Cinematography reimagined: the versatility of the
Canon EOS C400

Versatility is a key advantage in modern filmmaking, where a camera might be required in a multi-camera studio setup one day, in the kitbag of a solo shooter on assignment the next, and fitted to a drone for a location shoot the day after. The Canon EOS C400 meets a wide range of such needs in one adaptable, compact full-frame cinema camera.

Here, two experienced cinematographers discuss how the EOS C400 fulfilled the brief in distinct shooting situations, including the newest (and, in some ways, most demanding) field: virtual production.

Sarah Thomas Moffat is a cinematographer and DoP with more than 25 years' experience across feature films, commercials, television and recently virtual production. She has won numerous awards, including several Best Cinematography awards for the Canadian short film Boundless.

Sarah shot an intimate interview using available light with the Canon EOS C400 stripped right down, relying on the camera's responsive Dual Pixel CMOS AF II autofocus to keep her subject in focus.

"When I work in documentary, it's important to me to make the person feel comfortable," Sarah explains. Interviewees "are not always used to sets, and sharing a very vulnerable piece of your being can become overwhelming enough without all the technology and microphones and people watching."

For Sarah, the EOS C400's advanced autofocus was key to this way of working. In Detect Only mode, the camera only focuses once a person's face has been detected. This helps eliminate the risk of focus hunting onto objects in the background or foreground. The EOS iTR AF X system provides intelligent AF tracking that continues to focus on a subject's head, even when they look away from the camera. These features make it ideal for a solo shooter, and invaluable in other situations as well as intimate interviews – it also offers ultra-responsive body, animal and vehicle tracking covering the full sensor.

Sarah also used the Canon EOS C400 to film a live performance on stage with theatrical lighting.

"This presented some really unique lighting challenges," she says, especially in preserving the actors' different skin tones in the moody, high-contrast environment. Here, she says, the full-frame BSI sensor's 16 stops of dynamic range and triple base ISO ¹ overcame these challenges, delivering even more range than she anticipated, with very smooth, noise-free dark tones.

This was a live theatrical performance situation, so multiple takes were not an option. It had to be a multi-camera setup, and Sarah used four cameras, all feeding via XC Protocol into a Canon RC-IP1000 controller, at which she sat. "I could see all four camera feeds, make sure they were matching and also control zoom, iris, NDs, anything I needed to within each one," she says. "I could isolate a camera and adjust it while the operator was focusing on following the shot."

Traditional multi-cam live broadcast systems use smaller 2/3-inch sensors, but it is now possible to use cinema cameras with large full-frame sensors, delivering outstanding low light capabilities and shallow depth of field in a live production environment thanks to the EOS C400's advanced connectivity:

• Built-in 12G-SDI, which is essential for transferring 4K signals up to 60P across long distances at high quality;
• Wi-Fi and Ethernet, which enable real-time IP streaming (SRT / RTSP) and remote control via XC Protocol;
• Tally Input, a red LED light and border around the LCD that immediately informs the operator that their camera is live;
• Return Input, which allows for the camera operator to view the live feed input from the switcher and understand what part of the production is currently live (particuarly useful for anything with commercial breaks or shooting in different locations);
• Genlock, which allows all camera sensors in a multi-camera production to synchronise and ensure accurate, seamless timing when switching. Genlock is also useful in a virtual production environment to sync the camera to LED walls.

"Virtual production is a new tool in the filmmaking process," says Sarah. It's an evolution of the venerable technique of back-projection, utilising an LED wall to display a 3D scene with a physical set and live action in front of it.

The EOS C400 fitted perfectly into the virtual production environment, Sarah says. "It's very compact and easy to work with; you can build it up or build it down. Using it with the Canon Cinema lenses was a really beautiful experience," allowing her to use the wider apertures she prefers to keep the depth of field shallow in that environment. "It also has lens mapping internally, so you can switch prime lenses without the delay of remapping lenses, which in the past would take quite a long time."

