Canon's new PTZ firmware adds onboard recording and auto-tracking face registration to models like the CRN700 and CRN400. Does onboard recording change how small studios use PTZs?
ASKED BY · Paul Walhus · AUSTIN, TEXAS · 23 OCT 2026 · ▶ 00:50:38
Jason said onboard recording serves as backup only, not primary, and warned that auto-tracking should not be the sole reliance—operators need manual control and failsafe options, though motion smoothing and lazy tracking can enhance dynamic shots without replacing a PTZ operator.
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From the transcript.
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50:17microphone. You know, if they wanted to conceal it, they wouldn't put their logo and big letters in the front. Fenwick? I, too, prefer puce as my go-to comedic color reference. Thank you. Pantone puce or, like, you know, standard puce? Either one. Okay, good. Next question. All right, this is coming in from Paul Valhus in Austin, Texas. Canon's new PTZ firmware adds onboard recording and auto-tracking face
50:45registration to models like the CRN700 and CRN400. Does onboard recording change how small studios use PTZs? Jason? No. And these are the two cameras. A lot of the Canon PTZs got new firmware. The two that got the recording bits are these two. And as you can see, at $8,800 and $5,700, these are not going to be used in a low-end situation. The studio or whatever they're hooked into, that's going to have the better recording.
51:28To me, the onboard recording for this is that it's a backup. Like, I've got a backup. If something in my signal chain fails, I've got a backup recording. But I'm not using this as my primary. The face tracking and the other things, it depends on what your production is. If you don't have a camera operator, if you can't afford a PTZ operator,
51:48and you can experiment to this to get it that it actually works, then maybe. But you've got to make sure that it doesn't fail. You've got to say, okay, if this fails, do I have a dump shot? Do I have a button that I can hit that's going to take this camera either out of the mix entirely entirely so that I can hit another button and reset it quickly? Or how do I get rescued? You
52:10don't want to have automatic tracking be the only thing that you're relying on. That said, I did a town hall event earlier this year where I was using the tracking that was built into the, I think it was the Tail 2 from Opspot. So a much less expensive camera, probably at least a third, if not a fifth of the cost of some of these. And I put it on, I had, I had
52:34generous tracking. I set the framing so that where it was going to hold the person in the frame. Set it to super lazy tracking mode so that there wasn't any herky jerk going on and the motion smoothing all the way up to 100%. Was it perfect? No. Was it more dynamic and engaging than what I would have had to do to have a static shot? Absolutely. Did I have to cut away because
52:57I needed to dump to something because the AI lost the plot? Twice in an hour. If that, for you, is better than just a still shot and doesn't constitute your event as a failure, then give it a shot. But don't expect that this is going to replace a PTZ operator. Next question. This question is coming in from Andre DeLay in Berlin. Are you always buying into high-quality Neutrik connectors where possible, or are you buying cheaper products and replace them more often?
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