Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

CVP's Dave just informed me that the XA25 has arrived today on time. They'll start shipping the pre-ordered camcorders now. Good news.

Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

Congrats Gabor!

Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

Cool. Hopefully you can share some thoughts with us after some shooting time.

Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

Sure I will Tim...

Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

Amazon is now reporting the XA-20 will be released on June 30.

Amazon.com: Canon XA20 Professional Camcorder: Camera & Photo

Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

I know this is Canon we are talking here so this is probably a stupid question... But does anyone think there is a chance we could get user selectable 50p -> 60p for people that would like the extra FPS but live in PAL regions?

I really wish they'd stop making us pay more for "region locking" when all that should happen is set to defaults out of the box to region of intended sale! :) And while i'm ranting.. teh same damn model number! lol

PS. I'm directing my question to the HF G30 but if the bigger brothers have these options please feel free to share info on those.

Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

Finally! Our Canon XA25 has just arrived. First package unwrapped, will post the first results in a day or so.

Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

Wonderful! Looking forward to the results.

Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

Thanks Gabor. Looking forward to finding out how this camera performs in lower light conditions with regards to noise & detail. Not midnight but situations where the XF300 might be towards an open iris.

Always fun to check out a new camera.

Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

I'd prefer to compare it with the JVC HM-150, the XF300 is a whole other class camera. Although mine is a XA25, the XA20 and JVC HM-150 are direct competitors in my opinion. About the same price, same formfactor and both do 35 Mbps MOV and MP4. The advantages of the HM150 are the built-in ND filter, included microphone, 3 chips vs. 1 and ccd's vs. cmos (no rolling shutter). Theoretically the 3 chips should be able to produce a better picture as they can split the RGB colours but the HM150 is horrible on that. Watch this video and see what it does with reflective colours:


The advantages of the XA20 over he HM150 are numerous; the 20x lens, Full HD 50p and built-in WiFi.The HM150 is just useless in lowlight. Wondering what the XA25 does there, we'll see.

Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

There we go. First lowlight test with the brandnew Canon XA25 in almost-full darkness. Recorded on 1920x1080 50p 35 Mbps. Because the camera was on auto-aperture the image is a lot brighter than the actual situation. A lot of grain but the camera at least is usable in darkness, the JVC GY-HM150 was useless.

Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

Second test with the brandnew Canon XA25, now in full darkness. Recorded on 1920x1080 50p 35 Mbps. The camera was on manual aperture now and the image brightness represents the actual situation. Still a lot of grain but the camera at least is usable in darkness, the JVC GY-HM150 was useless.

Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

could you please post a test at night in your living room lit only by 2 60 watt light bulbs? A Coke can placed in the foreground would be nice to determine color accuracy.

Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

Kris, the test would be useless because we would not know the distance of the light from the coke cans, etc. and then we would need to set up the exact same conditions in our own place with another camera and compare the footage. Even then it would not be accurate, given compression on the web.

The best way to test a camera is by shooting it side by side with a control camera and using the same settings. Even then it would only yield results for that camera.

I will set up my XA-10 next to my XA-20 after it arrives and conduct such a test.

Re: New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders
 

"The best way to test a camera is by shooting it side by side with a control camera and using the same settings. Even then it would only yield results for that camera."
I agree. But that was the best that I could come up with at 4:30 AM :-)