The footage from the EOS C400, captured in full-frame 6K and saved in 12-bit Cinema RAW Light format, was "so smooth," Sarah says. "I didn't see any artifacting or noise anywhere, which gives me an excellent base to build on, with amazing latitude for post processing."

Experienced filmmaker and director Brett Danton wholeheartedly echoes Sarah's assessment. Brett has worked on global campaigns for major brands including Jaguar Land Rover, Emirates Airlines and Coca-Cola, and has shot with Canon Cinema EOS cameras extensively. Like Sarah, he also used the Canon EOS C400 in a virtual production, filming live action against a bank of LED screens.

In this case, these were displaying 3D background scenes created using generative AI. These were designed to bring to life creative concepts by participants in the WPP Creative Tech Apprenticeship programme, which is designed to equip passionate creatives with next-generation technological skills, preparing them for careers in advertising, marketing and production.

"The scenes were pretty dark," Brett says, "and we had minimal lighting, working with the light coming off the volume stage. In these conditions, I would expect cameras to struggle, but the EOS C400, with its phenomenal 16 stops of latitude, gave us fantastic colour rendition and depth of image. I would normally expect quite a bit of noise, and I didn't see any. The 6K full-frame BSI sensor and built-in Low Pass filter eliminate moire.

"It's the next step up in image quality. Normally we have to go in [in post-production] and push the footage quite a bit harder to get the colours and detail out of it, but here, honestly, other than applying a LUT and a light grade, we haven't really had to do too much work to get out a really, really beautiful image."

The shoot used mainly Canon CN-R Prime Lenses. "It's the look," Brett explains. "And you've got complete control of the drop-off – generative AI scenes don't contain quite as much detail [as real life], and blacks go a little bit milky and grey, so on the volume stage, you don't want to focus on the background. With the faster apertures, you can really home in and do some beautiful follow-focus moves.

"We also used Flex Zooms, which are widely used on volume stages with a motion control robot," Brett adds. "The EOS C400 went on the robot without any problem – it has all the correct connections for a volume stage, no dramas. And, of course, the camera is recording all the metadata off the lenses, which makes a big difference in the workflow."

Outputting in RAW from the 6K BSI sensor with 16 stops of dynamic range gave him more latitude in post processing, Brett says. "Finishing in 4K, you can punch in, or apply digital stabilisation if you want to. The EOS C400, EOS R5 C and EOS C500 Mark II footage all cuts together beautifully as well."

Brett was able to take advantage of the Canon Live Link plug-in for Unreal Engine, which captured camera and lens metadata in real time from the Canon EOS C400 and passed it to Unreal Engine using CV Protocol. This means that all data such as focal length, iris, ISO, ND and even gyro data is sent directly to Unreal Engine, which is an enormous aid to achieving realistic virtual productions.

This setup worked flawlessly, Brett says. "The Live Link plug-in was rock solid."

In addition, CV Protocol metadata is also embedded in all recorded files in the camera. This means it can be utilised for VFX and post-production too, as well as virtual production. Sarah notes that this is a real advance. Lens distortion data, for one thing, "can often get lost in the VFX post-process," she says, "but with the EOS C400 this metadata is preserved through colour grading, VFX and everything else, preserving the true intent of the cinematographer, the expression and emotion of the lens."

With its compact size and built-in connectivity, the EOS C400 is hugely versatile, Brett says – you can use it handheld, on a drone, or in a gimbal. "The Steadicam guys, who are usually quite critical of cameras, really enjoyed it.

"It did everything its big brothers would have done, and everything I asked it to do," Brett says. "At the price point, I could get three EOS C400s on set instead of one higher-end camera and get equal quality. In fact, with the EOS C400's triple base ISO, you can film in low light a lot more and really open up that creativity. With its small form factor, you can put it in a camera bag and get incredible quality, you know, on beaches at night and so on."

Like Brett, Sarah emphasises the versatility and reliability of the Canon EOS C400. "I threw everything at this camera through all our scenarios, and it handled everything with flying colours," she says. "I can use this camera anywhere. It enables me to do almost anything, and I can trust it. That's the biggest thing."