XH-A1 SD vs XL1-S and workflow

[Eric Weiss]

Hello,

I am considering purchasing the Canon XH-A1. I currently shoot with an XL1-S and GL2 and edit with Vegas.

I have a few questions that I hope can be answered.

For SD, how does the XH-A1 compare to the XL1-S? I shoot a wide range of topics which include recipes with chefs, hotels/resorts, talking heads, and product b-roll.

The XL1-S is the most versatile camera I have ever used, but I would like to begin migrating over to HD/HDV. I will still need to deliver SD content, which leads me to a question regarding workflow.

Is anyone editing in Vegas with the native m2t files? I am very confused by the whole “intermediary codec” concept and would just like to confirm that I understand the procedure.

From what I have read - you shoot in HDV to tape, then import that tape via firewire, Vegas saves it as m2t’s, you then encode them to Cineform .avis for editing, you then encode them back to your choice of MPEG2 HD/HDV codecs for delivery?

Best,
Eric