XH-A1 = Damn Fine HD Camera

[Maurice Covington]

Isn't internal memory the same as a hard drive? But yes they also have two slots each for SD cards not CF.

[Don Palomaki]

Isn't internal memory the same as a hard drive?

They are physically very different, but both store video data and perform a similar end purpose/function.

Internal memory works like a permanently installed SD card that you cannot see or remove - no moving parts. The internal memory is a bit like the "Solid State Drives" folks are installing in workstations as their system drives.

An internal hard drive has a moving parts (e.g., heads) and a spinning magnetic disc - like the hard drive on a computer but a smaller form factor.

[Mark Fry]

Someone mentioned the Sony Z5 earlier as a possible upgrade from an XH-A1, because of the MRC1 CF card-recorder. Having had a year of editing footage from a friend's FX1000 (same as a Z5 except for the audio options) alongside my own XH-A1s footage, I have to say that the XH-A1s gives better images and has a more reliable auto-focus. I certainly wouldn't consider the Sony to be an "upgrade".

Since it will work happily with the A1s, my recommendation is to add an MRC1k to the excellent XH-A1s. The mounting is a bit clunky (sits on a hot-shoe or make your own bracket from aluminium, etc.), and it needs its own (Sony) battery. On the plus side you get all the advantages of solid state recording without giving up your tape archive or upgrading your editing hardware to cope with the demands of AVCHD. In the UK, recorder and battery will cost around £650, including VAT, if you shop around. That's what I'm about to do, anyway...

[Eric Olson]

Originally Posted by Mark Fry

In the UK, recorder and battery will cost around £650, including VAT, if you shop around. That's what I'm about to do, anyway...

It's too bad the iPhone doesn't have a firewire port.

[Les Wilson]

Originally Posted by Mark Fry

Someone mentioned the Sony Z5 earlier as a possible upgrade from an XH-A1, because of the MRC1 CF card-recorder. ....Since it will work happily with the A1s, my recommendation is to add an MRC1k to the excellent XH-A1s. ... That's what I'm about to do, anyway...

I had an A1 and MRC1K recorder and it's every bit as clunky as you describe. Rather than mount it on the shoe where I really wanted a wireless receiver, I built a sled so it could mount behind the camera. Also, unlike the Z5, when you use the Firewire port and power the MRC1K with it's own battery, there is no integration between camera and MRC1K for TC, status, CF capacity etc. You just get a dot and a connection icon.

It's well documented here on DVinfo that here's something about the firewire implementation on the A1 that sometimes made the MRC1K boot up thinking the A1 was a computer. I came up with this voodoo that solved the problem reliably for my camera. I don't know about the A1s. YMMV
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-xh...eless-kit.html

[Ryan Reasor]

Thanks for this information.