First Look At The New Canon XC10 - A Game Changer Hybrid Camera?

Earlier today Canon introduced a new hyrid (video/stills) camera called the XC10. This new type of camera has a fixed zoom lens with a 1 inch sensor and can shoot 4K video in very high bit rates – is this Canon’s new wild card and is it enough to fight off the competition from Panasonic and Sony?

Canon could not leave Panasonic (and to some degree Sony) to have all the low-mid range video segments with their mirrorless cameras and so it decided to do something pretty radical – release a hybrid camera. It is something different – it has a 10x fixed zoom lens (not switching lenses here), a relatively small sensor (1 inch – so the sensitivity isn’t going to be anywhere near the A7S and probably not even on the GH4 level), but ths help make the entire camera pretty small (under 2 pounds/1kg) and it does include 2 memory card types (SD and the new Cfast which is capable of very very fast transfer rates – needed to support the super high bit rate of the camera’s newly developed codec (XF-AVC that should be up against the new H.265 currently used on the NX1 from Samsung).

XC10 – a hybrid – video-stills camera

The video above by the guys at What Digital Camera in the U.K. is the first hands on with the new XC10. Below you can see a more extensive introduction by Canon U.S.:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gaw_df_R0_c[/youtube]

Some official specs of the XC10:

Sensor: 13.36MP 1″ CMOS Sensor (can shoot still up to 12MP and still from video up to 8MP).
Processor: DIGIC DV 5 (this is clearly a video camera first).
Sensitivity: 100-20,000 ISO.
Lens: 10x stabilized (5 axis) zoom lens: 8.9mm – 89mm f/2.8 – f/5.6 (27.3-273mm 35mm equivalent).
Filter thread: 58mm.
Autofocus: both for stills ad video (but no Dual Pixel technology).
Video: 4K (3840 x 2160 up to 30fps), 1080p to 60fps, 720p up to 120fps. Shoots 4K at 305 Mbps and 1080p at 50Mbps.
Codec: Canon XF-AVC.
Built in ND: 1/8 (3-step) ND Filter Built-in
Dynamic Range: 12 Stops.
Storage: CFast 2.0 for video (4K/HD) and SD for HD/stills.
LCD: 3″ 1,030,000 dot touchscreen (optional loupe).
Connections: Headphone jack microphone jack and integrated stereo microphone.
Connectivity: built-in WiFi.
Battery: LP-E6 (same as the 5D MKIII).
Weight: 2lbs/under 1kg..
Availability and price: June 2015 for just under $2,500.

More images of the Canon XC10:

Official video shot with the XC10

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbTd5DbSk_g[/youtube]

You can find many more previews and reviews on our Photography review section here on LensVid.

Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.