Canon has just launched its C300 cinema camera at Hollywood’s Paramount Studios, in front of a crowd of hundreds of journalists and film industry elite, including Martin Scorsese. Canon is no stranger to the professional photography community, but it has yet to make a name for itself in Hollywood, where cameras such as the Arri Alexa and RED EPIC dominate the digital filmmaking world. That CMOS sensor offers 1920 x 1080 pixels for the reds and blues and 1920 x 2160 for greens. List price for the C300 will be USD$20,000 when it hits stores in late January 2012.

The C300 may not appear to be overwhelmingly powerful on paper — stock features include an EF or PL mount (not both), 1080p capture, a pair of CF card slots, timecode and HD-SDI output — but judging by the sample films, it’s incredibly powerful sensor and versatile form factor are likely to play a more significant role in making this camera a success.

Fujio Mitarai is saying that the camera is especially well-suited to accurate color reproduction, particularly skin tones. We’re also receiving word that the C300 will cost somewhere in the range of USD$20,000 — how’s that for affordable? It contains a Super 35mm CMOS sensor and delivers up to 4K resolution with the outfit’s new “top-end” EF zoom lenses, which come in four flavors: two 14.5-60mm lenses and two 30-300mm. And the lenses keep on coming, with three EF prime lenses in 24mm, 50mm, and 85mm variations.