XH-A1 Companion Camera?

[Bill Doyle]

Brian,

The need for the pulldown removal on the HV20/30 is based on the way these cameras record the video, not playback. You can certainly use the 20/30 as a deck without any additional processes.

For my own information, what software has given you the best success in working with the HV20 footage when using 24P in a timeline?

Bill

[Shahryar Rizvi]

Nice thread guys. I'm hoping to own an XH-A1 soon and plan on working with owners of the HV20 and the HV30 so this thread is helpful. I myself plan on keeping my Sony HC1 and trying to work with that also (I believe there's a thread on that was well).

[Bill Pryor]

Deke, I just saw your question. I probably shot about 20 hours before we got the batch with big dropouts. It's not going to gunk up your heads to switch. Just use the cleaning tape (follow the printed recommendations, which usually say no more than 10 seconds).

While I'm using the expensive Sony digital mastering tapes and have had no problems, I shot for a week recently and the client furnished the tape. They were the cheaper Sony Premium. Didn't see a single dropout. But I'm sticking with the expensive ones. Even though they're over 16 bucks apiece, that's still the cheapest part of a shoot.

[Tobin Strickland]

Originally Posted by Deke Ryland

Hey Bill,

How long did you use the Panny AMQ's with your A1's until you switched to Sony? I too am seeing lots of dropouts, even after cleaning the heads... and I've been using the AMQ's. I'd like to switch over to Sony's tapes, but wasn't sure if it would gunk up my heads considering I've shot AMQ's with my A1 for about 40 tapes. Thanks for any help.

I am having similar issues with Panny AMQ's in an XHA1 (2 out of 15 tapes were useless, 2 others had numerous drops). I am switching to Sony. A Panny Rep tried to tell me it had to do with the Cam and mfg tolerance...but I ain't buying it. He was giving the 'song and dance- it ain't our fault routine'.

[Brian Boyko]

Originally Posted by Bill Doyle

Brian,

The need for the pulldown removal on the HV20/30 is based on the way these cameras record the video, not playback. You can certainly use the 20/30 as a deck without any additional processes.

For my own information, what software has given you the best success in working with the HV20 footage when using 24P in a timeline?

Bill

I've been using Final Cut Pro, though I may switch to something else.

[Kevin Shahinian]

Has anyone compared A1 footage played and/or captured via HV30/HDMI vs. A1/Comp-D? Also curious, will HV30 footage play on the A1?

[Shahryar Rizvi]

Originally Posted by Taky Cheung

I have done some color matching of HV30 to Xh-A1. The result is quite good.

Color matching XH-A1 and HV20 - The Digital Video Information Network

Thanks for the link to this thread Taky. I checked it out and posted in there.

I have a question not on getting the images to match, but what would be the easiest way for me to record for just being able to edit together.

I saw the following posts:

Originally Posted by Brian Boyko

I've been using Final Cut Pro, though I may switch to something else.

Originally Posted by Taky Cheung

XH-A1 24F stores as 24fps on tape. Unlike PF24 in Hv20 and Hv30 that you need to remove pulldown.

I'm not too familiar with pulldowns and so forth yet so I just want to be able to edit easy (these are for my learning projects, when I take on something important, I'll pay attention to this). Should I not record in 24F on my Canon XH-A1 and just stick to 60i for any project I plan to work with an HV20 or HV30? I have Final Cut Express 3.5 HD.

[Taky Cheung]

If you read the first post of that thread, from my findings, Preset #13 is the clooest match with the stock HV30 footage.

If you are not familiar with pulldown removal, you can try shooting 60i on both, or XH-A1 30F and HV30 30P (HV20 doesn't have 30p). Or if you have an HV20, you can do both in 60i with Tv set to 1/30.

[Shahryar Rizvi]

Originally Posted by Taky Cheung

If you read the first post of that thread, from my findings, Preset #13 is the clooest match with the stock HV30 footage.

If you are not familiar with pulldown removal, you can try shooting 60i on both, or XH-A1 30F and HV30 30P (HV20 doesn't have 30p). Or if you have an HV20, you can do both in 60i with Tv set to 1/30.

Thanks Taky. In that first post, you said Preset #13 is the closest match to the HV20. So just to be clear, it's the same as the HV30 right?

And thanks for telling me about what to record in. I wasn't sure what you meant with TV set to 1/30 though.

[Lee Small]

Originally Posted by Bill Pryor

The Canon HV30 would be a good thing for you. Lots of people buy it to use for loading footage (it will play your XH A1's 24 and 30f modes), and it is a decent "b-roll" camera for situations where you don't want to use the bigger one, or need a second camera, such as mounted on the dash of a car, etc...

The CMOS sensor in the HV20/HV30 is vulnerable to vibration - resulting in poor quality footage. If you would like to mount your HV20/HV30 in a "vibration rich" environment - like a car frame or dashboard - you should take care to isolate the camera from vibration as best you can.

My $0.02