon C300 Mark II supports simultaneous full uncompressed 4K RAW recording out to an external recorder via built-in 3G-SDI ports.

These bumps in speed are helped due to a number of new implementations, but the most notable is the inclusion of dual DIGIC DV5 processors, which shouldn’t have much problem with most video you throw at them.

For image quality, Canon made sure it didn’t settle for less. Thanks to a new Canon Log Gamma 2, the C300 Mark II can crank out 15 stops of dynamic range. Compound this with the Dual Pixel CMOS AF and a two-times faster sensor readout than the C300, there should be less rolling shutter and more capturing just the action you’re looking to record.

The new C300 Mark II is currently available for pre-order on B&H and is priced at $15,999.