CanonRumors has been told that the Canon EOS C500 might make a comeback with a whole new (and improved) version called Canon C500 Mark II. According to CanonRumors, the C500 Mark II will be a “completely different take” as far as Cinema EOS cameras go. Hopefully, 2019 will be the year of the Canon EOS Cinema camera lineup. Read below.

Canon Cinema 8K: A mathematical fact from 2015

Canon 8K camera development was demonstrated by a prototype back on September 2015, at the Canon EXPO. Four years almost passed, and still, we don’t have the official announcement yet. As usual, Canon always does pervasive testing of their products before they make it official. However, four years is a lot of time for Canon’s R&D timeline.

Canon Cinema 8K ecosystem is ready

We report here before, that from 2015 Canon accelerates development processes regarding a new 8K cinema camera line. Canon knows that it was left behind the 4K race, and thus doesn’t want to make any mistakes regarding 8K-ing. It seems that Canon is deep into 8K market analysis, learning lessons, and drawing conclusions to catch up with 8K motion capture and workflow.

Fact I: Canon’s 8K film

Canon has been already testing (successfully) 8K live-video transmission and recently collaborated with Japanese directors to produce an 8K film by using Canon 8K cameras, and with the ability to record 8K RAW. The 8K camera used to record this film was equipped with a Canon-developed 8K image sensor that features an ultra-high resolution of 8192 x 4320 pixels—16x that of 2K—high-precision HDR and a wide color gamut.

According to Canon, there is a full lineup of 8K equipment spanning input to output already developed, including cameras, lenses, and displays. These are fully operational products (beyond production models) and are in the last testing cycle before marketing to the crowd.

Fact II: Mac Pro at WWDC

It appears that undefined Canon camera was used to capture 4:4:4 ProRes 8K RAW for the Mac Pro. During the WWDC, an unreleased 8K Canon video camera was used to capture high-resolution footage to demonstrate the quality of the new Pro Display XDR together with the new Mac Pro.  The video camera was mounted on a robotic arm and was feeding the Apple display with 4:4:4 ProRes 8K RAW.

Watch the video below from 11:30 to explore this enigmatic Canon cinema camera:

Conclusion: Canon EOS Cinema 8K camera is about to be announced this year. Would it be the Canon C300 Mark III? According to CanonRumors, there is a chance we’ll see a successor to the Canon EOS C500, that might be defined as Canon C500 Mark II.

Canon C500: A flagship that sank

The C500 never had a market share, since it was like a strange animal within the EOS Cinema line. Therefore, it makes sense that Canon would want to raise it from the dead as a decent 8K alternative to the EOS cinema family. Announcing EOS Cinema 8K in 2019 would be an essential step for Canon as for the entire 8K cinema cameras market.

Final thoughts

Hopefully, 2019 will be the year of Canon EOS Cinema camera line. According to the rumors, there is a chance we’ll see a new EOS Cinema model. Would it be Canon C300 Mark III or C500 Mark II? I guess will find out soon. Take your bet!