Canon

XC10 4K Professional Camcorder

Portable Cinema Camera

The XC10 4K Camcorder from Canon is a portable handheld camera capable of professional UltraHD 4K recording. The camera incorporates a 10x f/2.8 to 5.6 SLR-style manual zoom lens with auto and manual focus capability, and a 1" CMOS sensor that is backed by a DIGIC DV 5 image processor. With a 4224 x 3164 total resolution, it is able to capture video at up to 3840 x 2160 and 4:3 photos in up to 12-megapixels (4000 x 3000). The 8.9 to 89mm lens yields a 35mm equivalent focal length of 27.3 to 273mm in video mode and 24.1 to 241mm in the 4:3 photo modes. Video is recorded with H.264 compression and packed in the widely supported MXF wrapper. Bitrates 35 and 50 Mbps are available for 1080i/p recording, and there are 205 and 305 Mbps modes (depending on frame rate) for UltraHD 4K.

With a wide ISO range of 100 to 20,000 - coupled with iris and shutter speed control - the XC10 is able to electronically adjust to a range of lighting conditions, from broad daylight to dimly lit rooms. There is also the option to use gain values rather than ISO. Gain can be set in the range of 0 to 42 dB. To help avoid excessive noise, limits can be defined for both gain and ISO when using auto exposure mode. 

While the XC10 can be mounted to a tripod or other stabilisation device, its compact size makes it ideal for handheld documentary and many types of event shooting. Another obvious use case for high performance in a small body is mounting on a medium-sized UAV such as a hexa-rotor. The handgrip features a photo/video mode selection toggle, record start/stop button, and exposure rotary all accessible by index finger for easy one-handed operation. The grip also tilts up to 90-degrees, helping you to shoot from high or low angles. Lastly, a hot shoe is available that supports Canon speed lights or works as a standard cold shoe for LEDs, microphones, or other third-party on-camera accessories.

For monitoring, playback, and menu access, the XC10 features a 3", 1,030,000-dot LCD. It features a full 100% coverage, and the screen is capacitive-touch sensitive allowing you to access settings that do not have dedicated buttons provided. Still photos, user settings, and video up to and including 1080p are recorded to SDHC/SDXC memory cards. To handle the up to 305 Mbps bit rate of 4K video there is also a CFast card slot. Compatible memory cards and card readers are available separately.