Canon Releases New Compact Body Cinema Camera

Canon has announced the release of the C80, a new EOS camera designed with filmmaking needs in mind. Its current C300 cameras — at least according to our camera surveys of cinematographers at festivals like Sundance , Cannes , and Venice — are reliable workhorses for documentarians of all stripes in both controlled and more volatile, verite circumstances, while the Canon C70 is a valued contemporary of the RED Komodo and other 6K cinema cameras. The C80, according to Canon, builds on those existing features and offers additional flexibility.

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The C80 features a 6K full-frame, back-illuminated CMOS sensor with triple-base ISO, allowing the camera to deliver stunning imagery in a wide range of lighting conditions. The base ISOs of 800, 3200, and 12,800 maximize the full dynamic range of the camera. On top of the range of color, the C80 can adapt to a dynamic range of circumstances: it is suitable, according to Canon, on a drone, gimbal, tripod, or in any configuration where compact size and light weight are important.

Efficiency is as important as weight and flexibility, and so Canon has designed a new version of its Dual Pixel CMOS Autofocus, the AF II. According to Canon, the back-illuminated stacked sensor’s positioning offers superb light-capturing efficiency, which widens the area of the sensor that can be used for autofocusing. The sensor also empowers fast readout speed and 4K image quality from 6K oversampling.

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For anyone who doesn’t understand what the above means, suffice it to say that the C80 is compact while still offering high-resolution and color control at a slightly lower price point than the C300 Mark III.  The Canon Cinema EOS C80 Full-Frame camera has an estimated retail price of $5,499, putting it within reach of Seed & Spark campaigns and videographers looking to record up to 6K 30P in Cinema RAW Light. If we don’t see it in any of IndieWire’s cinematography surveys in the coming years, it certainly sounds like a camera folks filling out those surveys will have experimented with and trained on.

The Canon EOS C80 will be released for retail purchase in November 2024.