Canon XH-A1 review

My new HD video camera!

UPDATE: (10 months later)
Now that I've had a chance to play with it, it's an amazing camera with features that I didn't even know about when I made this video. Unfortunately most of the videos I have been shooting with it I haven't been able to post due to privacy and copyright issues, but check out some of the more recent videos on my other channel: http://www.youtube.com/OneEyedProd

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• canonxha1
• xh-a1
• hd
• hidef
• camcorder
• video
• camera

[crabpuffful]

that camera is awesome but it cost $2,649 so im using my hfr 20 SD camera and its pretty good.

[oneeyedgeek]

@crabpuffful To each his own. I use one like that for videos of my friends at the pub.  They do shoot to cards rather than tapes, which I wish the XHA1 did though.

[patcism]

Do you think the camera is heavy? I often hear complaints that the camera weighs a lot.

[oneeyedgeek]

@patcism It's quite a bit heavier than any of my other cameras. I had to buy a new tripod (and later a monopod) when I got it. It's not as heavy as some of the big broadcast cameras though.

[patcism]

Do you think that Mini DV cameras are better than SD Cards, or hard drive cameras?

[oneeyedgeek]

@patcism The best solution is to record directly to a hard drive with a program like Adobe OnLocation.

[Filmerciuvak]

cut your nails

[kd5gua]

Look for a combo deal that includes fingernail clippers on your next purchase, geeze. lol

[patcism]

@oneeyedgeek Thanks for the reply! I'm excited because I decided to order the camera and it will becoming in on Tuesday! Thanks

[phatstud55]

@patcism SD cards all the way. Although most of them Shoot to AVCHD there are a few out there that shoot to other codecs as well. If you intend to manipulate the image quite a bit in post avoid AVCHD at all costs.

[rainerfilm]

@patcism it is not.

[patcism]

@oneeyedgeek thanks for the response. Yeah, I'm going to buy this camera in a few months, and I will need a good tripod for it. What tripod are you using?

[oneeyedgeek]

@patcism I have never used a camera with a hard drive so I can't comment on that. Tapes tend to get a lot of "pixel artifacts" in the image, especially with HD. I have only used a camera that records to SD once so far and the quality doesn't seem too bad. Capturing from a card is A LOT easier and faster than capturing from a tape though. All of them are highly compressed though, in order to fit a large amount on a small tape/drive/card.