Re: Canon XHA1

Hi All,
I have an XL-H1, XH-A1, and HV-30 (basically to use as a deck). If I'm shooting on a tripod, I favor the XL-H1 as I have the wide angle lens. But to use this well, it really takes some learning, it's not a run and gun camera, the autofocus is a joke so while moving it takes alot of practice as there is alot to take care of. The XH-A1 is a great camera as the autofocus really works most of the time. Unlike the current trend of solid state (which has uses), I still favor tapes as where else are you going to get 14GB of storage for $2? I do docs so the issue of capture time isn't an issue, but archival storage is. I have only a short list of complaints about the XH-A1. I have never found the format a problem, I hear lots of people complain about HDV but a huge amount of great docs that went to the big screen were shot on DV so IMO, in most cases the argument against is crap. For the money, I think there is nothing better, for $4K you can get a the camera, case and a decent shotgun, its tough to beat the amazing quality you get for that. Having said all that, my complaints are few, but always worth listing:

(1) The wide angle Lens for XH-A1 cannot use autofocus, it covers the autofocus sensors so you have to focus manually. Wide angle lens are pretty forgiving so it's usually not much of an issue.
(2) I would like to break the audio for the shotgun apart so that I can crank the gain down about 10db, but you can't do it, they are tied with one gain control. You could put it into a splitter and do it, but having a box and extra cables hanging off the side would suck (I've done this with a pre-amp on my XL-H1 on a tripod). It would suck for having to try to go around with this handheld unless you are using a fig rig where you had a place to mount it (I love fig rigs). Most of the time I use a wireless in one channel and shotgun to the other. No problem on XH-A1, the wireless works well hanging on the handstrap.
(3) NEVER EVER use auto gain on either camera, -3 (90%), occasionally in low light 0 or +3, after that it falls apart. Consider AUTOGAIN setting as AUTOSCREW, it will, it sometimes gets into a mode where even with sufficient lighting it goes into high gain and the output is grainy and not crisp. Never had a problem when the gains are fixed.
(4) It would be nice to have different modes 60fps, etc but then you couldn't use tape. I have on several occasions now had HDV files disappear or corrupt on my MAC, having this cheap archive is a wonderful gift. If you need fast offloads, then buy one of the firewire to HD storage solutions. I don't, for me it is a waste of money.
(5) Personal.. I prefer a manual lens without servos, having said that, there is a feature where you can set presets for setting focus and zoom.. you can use for doing convincing follow focus and zoom effects. Very nice, I just wish the button was on the same side as the start/stop so I didn't always have to blindly look for it while filming. On a tripod, no problems. With a figrig, you can get close to the steadiness of a tripod on zooms, here it is a problem.
(6) Related to 5, as the lens has only one servo, you can't zoom and focus simultaneously. I think rarely do people use this, but with a little practice you can do some really nice things, but you can't with this. Also, just turning the zoom on the barrel of the lens is a little sloppy, you just won't get that with a manual lens. I prefer to zoom from the barrel as you get the highest precision for framing your shot quickly; zoom in, focus, pullback just doesn't happen as quickly or precisely as with a manual lens, or one with two servos.


I still think it's a great camera, and still the best bang for the buck, but know that if you are trying to get to some higher cinematic plane, it has some limitations. I hope in the next spin, they keep the tape (they won't I am sure), and fix some of the limitations of the lenses (though I am sure most of this was done to keep the price down). To be totally honest, I almost doubt there is a camera out there in the prosumer space you could go wrong with, it's really more what you intend to do with it. If you are like me, what you start out wanting to do evolves as you push yourself to bring your own game up, but there is also cost considerations.. still huge expenses in solid state, lens limitations, etc.

Brian