Canon XH A1

PhaedeD

PhaedeD

Active member
Got enough money for my bday and xmas to buy one should i do it??

has anyone used one how do u like it?
 
those are pretty damn sweet cameras,  if you have to go HD then id get that over alot of alternatives, but dont waste your money on HD yet,  just get a nice 3ccd cam, cause you and the people you make stuff for are most likely always going to watch it in SD.
 
it really depends on what you want to do with it.

if you plan on making money with it, shoot skiing, etc... then go for it.

if you just plan to shoot skiing for fun and don't really care if it's HD or SD, then go for whichever you prefer.

Do you have any previous experience with cameras? if not, then steer clear and pick up an HV20 or something.

in short, the A1 is an awesome camera for the price and it can produce a very very respectable image when used properly.
 
you could also just go for a panasonic DVX100 becaue they are goin on sale now and its an amazing camera.... and with the money you save you could buy accesories
 
yeah, i agree, if you are just shooting, and have no need for the HD go for the dvx, i use the hvx. But the dvx shoots super well.
 
well funny enough they tried to jack me so i canceled my order, anyways i just ordered a jvc gz-hd7 its a pretty legit cam and should be rather easy to use.
 
How much did you spend? You should have gotten a different camera, those HD cameras are kind of dumb...
 
i spent like 1200 bucks im buying a new mac also with final cut pro HD but the cam also shoots great quality SD video so if i dont start using the hd right away im not worried about it. i think i will be happy with what i have for now.
 
well thats cool and all but i did a little bit of filming today learning how to use the camera and it looks amazing, it was in widescreen HD and on full screen on my computer. i made a like 1 minute little edit not even just clips together with a song and it looked great only problem was whatever way i saved it that 1 minute thing turned out to be 236mb's lol
 
oh yeah its still a great camera, its just if you really want to get into filming and be able to control everything, and get an amazing picture,  a nice 3ccd is the obvious choice.  its just with the cheaper HD camera's you tend to get more of just a soccer mom handi cam type just with higher resolution thats pretty much made to shoot automatic.  but it will kill a something like a gl2 or vx2000 using auto settings, you simply cannot shoot full auto on a 3ccd cam like those and get a good picture, you have to go pretty much all manual all the time.  atleast thats what i learned comparing my friends HD cam to my 3CCD
 
First off, im sick of the HDV = soccer mom. HDV is used with the FX1, im pretty sure soccer moms don't use such cameras.

THe JVC HD puts out a real nice picture, along with the tape based canon hv20. HDV will take over 3ccd, mark my words. But harddrive based will take a while
 
ya i mean the cam that i got what i read about it says that it is basically a smaller version of the cameras they use for HD broadcasting it has the same processor and the same lens just smaller. the quality is ammmmmaazzing but i just need to figure out how to make it so a 1 minute edit isnt 240 something megabits lol
 
the fx1 is definatly a nice camera,  but im talking about the small handheld cameras that kinda suck for using manual controls.  sure HDV can be used in cameras like the fx1 and it can be  great looking, its also a 3CCD cam, but with HDV resolution, so its the best of both worlds, 3CCD quality and HDV resolution, but the little handleld cameras really are just nice soccer mom cameras.  and i couldnt see it taking over 3ccd when 3ccd simply gets a better picture.   HD is most likely gonna take over once it gets cheaper, cause to shoot true HD it costs alot right now.  but in like 5 years i could see HD cams taking the place of cameras like the vx2k's dvx's and gl2's and be in the same price range too.  HDV is just a cheap excuse for HD, and eventually i think it will fade out  once HD becomes cheaper.

for now though its not a bad choice for someone who wants a high resolution picture and pretty damn good quality.
 
HV20 (handheld "soccer mom camera") vs. GL2 (3ccd)

HV20

LizDonDV.JPG


GL2

LizDonHDV.JPG


http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?t=4454

 
Take a look at slandis' old media. He got some amazing footage from a gl2. Way better looking then that crap.
 
haha the only thing that proves is that if your not willing to spend time manually setting up your camera, DONT get something like a gl2, get something that is MADE to be shot auto, and that is where something like an hv20 would excel.  im guessing either that camera was on all auto, or the guy just sucked ass at setting it up.  gl2's can get much much better looking footage than that. the picture from both cameras just looks like its from a crappy handi cam.

and yeah listen to the other guy who said to watch slandis's stuff.  most of his vids are shot with a gl2 and you simply WILL NOT ever find footage from something like a hv20 or any little HDV handi cam.
 
haha,  having higher resolution isnt going to make a poorly white balanced picture suddenly better. and it isnt HD its HDV, there is a pretty big difference.  the reason people say most HDV cams are soccer mom cams is because all they are pretty much is a normal handheld camera you would get from best buy or walmart,  but with a higher resolution.  having a higer resolution can be nice, but really not that big of deal,  shit my favorite type of video format is super 8MM film,  and that has shit for resoltion. anyway having good colors and everything else is much more important,  thats why a 3CCD cam is usually "better"  it has 3 chips for each color instead of one for all.

and HDV right now is pretty pointless because you are really never gonna be watching it in HD, if you put your stuff on the internet its not gonna be HD, if you wanna sell dvd's its not gonna be HD,  all your footage ends up being SD anyway.
 
i watched clips on my computer of the full hd footage i took and then watched that guys gl2 footage and well im not gonna lie my full hd footage on auto looked better than his gl2 footage.
 
FOr the record, the guy setup both cameras on manual, and has filmed over 300 weddings with both cameras on manual settings.

But, i still think the hv20 keeps up with the gl2, maybe not excel, but deffinitly keeps up
 
I love the whole HDV isn't real HD argument, when really, it is. HD is technically any resolution higher than 720p (1280x720). Saying a camera doesn't have true HD is such a blunt statement.

There are many different ways cameras compress footage whether it's onto tape, p2, sx cards, hard drives etc. There are only a handful of cameras that can shoot uncompressed 2k and 4k HD footage, like RED and Silicon imaging's Si2K, and some others.

What it comes down to is this, any HD camera will beat any SD camera with resolution. But, just because you have the resolution, does not mean it will look better. I have seen HV20 footage that has looked better than some stuff shot on an HVX200, it's all about how you shoot your subject. Arguing that HD is better than SD just because it has a higher resolution is ridiculous, you have to look at the other aspects involved with filming.
 
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