Canon releases A1 footage
 

Canon has released footage filmed using the A1. One can say that this is the best one can get from the camera as it is from the actual manufacturers of the camera. It is clearly evident that the colours are vibrant and realistic.

http://usa.canon.com/app/html/See_Th.../hd_3ccd.shtml

Thanks for the link David, I have waited for that XLH1 footage a while and now it's ready for download!

They both looks fantastic!

Good to look at. I have to say I wasn't blown away with the Watchmaker footage. I guess I had heard a lot of the hype surrounding it. The interior lit scenes were nice as were the camera movements but I wasn't at all impressed with the exterior shots.

The XHA1 footage was very flat in color but I guess they were showing off the camera in a relatively default state. The best shots for me were towards the end of the piece because they were a little more saturated. The encoding was peculiar, I was getting a lot of interlaced lines in the movement, particularly with the running horses.

The XLH1 stuff gave a good sense of what can be done with the right crew. The XHA1 stuff was mediocre and boring.

Just my opinion.

Boy, the A1 part sucked. The actress was way too self conscient, some of the footage looked over exposed, some of the footage looked like the white balance was poorly done, the slow motion was horrendous. This was probably shot by some canon executive on vacation with his young mistress.

agreed. the A1 footage looked like a giant GL1 segment.
i guess they are trying to upsell the XLH1 with these videos.

I actually contacted Canon a few months ago offering to work with them on a demo piece but, after one initial response promising to get back to me, they completely blew me off. I sent them samples and multiple e-mails. Then I just gave up because their non-response was nothing short of rude.

steven, if they used your stuff nobody would buy the XLH1.

if i didn't already own the A1 and know better, I probably would have went for the H1 too.

I agree with Rafael on the A1 footage. The exposure and white balance doesn't look right to me. I am downloading the XLH1 clip now to see if it is better. Steven, its ashame Canon would not work with you. I believe you could have done the cam justice. From what I have seen in the right hands both cams can be outstanding.

Wow... Am I the only one who thinks the A1/G1 footage is quite good?

Admitted it's not as precisely executed as the watchmaker footage (and it's certainly not as artistic as the footage that Steven's been sharing with us), but it doesn't look bad...

You're probably right about the markets they're aiming at. An A1 might well be better suited to a travel assignment than an H1. And (as they obviously didn't have the support kit and crew that the watchmaker producers have) in a way it provides a realistic comparison. After all we know the cameras have the potential to look pretty much identical!

I like Steven Dempsey's footage better. Steve, Canon is stupid! They should have brought you on board!

While I appreciate the support, guys. Let's not make this thread all about me :) I was just venting earlier.

the hv10 footage from sometime ago was way better than the A1/G1 footage. Guess, nobody is biting on those H1 eh canon ?

I'm glad it isn't just me. Not only is the HV10 footage better than the A1/G1 footage. But, I have produced better footage out of my HC1. The clip should of contained 24f,30f and 60i shots. Also, it would of been nice to see some low lux shots for the H1,G1 and A1, like the did with the XL2 sample footage.

I guess I ask for to much.

Very interesting! The footage looks quite nice for the most part for the A1. I agree with some of what's been said about the exposure on some shots. Mabey a little to blown out on a few highlights. WB looked good, and colours in general was nice...not too saturated but not bland either.

The biggest thing that stands out to me is some of the artifacting going on. The horses, the girl when dressed in red and generally anywhere where there are large blocks of similar colour particularly with movement things get some bars across them. I'm starting to suspect that this is very much the downside to HDV format. In many ways that's a little scary to contemplate as I do a large amount of extreme sports and I think this camera is going to choke at times. I have to take a look at the XLH1 footage still but I have the feeling already that I am going to see less/no artifacts because they would likely record it SDI out.

I must say, I'm rather underwhelmed seeing that official canon-footage. It's sooo much below par compared to what I've seen here and over at DVXuser (is naming that forum allowed?). And no shallow DOF-shots or smooth moving shots. The idea that I got from those images was that I probably shouldn't be moving and filming at the same time, even when I have a tripod. I didn't expect to see so many living stills. To be honest it's a bit boring.