Canon Announces New Firmware for Canon XF-Series Camcorders

From Canon USA:

New Firmware Enhances Canon XF-Series Camcorders, Supporting Popular Broadcast Recording Format

New Firmware Enables 1440 x 1080 35mbps Recording at 60i or 50i for Canon's XF305, XF300, XF105, and XF100 Professional Camcorders

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., April 12, 2012 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, today announced a new firmware update for all four models of the Company's XF-series professional camcorders, enabling a new 35mbps recording mode. The new firmware enables a highly utilized recording mode, popular with many major news broadcast corporations, capturing 1440 x 1080 HD video at 35mbps at 60i or 50i. This format is designed to help the camcorders seamlessly align with standard workflows used by many major news broadcast organizations. Once the firmware is installed, the recording mode will be accessed through the regular mode selection menu on the camcorder and the frame rate will be automatically selected, dependent on the camcorder's PAL or NTSC setting. All previously supported XF-series video resolutions and frame rates will remain available in addition to the newly supported recording format.

"We are happy to continually enhance the capabilities of our products and technologies to meet the needs of professionals in the marketplace. This new firmware will enhance our ability to satisfy the diverse technical needs of broadcast news organizations," stated Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies & Communications Group, Canon U.S.A.

The firmware is expected to be available for download at the end of May 2012 for all XF-series camcorders and will be available on the individual product pages through the Canon website.