Canon continues to elevate its PTZ and Cinema EOS solutions by responding to customer needs with impactful firmware updates that enhance performance and streamline workflows.

The digital world allows for the magic of cameras offering new advanced functionality and improved performance, through firmware updates, and that’s exactly what Canon revealed to have done to its PTZ and Cinema EOS Lineups, thanks to firmware updates for advanced control, news revealed the same weekend Cine Gear Expo LA happened.

Firmware updates are nothing new, but always a welcome surprise. On January 2024 Canon announced that an upcoming firmware update for key models in its Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) line of cameras would provide a variety of new features and improvements the CR-N700, CR-N500, CR-N300, CR-N100, CR-X300 PTZ cameras, RC-IP1000 controller, and the Remote Camera Control Application. Notably, the firmware included a limited feature version of the Auto Tracking Add-On Application on supported cameras at no charge. Now Canon repeats the firmware update, expanding what its PTZ cameras can do.

According to Canon, the PTZ updates, covering indoor and outdoor models such as the CR-N700, CR-N500, CR-N300, CR-N100, and CR-X300, introduce additional features and improvements, including enhancements to the auto tracking paid add-on that now includes advanced multi-person tracking, improved live streaming performance, support for the Multi-Camera Control application, and more. Firmware updates for Cinema EOS cameras including the EOS C400 and EOS C80 enhance capabilities and expand creative control from scripted cinema to live events.

With the firmware update Canon continues to empower Canon PTZ and Cinema EOS users with advanced features, responding to customer needs with impactful firmware updates that enhance performance and streamline workflows. Here is what Canon shared about the updates:

Live streaming with Canon PTZ cameras just got even easier with improved SRT and RTMP support. For both SRT and RTMP, the cameras now feature auto reconnect to ensure minimal downtime in the event of a signal loss. SRT improvements also include the ability to automatically start transmission on camera power up. For the CR-N100 and CR-N300 cameras, this firmware provides improved support for teleconferencing systems with PTZ control over IP when the camera is in USB Camera Mode.

Other updates to the cameras include new Area Zoom functionality to easily move to an area of interest by drawing a box on the user interface. For applications that require using different frame rates on the same production, the CR-N700 firmware adds the ability to seamlessly emulate the appearance of 60, 30, or 24 frames per second from the user interface or a controller. Future firmware updates themselves will also become easier to install, as this firmware adds the ability to check, download, and install new firmware from the camera’s web interface.

The built-in auto tracking application is also getting improvements. Tracking performance in both the free and the paid version of auto tracking has been improved to better track fast moving objects. The paid version of the auto tracking will include multi-subject tracking. This enables the ability to track multiple subjects at the same time. The update also includes face orientation composition assistance, which can automatically change the composition of the shot based on which direction the subject is facing.

The RC-IP1000 controller will also receive a firmware update. In addition to creating compatibility with the new camera firmware features and Auto Tracking updates, preset registration and display have been improved. This firmware will also add compatibility with the EOS C80 cinema camera. Support for standard protocol over the serial ports has been added, as well as a host of other improvements to the controller.

Canon’s Multi-Camera Control IOS Application is also receiving an update. The latest update will include support for all four of the indoor PTZ cameras and the CR-X300 outdoor camera.

The firmware updates for the EOS C400 and EOS C80 Cinema Cameras, requested by our users, will enhance the cameras’ performance and usability by adding the following features:

The Peripheral Border Display, also known as Display Level 2, will be enhanced to view the following at a glance: Sensor Mode and Resolution, Recording codec selected for each card slot, Custom Picture Gamma and color space, Digital Image Stabilization status, and the tilt and roll degrees of the electronic level.

The EOS C400 and EOS C80 cameras will support Distortion and Chromatic Aberration correction while playing back Cinema RAW Light clips on camera. This ensures productions can accurately review takes on-set without needing to offload the card to a computer first.

Both cameras will now be able to output CV Protocol to multiple devices for virtual productions. Lens metadata can be utilized by several different computers running our CV Metadata Extraction plugin, greatly enhancing usability in virtual set environments.

The number of look/LUT files that can be registered will increase from 20 to 256 for the EOS C400 and EOS C80 cameras, along with the capability to pause Digital IS during recording.

Also added for the EOS C400 camera is the ability to combine Tracking AF with manual focus control. While Tracking AF is enabled, a user can adjust focus manually by using the lens focus ring. Once manual focus control is completed, the camera will maintain focus and Tracking AF will resume automatically.

With refined auto-tracking, intuitive user interfaces, precise camera control, and enhanced performance and usability, Canon’s PTZ and Cinema EOS solutions streamline workflows for both live and recorded productions. These updates allow operators to capture dynamic content effortlessly while maintaining a competitive edge in fast-paced settings.

The firmware updates for Canon’s PTZ, Cinema EOS C400 and EOS C80 cameras are currently scheduled to be available by the end of July 2025.