Re: Canon XA10
 

You're right, the difference is significant. I edited a wedding shot by a shooter who did not tell me he had lost his Z1, and so he used a V1 without telling me, and oh my god it was so bad in the church. Granted, no camera looked good in this church, it was so dark, but the V1 was really not up to the challenge.

Re: Canon XA10
 

I pulled the trigger today and ordered one XA10. We will use it for our fixed wide shot cam in weddings (in place of our trusty Canon HV20) and then use it for the reception coverage. Since the recpetions typically have more than one hour of raw footage we look forward to not having to worry about changing tape every hour of footage.

If I like it well enough I will get a second one and use both of them for the ceremony in place of my two Sony V!U's.

Re: Canon XA10
 

D.J. you'll be very happy, but there will be a slight learning curve with the camera.

Out of the box, to operate, put the power switch slide on M. Now the camera is on and you can use the white balance settings, etc. which are found in the onscreen menu.

Then be aware on the left of the LCD is a button for Manual focus which can be turned off and on at anytime during filming.

On the left rear of the cam is an annoyingly small button which activates the exposure wheel adjacent to it that permits adjusting exposure on the fly.

Basically you are now ready to shoot a wedding.

Other than going into the menu to change your shooting mode such as 24p or 60i, and setting your white balance you're good to go.

Oh, you'll also have to select whether to record onto the internal memory or onto a card, or both. Personally I now use the internal memory. No cards, no muss no fuss. 64GB is plenty of space for any wedding.

Re: the exposure, use it conservatively. Things that do not appear blown out can be. I don't use the zebra, but have learned what is about right through trial and error.

After getting the hang of the silly exposure wheel, etc I have found the camera to be perfect for the money. It is fiddly due to it's size, but it really shoots great video, and the audio from it is awesome.

Re: Canon XA10
 

That's why you always should use zebra"s as it identifies problem area's when you over expose. I have the zebra's turned on always on my small handicam since I got it and I operate exposure manually all the time now, it saves you from going through trial and error. :)

Re: Canon XA10
 

Noa, zebra is nice, but I set exposure for the face normally, which will often blow out areas. In these cases the zebra is an annoyance, because I'm aware those areas are going to be blown out.

I know what I need to focus on in my shooting and what needs properly exposed, the camera does not, hence the zebra just adds confusion to the mix for me.

Re: Canon XA10
 

But if you want to expose a face right and think it is ok, the camera will tell you if it's not if you use zebra's. Like you said, it might look ok on the viewfinder but turn out to be overexposed when you edit it, zebra's prevent that from happening. That's why I don't have to do trial and error to get it right, when I use the zebra's I know it's right or not. Even better would be if the camera had scopes but it doesn't, that's why zebra is a very valuable tool to prevent overexposure on area's you want to be exposed right.

Re: Canon XA10
 

Noa, I don't need the zebra to gauge the exposure on the face. It's also about finding a balance between under exposure and over exposure and taking everything into account in the viewfinder and finding a balance.

Even if one chooses to use the zebra there is a learning curve to using it to achieve the right balance in your shot. So either way one chooses to use the camera, either by sight or by zebra, you'll have to spend time getting the hang of it. You can get great exposure either way, you just pick your poison and go with it.

Re: Canon XA10
 

The first time took my new cx730 with me (just one day after I got it) several of my footage turned out to be a bit overexposed, especially on the faces in bright sunlight and it looked ok in the viewfinder.

It was only a day later I discovered the thing had zebra's :( My older xr520 did not have this so I thought it would be the same with the 730, I am sure though if I would have known this at the day of the shoot I would not have any overexposed faces. So this was my mistake not to spend enough time going through all camerafunctions before the shoot.

Why do you think I hate not having zebra's on my dslr? I know zebra's alone are not the only tool to judge exposure but it would sure help me a lot in getting a much better exposure. I know there is magic lantern that provides this (think with colors?) but I have not taken the risk yet to install it, might expereiment after the weddingseason is over. With my dslr I think I have enough experience allready and always have to judge on sight but still got quite some footage that's either over- or under exposed, zebra's would give me much better results for sure. Just my opinion.

Re: Canon XA10
 

Noa,

Magic Lantern is simple. I know it sounds scary, I too was hesitant at first, but I have had it on my 60D for a year now and it makes the camera a more complete tool. Just follow the instructions and no big deal. You'll love it.

Re: Canon XA10
 

Might give it a testrun soon if time allows, I need to be sure to know what it does if I activate it before I do a paid shoot. I found it funny in the last release they claim that it's "a solid piece of engineering that you can trust." yet they do warn you with the installation files that it can destroy your camera and to use at own risk :)

Re: Canon XA10
 

I think they do that for people that don't follow directions.

Congrats on 1500 posts!!

Re: Canon XA10
 

If it would have been my 1500th client I would be happy, but 1500 posts is just a reminder that I spend too much time online and should continue editing. :D

Re: Canon XA10
 

Zebra are a tool, with an on/off switch to boot! They can help a lot once you know how to use them. The advantage is set at 100 they tell you what is blown out. Tells you what has lost highlight detail. Set at 70 may help with exposure of face/skin for certain skin tones. This helps you set your priorities for exposure of a scene with a wide brightness range.

The key is to know how they work. Zebra are a quick substitute for high quality monitors and waveform displays. A videographer who knows how to use zebra will, on the whole, generally get better exposure results than an equally competent videographer who does not use zebra with the same camcorder. Using waveform display and high quality monitors one can do even better,. But this is why NLE include image correction filters.

Go with the techniques that work best you you with your gear.