Everyone still happy with their A1?
 

I am about to take the A1 plunge and was wondering if all the A1 owners out there are still not regretting their purchase...

In other words, I am looking for for someone to say "yes you should definitely buy the A1"

Buy it. you'll love it - not a breeze to learn to use though. be prepared to spend a lot of time reading and experimenting

I love it, but alot of people don't, my thinking is this, buy it if you have experience with video camera and know how to use them or willing to learn, don't buy it if you are the type that like the camera to do everything for you or have no idea what an iris is or don't care what it is. If you are of the later type, I suggest the Sony Z1, I use it before and it is a better auto camera than this one.

the A1 is just amazing. breathtaking, crisp and clean footage.
i'm overjoyed.

you'll need to be a savvy operator to get the best out of it though.
anything left on "auto" produces some really awful footage.

Lots to learn
 

Jack,
I am a real novice with video but have some 35MM SLR experience. I have had my A1 for about 3 weeks and have done a couple short (5 min or less) pieces for my church. The ability to get what you want will take some time. I plan on doing events and weddings in the future (I have my first try on Friday). Depending on your experience, there are three major areas to learn. Getting the shots, editing your shots (I use Vegas 7.0e) and presenting/selling your finished product. The A1 will get you the shots, but you will have to learn to make it sing for you. For $3000+, this is not a point and shoot. It is however a great camera for producing product that you have a good chance of selling to someone with a SD or HD television or projector.

Flawless camera, I wouldn't say it's hard to learn. But just like any pro camera, experience with manual settings is what's required for good shots.

Awesome camera though.

I worried I wouldn't be able to capture the magic I was used to with my DVX but it easily surpassed that camera.

I've never hesitated with Canon. I wouldn't call this camera hard to learn, especially if you are a previous Canon shooter.

"yes you should definitely buy the A1".... There you go,I said it for you.

The first couple of days with my A1 were terrible - I was convinced I'd bought a dud. The picture was terrible and as far as I was concerned getting rid of my Sony PD-170 was a BIG mistake. But then I took a bit of time to read the manual,search this site for advice and play with the A1. Today I wouldn't consider buying anything else.
As a lot of people have said though you need to be in control of everything - turn anything auto OFF and learn to use the zebra stripes. The best tip I got though is to keep the iris a wide as possible - I think any footage shot with an aperture smaller than 5.6 is un-usable.

I love to hear people gasp when they see well shot HD footage,one friend said "my God! it's like looking through a window!...."

[QUOTE=Phil Kay;676327]I think any footage shot with an aperture smaller than 5.6 is un-usable.[QUOTE]
I second that.

Sorry, I completely disagree with this statement. Many of my favorite shots were taken way outside of this range and they are also beautiful.

i don't really understand what is meant by this...not my experience at all....maybe you could elaborate?

Wow, thanks everybody for all the responses. Seems like its still a hit and thats good to know. I'm convinced. Thanks again.

Shoot something at say 2.4 and you get sharp images,shoot the same thing at 9.5 and it's a much softer image.

Small apertures = poor picture.

Not quite as simple as that. There are many times when even a small aperture can be creative. I'm agreeing with you in terms of optimal quality but "un-useable", I think is quite inaccurate.