Canon Modular Camera In The Works

by Fabian ChaundySeptember 17^th, 2017

IBC 2017 has seen the announcement of an upcoming Canon modular camera for uses ranging from action cam to professional broadcast.

In a very un-Canon manner, Canon has presented a concept for an upcoming mini modular camera called Canon MM100-WS, and will be taking feedback from the industry to implement along the development of the product.

According to Marcel Hess, this new Canon modular camera will only be a couple of centimetres thick and will incorporate a non-removable wide-angle lens that will allow it to be dust and splash proof. The battery will only be 1cm thick, allowing the whole package to remain quite compact, recording internally to MicroSD cards.

What’s interesting about this Canon modular camera is that its functionality will be expandable with additional parts, such as an additional SDI output module or a larger battery. This would make the camera capable of fulfilling many roles, from a body cam to a studio and broadcast-capable tool.

This type of crossover action camera is proving to be quite a popular concept – the recent announcement of the Sony RX0, for example, has stirred quite a lot of interest in the industry. Check out our hands-on with the RX0 at IBC 2017 HERE.

What’s very interesting about this announcement is Canon’s sudden change of mentality in opening up about upcoming products and actually requesting market feedback. We can only hope that this much-requested change of manufacturer-customer dynamics will translate into future big cameras.

Could you see a use in your professional work for a miniature SDI-capable device like this Canon modular camera? Let us know in the comments.