Initial User's review of the Canon XH-A1

Jack Jenkins · November 4th, 2006, 11:22 AM

I dont own one of these cams but I just checked one out at the local photog shop, and man what a beast this thing is!
I had initially assumed this cam was gonna be a black plastic GL2 that would do HD (and I would have been pretty satisfied).
But Holy crap! the leap of technology/professionalism/beefiness from GL1/GL2 to A1/G1 is enormous, I was stunned. From the cool matte black finish (that seems alot more durable than the old pearly plastic shell) to the giant 72mm dia. lens. Man, all I have to say is WOW! these are impressive in person. This is such a giant step up. Great work Canon.

Matthew Nayman · November 4th, 2006, 11:51 AM

Henry, the hard moutn is quite removable. It's jsut a more secure, and actually, sharper way of mounting the M2 to a Camcorder body... http://redrockmicro.com/forum/viewto...er=asc&start=0

Should help with softness.

You can overcompensate buy turning up the sharpness in the canm, or adjust the GG REALLLLLLLY finely

Cant wait to get my A1

Chris Hurd · November 4th, 2006, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack Jenkins

I just checked one out at the local photog shop...

Nice to hear that Precision Camera has them in stock... say hi to Jerry Sullivan for me next time you're in there.

Jack Jenkins · November 4th, 2006, 12:52 PM

Yep it was Precision, you're good Chris. Those guys run a nice shop.

Donald White · November 4th, 2006, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Brent Graham:
The only problem though is the internal battery bay. Although I love the idea, my large capacity 970G got stuck in there!!! I had to stick super sticky tape to the battery to pull it out from the compartment!

CAUTION TO ALL WHO USE 970G SIZE BATTERIES!!!

Quote:

Originally posted by Chris Hurd:
The 950G is the same size as the older BP-930, and the 970G is the same size as the older 945. The internal battery well in the XH A1 and G1 will accomodate the larger BP-970G.

I'm not sure I want to try and put the 970G battery into my brand new Canon A1 ... has someone else had success in using this battery & not getting stuck?

Don

Matthew Nayman · November 4th, 2006, 02:35 PM

I imagine there is some trick people are missing to remove it.

Henry Cho · November 4th, 2006, 02:36 PM

last night, i tried to adapt/throw in some of the xlh1 presets for kicks and got some pretty nice looks. the h1 and a1 share the same adjustment settings, but the a1 puportedly has 140% of the color space of the h1. all i did was copy over the same values and multiplied the h1 setting by 4, for starters, to compensate for the differences in value range and color space wherever the value range was updated (-9 to +9 on the h1, as opposed to -50 to +50 on the a1). i have no way to compare these settings to what they actually look like on the h1, but there were some very nice results when i previewed out to my crt. a big thanks to the authors of the original presets for giving us all a nice starting point to work off of.

also, the lcd/viewfinder at the default settings is way too bright and does not give an accurate depiction of what it will really look like when output on a calibrated monitor. taking down brightness almost all the way, and cranking up both color and contrast almost all the way helps, and got me pretty close to what i was seeing on the crt brightness & contrast-wise. there is still a slight difference in hue which i don't think anything can be done about.

Henry Cho · November 4th, 2006, 02:58 PM

i've swapped in three BP945s without a problem.

Donald White · November 4th, 2006, 03:12 PM

So, unless I'm missing something - the 945 should be the same size as the 970G... and it ought to work.

Thanks Henry.

Chris Hurd · November 4th, 2006, 03:27 PM

Yes -- the BP930 and 950G share the same physical dimensions, as do the BP945 and 970 G.

Brent Graham · November 4th, 2006, 04:56 PM

No, you got me wrong, the 970G works, it's just such a tight fit and so sunk in the battery bay that theres nothing to grab onto in order to pull it out. To get a battery out you have to pull this plastic tab out to the side and the battery gets pushed out by two springs located on the back face of the battery bay, but if your battery is a tight fit, these springs don't push hard enough to get the battery out. Hence I had to stick tape to the battery to 'pull' it out. The batteries work fine, they're just a tight fit for the bay.

Andrew Ott · November 4th, 2006, 05:41 PM

I live in Austin too and am considering purchasing the camera. Never been to precision camera. What is their website?

Chris Hurd · November 4th, 2006, 06:16 PM

Andrew, it's http://www.precision-camera.com/ -- they're located at 38th and North Lamar.

