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

Pete L said:
Thanks Lance, I want something that is OK in low light as I need something for conference filming where the light isn't great & I can't use a camera mounted light.I thought the XA20 might have the edge there but I do like the manual settings & layout of the AC90, especially as I already own the HVX200. I do like the slowmotion of the XA20 though & think I would use that a fair bit.
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i was in the same boat as you a few months ago.
though i film football and needed to add 3 cameras along with my sony ex-1.
i went for the ac-90 and couldn't be happier.
forget the slow motion feature and do it in post.

i did film a wedding in june along with my ex-1 and i liked the ac-90 indoors.
reception the dj went stupid with the low lights so i went and got the ac-90 out of the car and got footage that i expected to be full of noise.turned out great.

on saturday i filmed some football and at halftime decided to go auto iris,auto focus different shutter speeds of 1/60 and 1/120 and all shots looked great.was a day with breaking clouds and alot of light shift.camera has a great seamless shift with conditions.
the biggest shift you will find in picture quality is if you don't use a nd filter outside.

while our needs are different,i would be very surprised if this camera didn't suit your needs.
you will be fine with either camera.
 
Pete L said:
Is Philip correct in saying the only difference between theXA20 & 25 is the SDI? If I needed higher bitrates & 422 colour then would a ninja attached to the XA20/25 work via HDMI? The canon catalogue says that 1080 50p is possible via HDMI. Does the Ninja record that high frame rate? Cheers Pete.
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no
 
philiplipetz said:
Ninja will not record 50/60p
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Correct, but from a camera point of view SDI is the only difference between them essentially.
Note of interest: I have the Samurai Blade as well and even that will not record 50/60p, but the Atomos Connect Converters will accept 50/60p...
 
I picked up my XA20 last night & have used it for some filming today. I am yet to download the footage but am very keen to have a look at it.
 
One thing I don't understand about these cameras - if the XA25 is outputting 8 bit 4.2.2 colour from the HD-SDI, then what colour is being outputted from the HDMI sockets of this range of cameras ? For example if I buy the HF-G30 and record directly from the HDMI, can I expect the camera to output 4.2.2 colour or will it still be 4.2.0 like the previous range ?
 
My understanding is that the cameras output 4:2:0, period. Never 4:2:2, even through SD-HDI.
A month ago B&H Video said that it output 4:2:2 in their description of the camera. I wrote to them, challenging that.
The next day, that assertion was gone!
 

Here is also an example of their video claims. At approx. 2:30, they claim output is 4:2:2. There used to be comments, which they disabled after I challenged them.
 
Hi cyclone, that's quite interesting, but I am very curious what made you query it in the first place ? When these cameras were first announced, the XA25 was listed as HD-SDI 4.2.0 but I understand it was quickly clarified as actually 4.2.2.
This was discussed in some of the comments on the nofilmschool thread http://nofilmschool.com/2013/04/canon-1080p-60fps-xa20-xa25-hf-g30/
Also, the official Canon XA25 page currently shows HD-SDI as 4.2.2 if you click on "HD/SD-SDI Output" here:- http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer/camcorders/professional_camcorders/xa25#Features . This is what made me wonder about HDMI.
 
Hi Saied.
I also did lots of research because I REALLY want to buy this camera (either the xa20 or xa25). I, too, was hoping (and heard in MANY PLACES) that the output was 4:2:2. But now I am hearing that all of what we heard in the beginning was misinformation.

If I am wrong in my comments, I sincerely apologize. If fact, I hope I am wrong, because I would buy that camera tomorrow! Let's hope that this thread has others who will post and help us out. I do know for a fact, though, that B&H retracted their claim that the camera output was 4:2:2.
 
It's not embedded in the footage. She actually says it (that the camera outputs 4:2:2) at about 2:30 in the video, if I am understanding her correctly. And I think that is incorrect.
 
So what's the proof it doesn't output 4:2:2? The difference between 4:2:0 and 4:2:2 can be very diffult to spot on regular video.
 
I am not in a position to "prove" anything on that camera. I don't even own one. But there are conflicting claims being made about the output of that camera. If you'll note, my comments are simply polite warnings to be careful about assuming that the output is 4:2:2. I even apologized in advance in case I was wrong.

But, just for the heck of it, here is a reference from Amazon (granted, not a place I would depend on for technical specs):
"HD/SD-SDI output provides an uncompressed signal at 1920x1080 resolution with 4:2:0 color sampling and embedded audio and time code."
 
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