I agree. We get used to good things in life so quickly and soon after take them for granted. Even bad movies shot on 35mm become bad movies quickly. Blu Ray, HD DVD and beautiful large display help only for a moment :)

However, I think we should be a little bit more forgiving. Nothing is perfect, but considering the results vs the cost ratio, we really should not complain too much. $4k package that includes 20x HD lens and still produces such beautiful results is wonderful achievement, imo.

Density of 1.56 megapixels on 1/3" sensors translates to 44 megapixels(!) on 35mm SLR frame. Imagine the cost of 35mm lens resolving that resolution at 3x zoom, or even prime... Even the most expensive lenses suffer from CA and therefore there's always at least one reason for color fringe. Barlow Elton posted very good example of that. Here we have 20x lens and solution that in many image quality aspects is comparable to waaay more expensive equipment so who can seriously complain?

Maybe instead of pointing our fingers to inherent imperfections of equipment we use and can afford, we should rather discuss how to avoid situations that make those problems visible?

Just my humble 2 cents.

I originally pointed it out because I do not see any CA to this degree on my XL-H1. It seemed like a potential issue to me in comparison to another camera in the sub 10K market. Not in relation to $100k camera. Either way after not viewing it for a while and getting a chance to check it out again it really isn't that bad. The problems grow in our minds in direct proportion to how much we talk about it!!!

:)


Peace!

I've seen it in XL-H1 and all cameras I had a chance to hold in my hands, including still cameras, but it's really hard, at least for me, to say if some of them were significantly better or worse than others (I'm talking about $4..10k range).

It would take putting them side by side in the same light conditions to draw near-objective conclusions. There is no guarantee other cameras in this class would behave better in the same situation. Just give them hard edges, enough contrast and point in direction they don't like and color fringe will sure be there.

I have seen it in other cameras, even some H1 footage I have downloaded on the web. However I have not seen it on my own H1 (lucky I guess....I usually get the problems!) as of yet. When I had my XL2 I never saw it much. But when I put a .7x in front of the lens it started looking weird out at the edges. More than just a tiny bit of fringing. I saw a lot of blur and distortion out there. I was not happy with it.

That XH-A1 shot (with the trees in the top left corner) looked more like that than what I have seen in other cameras. That is why it jumped out at me. I think the A1 is going to be a great camera despite this one incident....the rest of the footage is tight.....especially for a $4K camera.

Peace!

I haven't seen much of that problem with XL2 also. I guess it's because SD hides most of the symptoms. In HD it's much harder to have those problems unnoticed. I guess you are lucky if you haven't seen it in your H1 footage :) Good thing is more often than we realize, we avoid those problems almost automatically using our esthetic judgment.

The XH-G1 shot you mentioned would be probably very tough to handle for any camera. The problem is visible in the left upper corner. Other 3 corners look perfect so it's not the lens weakness that caused it. There were many branches and leaves dancing in that area in high contrast. Actually, I'm quite impressed with dynamic range of new Canons.

Sure it would be interesting to compare A1/G1 against Sony V1 in that particular situation since they have similar zoom range (actually Canons start with wider angle, but they are all 20x zooms).

Peace!

That's what I said....the upper left corner.

:)

Did I say right corner? :)

Value
 

I guess this is the only camera in this price range with these features. I'm new to "owning a camera" and am debating between a proven DVX100b and this. The dvx is about 1k cheaper w/ rebate. I've read a lot and tested the A1 in store. Did not floor me (will Canon ever make a usable lcd??) The CA is definitely there (or everyone wouldn't be talking about it in all these threads - it's real). The footage here is very choppy. The 24f looks different than the 24p in the DVx, that's for sure. It's very sharp and clear (duh). But I think for all the headaches, maybe I should just rent "a really good" HD camera when the project calls for it (like the HVX200). If you were a new buyer, is the A1 worth the extra 1k over the awesome dvx100b? I feel like I can get top-of-the-class SD or entry level (i.e. frustrating) HDV. Like the other poster says, once you step into HD, you expect a lot more and you SEE a lot more (good AND bad). Yours truly, About-to-punish-my-credit-card.
p.s. Thanks for posting the clips and the great debate! Without these forums, I'd be lost.

you are welcome.

The A1 and the HVX200 are not far off being in the same ballpark. The HVX200 has plenty of "issues" (image and workflow) just different ones to the A1.

I chose an A1 over the HVX because the noise in the HVX's image can be a bit dodgy in the shadows, and the P2 workflow is a nice idea, but an expensive pain in the behind if you work like I do.

If you're renting I'd aim for something a bit further up the scale - at very least go for a F350. Now that's a nice camera (in the affordable HD range).

I see what you mean. That's good advice on the high-end rental. I've warmed up a bit to the A1. In the meantime, I'm gonna go shoot a music "video" on Super 8 (from Pro8)! Go figure. :P I do have a new Letus 35, so my plan is to hook that on to whatever I get and I've seen varying reports on how well it works on the A1. I'll look for more threads on that rig. If you're curious, I'll post pix of my new Letus on my old workhorse TRV900 somewhere here.

Hey, I just downloaded Mpeg Streamclip and I got to see your clips of the reflective water. I must admit this looked very nice to me. I'm going to look at more later. I've been impressed with all the clips coming from this camera.

-Nate