Canon XA20 Test Footage
 

Hey all,

I just picked up my XA20 from a local camera shop. I don't know how the dealer managed to get an XA20 for me, because Canon Canada have not given an official release date yet. The most that they will say is that the camera will start shipping in Canada sometime in July. So, this might mean that I might be one of the first people in all of Canada to have purchased (and taken delivery of) an XA20.

After I got the camera home and unpacked it, I charged up the battery, had dinner, and then went out to capture some test footage.

My initial impressions of the camera are that it has very good build quality overall. The ergonomics are superior to the XA10, and accessing the settings and menus is a bit less fiddly, thanks to the small eraser-shaped joystick that's located next to the Stop/Start button on the right rear of the camera. The viewfinder is a joy to use - it's brighter and much clearer than the viewfinder found on the XA10, and you can actually use it to accurately focus without having to use the focus assist. It's a real help when the LCD display gets washed out in bright sunlight. What's also neat is that you can set white balance manually and even set the colour temperature.

Image quality is great, and you can see it in the Youtube video posted below. Bottom line, this is a great camera for the money. Anyone who has an XA10, or had one and liked it will absolutely love the XA20.

Later, I'll be posting some XA20 footage shot at 24p with the cinema tone setting activated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1F-...ature=youtu.be

Re: Canon XA20 Test Footage
 

Wow that looks great. You were able to get some nice DOF with it. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Canon XA20 Test Footage
 

Steve, congrats on your new camera.

You mentioned that you can set white balance manually and set the color temp on the XA-20. This was possible on the XA-10 already. Is it possible to change white balance while recording?

Re: Canon XA20 Test Footage
 

Thanks. I put the camera on f4, since this is said to be a sweet spot for most small camcorders that have a deep DOF due to small image sensor size. I was pleasantly surprised to see how pretty and deep the bokeh is on the XA20. It must be be because of Canon's implementation of an eight-blade diaphragm. In any case, I'm pretty pleased with the camera overall. I think Canon definitely hit a home run with the XA20.