Anything my XL2 does better than the H1?
 

I love my 16x9 24p XL2. But I want more. Is there anything that I will notice as being a downgrade from my XL2? What will I miss about my XL-2 if i trade up? Things like 24p vs. 24f. A switch from the DV to the MPEG compression. Are these things going to dissapoint an XL2 user?

I can't immediately think of anything that can be seen as a "downgrade" when moving from the XL2 to the XL H1. The biggest pending question of course is 24P compared to 24F, and there's nothing conclusive about that yet. There may be some loss of light sensitivity, which is inherent with small image sensors and HD. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that low-light performance on the XL2 may be better than the XL H1, but that's due to 1/3rd-inch DV compared to 1/3rd-inch HD. All such camcorders are like that.

Light sensitivity is a good point. I hadn't thought of that. Not really an issue for me most of the time since I am lighting my shots, but for run and gun stuff, it could be a factor. I will read up on sensitivity with HD chips. Thanks for sheding some...errr..light on the subject.

It won't last forever but an XL2 user who is in love with the 16x manual lens would probably view the inability to use it a downgrade. ( I know it is conpatible but not up to HD qulaity) I am sure Canon will eventually provide a HD quality manual lens. But until that time you would have to use the servo HD lens that comes with it.

Outside of that I cannot really think of anything other than the light sensitivity that Chris mentioned. Canon really nailed it as far as features go.

You might notice a downgrade in wallet performance.
(thought I'd make you guys smile a sec~~)

"You might notice a downgrade in wallet performance."

I like to think of it as making room for all the income that the new camera will generate.
:)

I like this thread - straight to the point. So it seems the 2 most noticeable distinctions (H1 and XL2) are: cost and low light sensitivity. Considering I use my XL2 for outdoor/wildlife and multiple EF lenses, what are the benefits to upgrade to the H1. I don't mind the cost but is it really practical.

Well Bill in terms of wildlife videography with the EF adapter, there is one more slight downgrade involved. On the XL2, the field-of-view multiplication factor is 7.8x in 16:9 mode and 9.6x in 4:3 mode.

With the XL H1 that factor will drop to 7.2x in 16:9 mode. That will take just a slight edge off of your extreme telephoto work. I'm not sure what it will be in 4:3 mode. Other than this little detail, you'll be enjoying the higher resolution of HDV plus there's a two-megapixel digicam built in... you can record 1920x1080 stills to the memory card while shooting HDV to tape.

Thanks for that info Chris, I would love to know what the 4:3 magnification would be, like Bill I would use it for wildlife photography.

Keep up the great work

Bob