The cons of the Canon XH A1s: Advice please!!!!
 

Hi there,

After MUCH research and absolutely no hands on experience with it (eep!), I've almost decided that I am going to buy the A1s, BUT before I do I wanted to know a list of the pet peeves and cons that this camera has to offer.

I also wanted to clarify that it is actually a side load camera. (one of those things I'd kick myself for if I didn't check).

Lastly, what is the warranty that comes with the Camera, is there an extension you can get with Canon and would you recommend extending the warranty.

CHEERS!

I have an original XH A1, and the only little things I don't like they have fixed with the new S model. They were very minor issues and never caused me any problems. The XH A1, now the XH A1s, is the best thing you can get for the money. To get a better quality camera you would have to go to the 1/2" chip Sony EX1 (and the tapeless workflow) for double the money.

Yes, it loads from the side. And there are extended warranties available. I know B&H sells one and I'd assume other dealers do too.

I've had my camera since late 2006 and use it for professional commercial production as well as for shooting independent documentaries that have been shown on theatre screens.

Best of class!

XH A1s has extra one engine for independent focusing while zooming.

I just got my new "S" model......audio is now excellent and I can really fine-tune the gain in increments, something not available in the prior model.

Your question is not unlike asking a man to tell you all the ugly and unpleasant things about his wife. Most times he won't. The same thing applies to anyone's major purchase of anything.

I've had the A1 for 18 months and there are a couple of things that were not, to my knowledge, fixed with the A1s.
- Placement of the review button-I routinely hit it when the cam's in the rain cover
- OIS cannot be assigned to the programmable button
- LCD is way too small for my old eyes, even wearing glasses
- Audio auto leveling ties the two channels together somewhat-loud sounds on 1 channel will effect the other

Pretty minor overall, but the first two really annoy the umguallagualla out of me.

I have the original XH-A1.
Complaints...... well the shotgun mic bracket is attached with really tiny screws that can easily break...other than that I don't have any regrets.

I've gotten many compliments on the quality of my footage. The camera is capable of producing really great broadcast worthy images. Definitely, best in class as the previous poster said.

The only camera I can think of with better image quality near its price range would be the Sony EX1 (way higher price tag).

Doh!, forgot to mention its ergonomics, which is very important, to me at least.
Everything is laid out perfectly, in my opinion, when changing settings I rarely have to look up from the viewfinder.

It really is a great camera.

I believe you're mistaken, Tripp. OIS CAN be assigned to a button. Also the audio issue you mention is what it should be now,

WHAAAAATTTT?????????? in the XH-A1s? is it true????
that would be ideal, but i heard it is not so... i have been so frustrated lately i've been googling 'XH-A1 OIS button firmware hack', to no avail...

Yup. It's true, OIS can be assigned to a custom button ... check page 73 of the XH-A1s user manual.

So there you are Ayesha - you ask for the cons and get only pros. That must tell you something.

You can easily extend the warrenty (for amateur and domestic usage) with someone like domgen.co.uk, but if the camera works well for a year it should then work well for another 5 or 7.

tom.

really, the cam should be smaller with larger dials and switches, lighter and cheaper with with bigger, wider and faster zoom, and finally designed small and unnoticable while projecting professional serousness.

:-)

holy! then, i guess the question is, and forgive my technical ignorance, if you can do that on the XH-A1s, is it then a firmware fix? and if so, could one use this firmware with the XH-A1?
this would be a huge boon! anybody (Chris Hurd!) know about this?

I'm interested in this obsession with turning off the Canon's OIS - are its visible artifacts so disturbing (only on a tripod presumably) that this needs to be done often? And does the camera offer four different OIS 'power settings' as the Z1 does, for instance?