CANON XF305

Stephen Turner

 Canon has finally entered the world of file based solid state professional cameras with the XF305 and XF300. Canon worked out a while back that you can target two markets with what is really one camera and manage to cover a multitude of needs at the same time.The 300 is the filmmaker’s choice while the 305 adds professional broadcast bits to get to the huge cable and regional television markets, especially in the states.

 The XF305 is a mid sized camera that is small enough to be versatile yet solid and heavy enough to hold steady. It’s got the full professional bells and whistles but has the drawback of having to be held in front of your face. Hand held this is going to get tiring! Throw it on your tripod and it’ll deliver all you need. Awesome pictures recorded in Canon’s new mpeg2 HD codec that is wrapped in the industry standard mxf format. That means getting it into your favourite NLE won’t be a problem. Pics are recorded to one of two CF cards at up to 50mbps – that is blisteringly fast.Add to that 4:2:2 recording and three 1/3inch CMOS chips grabbing the images and you are set to get superb films shot with ease.Take your choice of 50i or 25p and modify any one of 35 programmable presets to get the colour and gamma settings you are after.

It feels very sturdy and the metal body is robust. Switches and knobs are professional in design and easy to get used to. The LCD swings out from below the handle and swings forward 45%. For a solo operator like myself this is brilliant.I can sit next to camera and easily see the LCD – no more location monitor to set up! It’s a huge 4inches and the clarity is superb.Another party trick is with touch of a button you have a waveform display on the screen. Perfect for perfectionists.

Equally clear is the viewfinder.  The ½ inch screen has remarkable clarity so no excuses for wayward focus. Speaking of which there’s the useful magnification button on the right hand side. Choose auto or manual focus with the addition of a useful quick auto button to use while you’re in manual. Great for a quick and accurate focus pull. The lens is an L series with 18x optical zoom and Canon’s usual superb stabilisers on board. That said though the weight of the camera and akwardness of holding it in front of your face means long hand held shots are not going to be an option.And holding it up in front of you is going to get very tiring very quickly. There are after market shoulder mounts out there if you need to shoot on the run a lot. Otherwise take the tripod.

 The lens’s 35mm numbers are 30 to nearly 600mm so it’s a very long but very fast lens delivering 1.8 at the wide end and a very respectable 2.8 at the far end. The ring is 82mm. I’m surprised Canon don’t yet have a self closing lens cover yet so you’ll still be fishing around for the lens cover at the end of the day. The focus ring has a neat party trick. In recent years there’s been a bit of a generational thing about never ending rotations of the focus ring. I’m used to it and have no issue but traditional cammos want numbers and physical end stop.

The 305 delivers both. Constant rotation for manual and auto focus but flick a switch and you get a number display on the barrel and end stops. Very nice.The zoom can be switched from either the front ring to the rocker as you need plus there’s the usual top zoom rocker. You can assign a speed to this in the menus.The menus are easy to get around and once set are largely forget. And that’s the beauty of a professional camera. The switches and knobs you most use are on the outside and easy to get to. You get used to them quickly and field ops get smooth and stress free.

The settings are the usual range of everything from black and gamma levels to cine or sport presets. There’s enough to keep you happily adjusting for ages.On the right side are the XLR inputs. As you’d expect at this standard you can get a range of audio options happening. There’s the built in top mic or you can add your own shotgun. Then you simply switch sources as you need from internal to external and adjust with the tidy but a touch fiddly level controls on the side. Levels are displayed on the viewfinder and LCD screens.

On the right side are the 305s secret weapons. Under the covers are the timecode and gen lock plugs. This gives the 305 the ability to be a live broadcast HD camera. Perfect for a small regional or cable station. Under the back is the cavernous battery compartment. Being solid state it should run for ages on a largeish battery. The mxf files can be transferred using the supplied software and imported to your NLE of choice. I had no trouble getting them into Premiere Pro and playback is smooth on my system.

On the big screen the pics are as fabulous as you’d hope for. These days we expect crisp colourful images and the 305 delivers in spades. This is a truly excellent camera in its price range and the only drawback is it’s not a shoulder mounted camera. But that’s not the market it’s playing in. We’ll have to wait for the next gen XLH1 to get that. Also the lens is fixed but the wide to long numbers are great so not too many people will opt for the optional wide adapter.

I like this camera – as I like most actually. But this new Canon takes another step forward in the market place. Affordable twin CF media, 4:2:2 recording at 50mbits/sec and a fabulous LCD along with all the pro features cammos have asked for make for a very satisfying piece of kit. Scores a hefty 9 out of 10.

By Steve Turner

I started in TV as a videotape operator for Channel Nine in 1980 and went to News editing in 1984, becoming Senior News editor for Nine Adelaide.

In 1988 moved to production editing (doing everything from sport to station promotions and programs) and then in 1989 moved to London to work for Sky News UK. This was just starting up and I helped set up the news editing operation.

The highlight of this year was covering the fall of the Berlin wall (where I location produced and edited continuously for five straight days and nights - grabbing sleep here and there). The best bit was interviewing people crossing the wall for the first time in years.

I returned to Adelaide in 1990 and freelance vision switched and also did graphics for news and production. Left again in 1991 to backpack the planet for 12 months with my partner Rochelle.

Back in 1992 and returned to production editing and graphic design for Channel Nine. I worked on all the Adelaide Formula One races (1985-1995) bar 2 (while away) doing foreign broadcast editing - packages for overseas networks in their languages.

Began Directing news in 1997 and started my own production business doing weddings and corporate work. This was followed quickly by producing science films for Flinders University and the setting up of our web business selling science related videos, CDroms, and now DVDs.

Started writing for Australian Video Camera in 2003 then Auscam when it started. Produced and shot news features for the Ten network and worked freelance on the Athen's Olympics in 2004 for Seven.

Left Channel Nine to join Channel Seven in 2005. Involved in the setup and operation of Seven's new news operation and regularly direct the six o'clock news. Directed and produced Seven's Anzac day telecasts for 2005/6 and independently produced the 13 part series "Fishing and Boating" for Channel Seven.

Produced and shot a documentary on drug abuse with an Indigenous Elders group as well as a two part docco with the RAAF. Current project include a docco on Alzheimers and another on the lives of siblings of disabled people.

I have three gorgeous small children and am a part time stay at home Dad...

...It's a busy life!!