Some positive news for the industry during these challenging times - Canon have just announced the specifications for a new model to the award-winning C300 range, the Mark III, and it does not disappoint.

The Mark III comes with a newly developed S35 DGO (Dual Gain Output) sensor. What makes this DGO sensor so special, is that each pixel will read out the image with two different amplification levels, one high and one low, which will then be combined to make a single image, allowing the camera to record 16+ stops of dynamic range, in either Cinema RAW light (10/12bit) or XF-AVC (10 bit).

For post-production, the C300 Mark III supports two methods of HDR recording, Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG), which is typically used for broadcast, and Perceptual Quantization (PQ), which was designed by Dolby for documentary shooting or high-end productions like feature films. If you’re looking to save time in the edit, or if you are working with a tight budget, the Mark III is also able to record in HDR and apply a BT.2020 colour space/cinema gamut in-camera, removing the need for a colour grade after filming.

The C300 Mark III uses Canon’s new CFexpress cards and has dual slots to enable simultaneous internal recording. Bit rates range between 160Mbps and 1Gbps, and as an example, when shooting onto a 512gb card in RAW light 4K, 12-bit, 25p at 1Gbps, you can typically record up to 64 minutes of content. To help in post-production, you can also record 8Mbps (25p) or 35Mbps (50p) proxies to an SD card at the same time.

What we suspect will be one of the biggest draws to this camera is its high frame rate capabilities. The Mark III can shoot up to 120fps in 4K DCI, UHD, 2K, and HD using the full S35 sensor, or you can get up to 180fps in S16 mode both in either Cinema RAW Light or XF-AVC. Note that DGO cannot be used over 60fps.

Here are some of the other key features:

• Available in EF mount or with the option of user-changeable PL and EF Lock mount
• Dual autofocus that can be used throughout the full range of frame rates
• Internal Electronic 5-axis image stabilisation with the ability to input lens information for non-digital PL lenses for the IS to work
• The same body design as the C500 Mark II - which is more compact than the C300 Mark II
• All accessories for the C500 Mark II can be shared with the C300 Mark III including the V1 and V2 extension units, viewfinder, and LCD

The C300 Mark III is scheduled to be released later in 2020. To get a full sense of what this camera can do, check out Canon's short film, Boneyard Ballet, and the behind the scenes below.