A1 users unite!

[Steve Wolla]

I was able to compare directly with the FX7 as well, and chose the XH A1 as well. Absolutely NO regrets for doing so!
The salemen at several camera shops (consumer as well as pro video) did repeatedly emphasize the advantages of getting Canon optics, over "Zeiss" as found on the Sonys. Frankly that really surprised me.
I continue to enjoy this cam every day. Just had a shoot last night where it just required SD in 4:3. Of course it did great. The advantages of the full manual controls and picture adjustments cannot be over emphasized.
Enjoy!

[Mark Fry]

Originally Posted by Bill Pryor

Congrats--you won't regret it (until, perhaps, your first payment is due). And, you'll be glad you with with bigger chips and the much wider and longer lens.

We went outside and compared the zoom range of the V1 and XH-A1 with my old XM1. Allowing for the fact that 16:9 looks wider than 4:3, the magnification of all three was virtually identical. We looked at the height of cars in the car park. This was exactly what I was hoping, as the well-chosen XM1 zoom range has been a boon on many occassions. On the other hand, it didn't help make the decision! One more feature where they scored the same!

I understand that because the chips are bigger in the XH-A1 than the XM1 and V1, the actual focal length in mm of the XH-A1 is longer to get the same image sizes, and that this also has an effect on things like how small an iris setting you can use before colour fringing becomes noticable, and the amount of depth-of-field you have at any given f-stop. These are features where the bigger lens scores some extra marks.