Review: Canon XF205 Professional Camcorder
The Canon XF205 pro camcorder resembles the acclaimed XA25 consumer model introduced last year in several respects, but adds welcome features such as individual rings for iris, zoom, and focus; 2 additional channels of internal microphone recording; 1080/30P HD-SDI output in the XF205, and more. As such, the XF205 comes highly recommended as a camcorder well-suited to webcasting workflows.
Monitoring
Monitoring video on the 3.5” OLED monitor is a lot easier than on older LCD screens but for critical and repeatable focus, colors, and levels, professionals make use of video scopes. The Canon XF200/205 has three different video scopes: a waveform monitor, a vectorscope, and an edge monitor. The WFM has 5 settings options and the vectorscope and edge monitor each have two settings options.
The XF200 and XF205 are camcorders. I’ve stated this a few times in this review because I don’t think it is fair to compare them to large-sensor video cameras and video DSLRs. For professional video work, you select the right tool for the job and no one camera is going to serve all needs. The smaller sensor means it’s going to have a noisier image, especially at higher gain or ISO levels.
Many large-sensor cameras support LOG profiles and even RAW recording, but this is not something you would want on a camcorder; you want your output to have the finished video look, as you would never want to webcast a flat LOG look. For this you need picture profiles and the XF200/205 allows you to program or load several custom picture profiles in-camera so you can create different looks. For the most challenging lighting situations, Canon includes a Wide Dynamic Range profile that will help protect highlights and bring-up shadows.
30P HD-SDI Output
Output-wise, the XA20 and XF200 have HDMI outputs, while the XA25 adds a 1.5G HD-SDI output and the XF205 adds 3G HD-SDI, HD-SDI monitor, Timecode, and Genlock outputs. The HDMI outputs are all capable of outputting 1080/60P and 1080/60i, but unfortunately not 1080/30P, which is useful for working with video switchers and webcasting. The HD-SDI outputs on the XA25, being 1.5G HD-SDI outputs, are limited to 1080/60i and 720/60P outputs, but again no 1080/30P.
The XF205 offers all of the above output options and adds the very useful 1080/30P and 1080/30PsF HD-SDI output option that so many other models unfortunately lack. The availability of a 1920x1080/30P HD-SDI output is a feature I value for live video switching and webcasting workflows, and its inclusion means the Canon XF205 is the camcorder I will now recommend above all others for webcasting workflows.
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