Canon announces 3 fantastic new camcorders today: Vixia HG G30, XA20, and XA25

Hey Lance, thanks for sharing. This is great news! I was just about to get the G20, but will wait.
Thanks, you just saved me a headache of not getting the right camera.
I also wondered why today the price dropped a little on the older cameras, now I know.
Thanks again
 
Not sure I would spend extra for the XLR audio. The G30 has 1080.60p and a heck of a zoom.
I was going to get a ac90, still might, but this puppy I am sure I will get. Wish the price was lower. Trying to get more details on difference between G20 and G30.
If you look on Amazon, the G20 just didn't sell a bunch, but I feel people will like this one.
Do you think the price is going to be that high..1700$ The price of a Ac90 Panasonic is 1800$ right now.
tough call. Can't wait to see reviews.
Keep us posted!
oh yeah, it has 1/2.84-inch HD CMOS Pro, RGB Primary Color Filter.

You have to love these little Canon cameras for family and work.
 
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The G20 was hardly different than the G10. So I don't think that it excited anyone. There certainly would be no reason for a G10 owner to upgrade to a G20.

But the G30 is a much different situation. It has upgrades galore. And it is all really useful stuff that people want to have. The ability to record in either AVCHD 28 Mbps or MP4 35 Mpbs will please a lot of folks, as editing AVCHD really does task a computer's hardware much harder. And the 720/30p MP4 recording option will be ideal for folks that want to either stream live HD video, and/or quickly upload video to Facebook, YouTube, or Vimeo. For you can edit it much quicker, or even just upload it straight from the camera.

It has a brand new sensor with great low light performance, and the lens is now an amazing 20x optical, instead of the old 10x. The 35mm equivalent zoom range is an impressive 26.8 - 576 mm, which is way better than the Panasonic AG-AC90's 12x zoom.

The new 3.5 screen is now an OLED, with Capacitive Touch ( YEA! ). and 1.23 million pixels of resolution. Capacitive touch will make the menus far more responsive and easier to use. Even more improved is the viewfinder, which now offers an excellent 1.56 million dots, compared to the low resolution 260,000 dots of the G10's viewfinder and also the viewfinder on the Panasonic AG-AC90. So it will be a far better viewfinder than either of those camcorders.

The G30 also offers dual recording to both slots simultaneously, just like the AG-AC90. But with the G30 you could have it record 1080/60p 28 Mbps AVCHD to one slot, and 720/30p MP4 to the other slot. So you can automatically get the best of both worlds, with max quality AVCHD being recorded while you can also get a file that you can more quickly get online.

Since I post stuff online, the ability to record MP4 is going to really sway me. The ring on the lens can now be setup to adjust aperture, which is a nice improvement.

Biggest difference of all is that the G30 fully loaded with battery weighs 2 lbs, while the AG-AC90 weighs double that: 4 lbs. For handheld shooting, that will give the Canon a big edge. And it even records Linear PCM audio, something neither the AG-AC90 or even my AG-AC130 can do.

If the image quality and low light performance that it promises all appear to be good, I think that I am definitely going to upgrade to it.

The three areas where the AG-AC90 is clearly superior are: 1) Much more extensive manual controls, 2) support for XLR microphones, and 3) Superior image stabilization. While those are all definite advantages, I can live with the controls on the G30. And I love Canon's compact DM-100 stereo shotgun microphone that can be attached to the intelligent shoe on the G30, just like I currently use it on my G10. Plus I can record both from the DM-100 and a wireless mike hooked up to the 3.5 mm microphone input at the same time.

I was about ready to place an order for the AC90. But I think that I will instead now wait for the G30. I'm eager to read some reviews when they become available and see some sample footage, and see how it compares to the excellent footage that the AC90 is producing.

As far as price goes, Canon and Nikon gear almost always sells for suggested retail when the cameras are introduced. They really don't leave any room in their margins for discounting, as Panasonic does with their suggested retail prices. So don't expect to find the camera at a discount anywhere.
 
Thanks for the detail description. I am in the same boat you are trying to decide between AC90 and now the G30. I don't think you will loose with either one. I own just about the same cameras you do, but the Canon Vixia is with me all the time. In my pocket for travel, in the tree stand for hunting, for fishing, filming family, and then as a B camera for my part time video jobs. It gets knocked around a lot, (not the lens) but that thing gives me such good results. I am sure you use your G10 as a B camera with your AC130.
When you shoot using your DM-100 and another mic, I take it that your G10 places the audio of the DM-100 on one channel and the other mic on the other. And you are pretty happy with the DM-100? I will have to look into this. Thanks again for the info.
 
That 20x zoom will be nice for standing back from your subject, going to about 12 or 13x and getting nice shallow DOF shots. I could get them with my HFS 200, but the flexibility of having more range is very nice. That's one other thing the AC90 would have trouble achieving, but of course the AC90 has a lot of awesome gammas and color adjustments on board. It's awesome to have a good range of choices below $2000!
 
I wonder if it will be approved for broadcast by "you know who" with a suitable external recorder? If so that would be amazing at that price point + wonderful "stealth" form factor for certain kinds of documentary and investigative journalism.
 
Not sure if the the XA20 uses the same batteries as the XA10,also i bought the 1.5 extender for more focal length,if the extender works on the new cam it would give brilliant focal length.
 
Blit said:
Hi
Why would one choose the XA25 or the XF105 besides the codec differences.
Click to expand...


More controls on external buttons, waveform monitor on the XF105. XA25 has twice the range lens, cheaper SD cards, and the specs say it has better low light. Unlike the XA10, the XA20/25 is listed as both having PCM Sound, like the XF 105. aso, the XF105 is slightly larger and is easier to hold steady without OIS, but the new hybrid electronic/optical IS system on the XA20/25 sounds like it could potentially be as good as the Sony IS systems.

At this point do not trust the Canon website specs, they were wrong on the fact that that the XA25 has 4:2:2 output.
 
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This will have to remain to be seen until reviews can be made between the two. Image quality, light sensitivty, noise reduction are best not gleaned from spec sheets. Time will tell if the XA25 is the new XF100 in Canon's eyes or a prelude to the XF150...
 
Blit said:
Hi
Why would one choose the XA25 or the XF105 besides the codec differences.
Click to expand...

Along with the differences already mentioned, the XF series have variable frame rate shooting, and the picture controls are much deeper, with the ability to choose gammas, knee, etc. These new models do make me wonder if the 300/305 100/105 are going to get "S" designations soon, like the XHA1 and XLH1 received after a while on the market. Not major upgrades, but upgrades to keep them fresh for another couple of years.
 
Thanks philiplipetz & pulpfiction007. You helped me get my mind around what's evolving with the Canon line. Seems like the XF105 does have SDI and Timecode in/out and the XA25 doesn't. Makes sense with the XF105 being pro and the XA25 more prosumer.
 
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