Andrew Ott · November 4th, 2006, 06:23 PM

Sweet thanks.

Donald White · November 4th, 2006, 07:02 PM

Battery goes in and releases just fine, no sticking - I actually like the balance with a heavier battery in it.

Thanks!

November 4th, 2006, 03:27 PM	#85
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,366 Images: 513	Yes -- the BP930 and 950G share the same physical dimensions, as do the BP945 and 970 G. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

November 4th, 2006, 06:16 PM	#88
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,366 Images: 513	Andrew, it's http://www.precision-camera.com/ -- they're located at 38th and North Lamar. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

November 4th, 2006, 07:02 PM	#90
Donald White Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Santa Fe, NM Posts: 54	everything is A okay Battery goes in and releases just fine, no sticking - I actually like the balance with a heavier battery in it. Thanks!

November 4th, 2006, 11:22 AM	#76
Jack Jenkins Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 122	I dont own one of these cams but I just checked one out at the local photog shop, and man what a beast this thing is! I had initially assumed this cam was gonna be a black plastic GL2 that would do HD (and I would have been pretty satisfied). But Holy crap! the leap of technology/professionalism/beefiness from GL1/GL2 to A1/G1 is enormous, I was stunned. From the cool matte black finish (that seems alot more durable than the old pearly plastic shell) to the giant 72mm dia. lens. Man, all I have to say is WOW! these are impressive in person. This is such a giant step up. Great work Canon.

November 4th, 2006, 11:51 AM	#77
Matthew Nayman Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Toronto Posts: 917	Henry, the hard moutn is quite removable. It's jsut a more secure, and actually, sharper way of mounting the M2 to a Camcorder body... http://redrockmicro.com/forum/viewto...er=asc&start=0 Should help with softness. You can overcompensate buy turning up the sharpness in the canm, or adjust the GG REALLLLLLLY finely Cant wait to get my A1

November 4th, 2006, 12:52 PM	#79
Jack Jenkins Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 122	Yep it was Precision, you're good Chris. Those guys run a nice shop.

November 4th, 2006, 02:35 PM	#81
Matthew Nayman Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Toronto Posts: 917	I imagine there is some trick people are missing to remove it.

November 4th, 2006, 02:36 PM	#82
Henry Cho Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: NYC Posts: 516	last night, i tried to adapt/throw in some of the xlh1 presets for kicks and got some pretty nice looks. the h1 and a1 share the same adjustment settings, but the a1 puportedly has 140% of the color space of the h1. all i did was copy over the same values and multiplied the h1 setting by 4, for starters, to compensate for the differences in value range and color space wherever the value range was updated (-9 to +9 on the h1, as opposed to -50 to +50 on the a1). i have no way to compare these settings to what they actually look like on the h1, but there were some very nice results when i previewed out to my crt. a big thanks to the authors of the original presets for giving us all a nice starting point to work off of. also, the lcd/viewfinder at the default settings is way too bright and does not give an accurate depiction of what it will really look like when output on a calibrated monitor. taking down brightness almost all the way, and cranking up both color and contrast almost all the way helps, and got me pretty close to what i was seeing on the crt brightness & contrast-wise. there is still a slight difference in hue which i don't think anything can be done about.

November 4th, 2006, 02:58 PM	#83
Henry Cho Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: NYC Posts: 516	i've swapped in three BP945s without a problem.

November 4th, 2006, 03:12 PM	#84
Donald White Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Santa Fe, NM Posts: 54	So, unless I'm missing something - the 945 should be the same size as the 970G... and it ought to work. Thanks Henry.

November 4th, 2006, 04:56 PM	#86
Brent Graham Major Player Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 222	No, you got me wrong, the 970G works, it's just such a tight fit and so sunk in the battery bay that theres nothing to grab onto in order to pull it out. To get a battery out you have to pull this plastic tab out to the side and the battery gets pushed out by two springs located on the back face of the battery bay, but if your battery is a tight fit, these springs don't push hard enough to get the battery out. Hence I had to stick tape to the battery to 'pull' it out. The batteries work fine, they're just a tight fit for the bay.

November 4th, 2006, 05:41 PM	#87
Andrew Ott Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 62	I live in Austin too and am considering purchasing the camera. Never been to precision camera. What is their website?

November 4th, 2006, 06:23 PM	#89
Andrew Ott Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 62	Sweet thanks.