Festival field test: Canon EOS C400

Southpoint Films and Canon teamed up at Boomtown to test the powerful new EOS C400

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Southampton-based video production and livestreaming company Southpoint Films is a long-term fixture of the UK festival sector. For the past few years, one of its highlights has been Boomtown – a music and theatre festival in Hampshire, where it has provided camera packages to deliver screen footage on two stages: Grand Central and Origin.

For the former, which featured acts ranging from DJs to live bands, Southpoint has delivered a primarily operated camera set-up to achieve the required dynamic approach, augmented by a fixed camera on stage and a few PTZs. However, on the DJ-oriented Origin stage, PTZ cameras were the order of the day, with touring VJs having control over remotely operated units that could be positioned and controlled as needed – which typically entailed real-time integration with artist-generated visuals.

Southpoint Films’ founder and MD Rowan Johnson is a long-term customer of Canon, and for the 2024 event he was invited to trial the new EOS C400 prior to its launch. With a specification that includes a full-frame 6K BSI sensor, Dual Pixel CMOS AF II system, triple-base ISO and HDR capability, the EOS C400 is billed as a versatile workhorse suitable for live broadcast, virtual production and cinema projects.

Recalling the approach to try out the C400, Canon UK customer marketing executive – Pro Video, Tom Storey says: “We knew that Rowan did a lot with PTZ cameras already across a wide range of live productions, and how he loved that style of camera and how he was mixing it in with some of his [operator-oriented cameras]. So when we had the C400 coming along, it seemed like a perfect match for him to try out at a festival like Boomtown, where he could control it over IP and deploy it alongside the PTZs.”

Johnson says of the C400s, “They’re brilliant – and in fact, we bought two of them off the back of doing the festival. Some of our older cameras were ready for an upgrade, so it was a logical upgrade path for us anyway. One of the things that really distinguishes the C400s is that they’re amazing in low light, which is obviously great for festivals. So I could set the cameras to be quite high ISO – very sensitive to light – which, when done on traditional cameras, would mean that you start getting loads of grain in the picture.”

But with the C400s – which Johnson also praises for their versatility in lens options – “we didn’t get that grain issue due to the sensitivity and the fact I could dial the camera up and down without worrying. Whatever I do with these cameras, it still looks clean and crisp. It’s just one dial that I turn to adjust the exposure on the camera without losing anything in terms of picture quality.”

Storey also picks up on the triple-base ISO capability of the C400. “I remember it came to nighttime and the operators put the cameras into 12,800” – this being the high ISO setting used in low-light environments – “because it was a really dark-lit stage show. Then, they had to drop an ND filter in because the camera was using nice bright cine servo lenses. The result was a super-clean image, and I think that reflects the way that festivals are going now, where there is a trend towards a cinema look with shallow depth-of-field and the crisp footage you’re getting out of it.”

Elaborating on the suitability of the C400 for festival work, Storey adds: “They’re highly flexible; in addition to having such a small-form body, there is an incredible selection of IOs, multiple SDIs out and IP [streaming support].”

Meanwhile, Johnson highlights the complementary nature of the C400-captured content to that being produced elsewhere on the site: “By using cinema cameras like the Canon C400 for our crewed camera positions, we’re producing video that looks the same as the footage being captured by the event videographers, who are also using large-sensor mirrorless or cinema cameras to capture promotional material around the site. Because our footage looks the same, they can slot it in alongside the footage captured at the festival, giving our work some longevity – rather than simply showing it on the screens, never to be seen again.”

Both Canon and Southpoint are effusive about their collaboration at Boomtown, while the latter has also found its C400s invaluable for a host of other work, including corporate AGMs and theatre shows. “They’re out all the time on various projects, which shows their versatility,” concludes Johnson.

To learn more about the Canon C400, visit canon.co.uk/cameras/eos-c400

This article was first published in the Jul/Aug 2025 issue of LIVE.