Tmfilmpro

Definitely "a thing of beauty". Had hoped for F55 league and price and 240p windowed and 3s pre rec and Canon mount and all got it. And I can even mount 4 mics without hassle (hello Canon and Alexa Mini...) Have optioned the Varicam LT as it is almost exactly what I need although the 240p will probably still not look that great. The Varicam 35 has a fascinating image and when I recently graded demo files in ProResLT from varicam.it comparing Varicam at 5000ISO vs Alexa vs Dragon vs F55 at 3200ISO the Varicam made them all look very very ugly. Would have loved to see a comparison with the C300II though, but that one is severely underspeced with 120p in standard def and C500II will probably have an 8K sensor and therefore a much steeper price. Maybe this sensor will find its way into an FS7 counterpart, but not soon, I guess. RED would not be an option because of missing ND filters and weak high ISO performance. Arri Mini is probably more than double the price and now with big players like Netflix demanding real 4K I´d rather give my distributors that spec, no matter if it is visible in the final film or not.

I can´t see why an Arri announcement should be the "clearest signal yet" for a C300 update, but otherwise your analysis is very plausible. I was surprised and disappointed that nothing happened last year... I watched "Need for Speed" yesterday just because I wanted to see more C500 footage from big productions. Pretty good, although I have to admit that many of the daylight shots filmed on Alexa looked even better. Personally I feel not really in the mood for Sony yet, especially I doubt that a 7000.- sony camera like the FS7 can have the colour accuracy of a Canon C500 which can almost be had for about the same price used and with Shogun. I´m just not impressed by the test footage on vimeo from the FS7, and the official introduction video did not even have a proper grade (I´m sure they forgot about the delogging). On the other hand I ordered a very early C300 immediately after the first good demos. The battery life of the C300 is just stunning, I´d never ever go back to less, let alone bulky V-mount batteries and the need to lug around generators when going on field trips. So, I´m keeping my fingers crossed for the C300/C500 Mk2. I hope and I´m quite sure Canon will not offer Full Frame models, as NOBODY in the professional field would give a damn. Just use a F2.8 instead of F4.