New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders

[Jim Martin]

Yes, we got 'um in stock now......XA25's

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

[Jase Tanner]

Originally Posted by Gabor Heeres

Second test with the brandnew Canon XA25, now in full darkness. Recorded on 1920x1080 50p 35 Mbps. The camera was on manual aperture now and the image brightness represents the actual situation. Still a lot of grain but the camera at least is usable in darkness, the JVC GY-HM150 was useless.

Second lowlight test Canon XA25 - YouTube

Gabor, have you used gain here or just fully opened aperture?

[Gabor Heeres]

Canon XA25 lowlight gain test - YouTube

See what the Canon XA25 does in lowlight at 0, 6, 12, 15, 18 and the maximum 24 dB gain settings. All on auto-aperture (I assume wide open) as you can manually set either the gain or aperture, not both.

[Jeff Harper]

XA-20 shipped today, will arrive Wednesday. I'll run a test next to the XA-10 and see what happens.

[Tim Polster]

Thanks for your posts Gabor. How do you like the camera so far?

I must say, I am a bit disappointed after reading the manual for the XA20/25. There are not many image controls and as it looks to me, the SDI port is output only. I did not see a way to import timecode for sync to other cameras. Maybe I missed it though.

The lack of image adjustments is a shame. I guess I am expecting too much from a $2,500 camera.

[Bryce Comer]

I'm excited! Mine is on its way. Coming via the post mind you, so will likely get to me end of next week or perhaps the week after:( Anyway, just wanted to ask anyone with one of these cams in their hands, how the fast & slow motion works. Specifically, are you able to do timelapse with the camera? I really like the ability of doing timelapse shots with my EX3 so if this is also able to do the same I will be very pleased. Unfortunately it doesn't specify the available settings in this mode in the manual I downloaded.
Regards,
Bryce

[Gabor Heeres]

Shot my first little newsvid today with the XA25.

Vrouw naar ziekenhuis na keukenbrand Tobias Asserstraat [video] - Eindhoven - dichtbij.nl - Eindhoven

20x zoomlens is a big plus. Used to the PMW-350 and EX1R myself I think the image is pretty soft. Though I like the image more than our much more expensive NX5E. So, no bad job at all Canon.

[Steve Struthers]

Nice footage.

A camera shop that's not too far from where I live just called me today to say they just got a shipment of some XA20 cameras. I'm going to check one out tomorrow and will probably buy it. I was considering getting a Panasonic AC90 instead. Granted, the AC90 has lots of good things going for it, including an extensive array of manual controls and settings that other cameras in its price range simply don't have. However, I've always felt that Canon cameras produce a richer, more robust image. As good as the AC90 is, I think its overall image quality is let down a bit by its tiny 1/4.7" sensor chips.

About eight months ago I had a Canon XA10 and liked it, but stupidly sold it and bought a Sony NEX-6, thinking it could be an all-in-one SLR, travel camera and camcorder. As it turned out, the NEX-6 was a so-so DSLR, a great travel-size camera and it produced reasonably good-looking video, even if it was prone to some moiré and aliasing, and just like other large-sensor stills-cum-video cameras, susceptible to overheating.

[Ron Evans]

Originally Posted by Gabor Heeres

Though I like the image more than our much more expensive NX5E. ...

When I got my NX5U I too thought I had made a big mistake. It seemed to have an image that was not as good as my XR500 Handcam. However, turning off telemacro and anti flicker filters made the image much better and setting up a Picture Profile that suited me has now made the camera just great. The autofocus is almost useless though in dark situations and I find that shooting in the theatre it has to be in full manual most of the time with great care over setting focus. Iris has to be wider than f4 or the image gets soft. I do not use outdoors really, the few times outdoors it has spent most of the time with ND filters on to keep the iris in the sweet spot. If you shoot in auto it warns about ND's too late and not enough.

Ron Evans

[Daymon Hoffman]

Pretty happy... got my HF G30 Tuesday! haven't been able to use it during daylight but just having a little play now. Very happy camper so far! Great update to my HV20 (thought i'd never have a worthy Canon update at teh rate they were going!).

Some nice features to learn about and use. Surprisingly the touch screen is quite good to use. I'm in PAL land so unfortunately i'm gypped 10fps and i can't see any hardcore options to change it to 60fps for when i see fit! But oh well. Fun times though. :)

[Paul Rickford]

Just a couple of small things, but they are bugging me, the lens hood only stays on with a very small twist of the wrist and has pinged off twice already in the last 5 mins when closing the lens cap lever.

More unforgivable is that the BP-819 and BP-827 battery packs from the XA10 DO NOT work on the XA20, comes up with the message "Battery pack not compatible, turning off the camcorder"

Now bad as the expense of buying extra batteries is, if you are doing a multi shot with the XA-10 the new BP-820 is identical looking and fitting to the BP819, so good luck getting the right battery on the right camcorder if you are in a hurry.

[Jos Svendsen]

Hi
Canon Europe has issued a service notice on this:
XA20

The message is that the older packs does not work.

[Ron Evans]

The battery change was noted when they were announced.

Ron Evans

[Jeff Harper]

Unless I missed something, the white balance cannot be changed on the XA-20 whilst recording. This is a big disappointment. While certainly a budget camcorder, this camcorder is classified by Canon as a pro model.


Lack of ability to choose a white balance preset while recording is inexcusable, IMO. If I'm missing how this is done, someone please clue me in.

[James Hollingsworth]

I too have just discovered the camera's inability to change white balance whilst recording. This is inexcusable for a camera at this price point and something that Canon must surely offer a reason for. Does anyone know of a way round this problem?