Canon has reduced the price of the C300 mkII in many countries. Dealers are offering the camera for as much as $4000 US off the old price, presumably in an attempt to stimulate more sales. The Mark II hasn’t caught the imagination shooters in the way the original did and subsequently some dealers around the world have struggled to sell stock. In the US Adorama have the camera for $11,999 US. UK dealer CVP also has the camera listed at £7995 (No VAT). In Japan the price seems unchanged at around $13400US. In Australia it is still listed at $22540 AU ($16782US).
Canon has implemented a lot of new features into the C300 mkII, but even so many prominent bloggers thought the asking price of $15999US was just too much, especially if you directly compared it to the Sony FS7. Both Dan Chung and I have used the C300 mkII and were both impressed by the images you can obtain straight out of the box. Alan Roberts also independently tested the camera for Newsshooter and found it to be a more than capable camera for both HD and 4K productions.
The C300 mkII is also getting the new Canon Log 3 gamma. This is designed to answer criticisms of users who have had difficulties working with Canon Log 2.
Whether the new price drop and gamma curve will entice more shooters to re-consider the C300 Mark II as an alternative to other cameras such as the Sony FS7 and F5 remains to be seen.
UPDATE: There are also good deals to be had on other cameras in the Cinema EOS range. The C100 can now be bought for $2499US, and the C100 Mark II for $3999US. These join other discounted Canon cameras such as the C500, C300 and 1D C.
