Sell Me On The XH-A1

[Bob Thieda]

Originally Posted by Guy Godwin

I just did a search for the A1S on the B&H site and this is what I got.

Are they only selling the A1?

XH A1S | B&H Photo Video

I believe the A1s go on sale at the end of December.

[Yang Wen]

Do you have info on this cam?

Originally Posted by Jack Walker

You definitely want to look at the new JVC camera coming out in the spring. It is being designed to me or exceed all the specifications of the Canon XH-A1.

[Chris Hurd]

See http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/digital-v...order-ibc.html for everything we know so far.

[Gabe Spangler]

Chris (Hurd),

I think you are a little off in that the price in the U.S. is the same for the A1 and the A1s. I bought my A1 from B&H for $3,300. That was in September. Other less reputable outlets had it for $3,000 or less in some cases. Last time I checked, the new A1s was $3,999 from B&H. This represents about a 30% increase in cost – a substantial amount. And now that the A1s is shipping, the A1 is still in stock some places and is on supersale for $3,000 or less.

Just wanted to clear that up. There is a significant price difference between the two, even in the U.S.

Yes, you do get substantial improvements on the A1s, but you also pay for them. But I think this is more of a case of Canon realized what a great camera they have on their hands and wanted to jack up the profit margins a bit.

[Guy Godwin]

B&H told me that they are going to be selling them for right at $4K. I can get a A1 one now for $29xx.xx. (with several toss in's"

I am very confused on what I should do. Should I wait for the new A1S or should I get a good deal on the A1.

This is strictly a hobby for me right now and currently love my XL2. But I want HD and my wife wants something smaller for obvious reasons.

Do you know if the Footage quality, Low light abilities or "Auto" Functions will be better on the A1S? I don't use "Auto" much. But in some cases if I am shooting something at Dusk under the lights. (Like a football game) and Auto White balance would be nice. (If it is good). Also the Auto Focus. There are times when I can't go manual and I find the XL2 lacks in the Auto Focus stand point.

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Gabe Spangler

I think you are a little off in that the price in the U.S. is the same for the A1 and the A1s.

I'm not off. I said that the price of the new A1S is the same price as the A1 was when it was *originally introduced,* and that's a fact which is easy to verify. I did not say that the new A1S price is the same as the *current* price of the older A1 -- there is of course a significant gap there. All I said was that the *introductory* prices of both cameras are the same. In other words, the A1S price is no higher than the A1 price was back in 2006 when it was first introduced.

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Guy Godwin

This is strictly a hobby for me right now

If it's strictly a hobby, I would buy the much cheaper xh-a1. the A1s is really not "that" much better to justify the high price difference. With what you save you can get an external mic or videolight or whatever, in that case it's a better investment.
The improvements on the new model are ofcourse making it a better camera to controll but in Europe price differences are up to 1500 euro now between the 2 models and it might get a bit less noise but I doubt the image quality will be different.

[Jeff Kellam]

Originally Posted by Guy Godwin

B&H told me that they are going to be selling them for right at $4K. I can get a A1 one now for $29xx.xx. (with several toss in's"

I am very confused on what I should do. Should I wait for the new A1S or should I get a good deal on the A1.

This is strictly a hobby for me right now and currently love my XL2. But I want HD and my wife wants something smaller for obvious reasons.

I would wait for the A1 inventory to deplete and the A1s to drop to the $3,500 price point. The 4K price point is artificially high as all other cameras in this category are $3,500.

A used A1 in the future is not going to sell as well as a used A1s.

However, a new A1 at about $2,500 would be a steal. May not happen though.

[Bill Pryor]

Other cameras in this category are actually more expensive. The nearest thing to the XHA1s would be the Sony Z5U, which is $300 more at B&H. That $4K tag was what the XH A1 was at B&H when it came out, and the price stayed there until after I bought mine, naturally, and then dropped by about $500. Now it's $3K to get rid of the stock, since the S model is available.

I'm glad for the changes on the S. The best one is having an OIS switch available instead of going to the menu. Still, I would buy the XH A1 original today and put the $1K into lights, tripod, etc. Unless, of course, $1K is not that significant to you. No doubt the price will drop after the update has been around awhile.

[Tripp Woelfel]

Originally Posted by Guy Godwin

This is strictly a hobby for me right now and currently love my XL2.

"Right now" being the key words in your sentence. If you are sure it will stay a hobby then getting the current A1 has merit. But... if you're going to do anything more than grab footage on holiday, like try to make money with it in the next couple of years, holding out for the S model is worth considering. Here's one example.

I had literally one minute to go from the roof over a race track's sky boxes down to the press room so I could the press conference with the race's winner, Kevin Harvick. In that minute I had to unplug external audio inputs from the camera, take it off the tripod, disconnect the LANC, get the iris, exposure and white balance right and probably a few other things I've forgotten. The one thing I omitted, and probably didn't have time to do anyway was diving into the menus to turn the OIS on. As usual, there were no breaks in the conference where I could make the switch, so I had to improvise in that crowded room, and there's no way my improvisation is going to stabilize the footage like the OIS would.

That's my story. You decide.

[Jeff Kellam]

Originally Posted by Bill Pryor

Other cameras in this category are actually more expensive. The nearest thing to the XHA1s would be the Sony Z5U, ....

Another contender in this price range is the Panasonic HMC-150. It's a tapeless AVCHD camera, so it is a little different, but still a 1/3" prosumer with XLR.

Originally Posted by Bill Pryor

I'm glad for the changes on the S. The best one is having an OIS switch available instead of going to the menu. Still, I would buy the XH A1 original today and put the $1K into lights, tripod, etc. ..

You are right about all the supporting equipment. Even if it's a second camera, you need a second tripod. I think the OP mentioned weddings, so don't forget the wireless either. At least with the A1, you can use the onboard mics for wedding ambient with good results (except in wind). Many other cameras need an onboard shotgun just for good ambient.