Canon Unveils New Prosumer HDV Line: XH G1 and XH A1

Just a quick question...


How hard is it gonna be to change the website name to:

A1user.com

'cuz the way things are lookin', this is gonna be it baby!!!


Hahahaha, j/k guys!
 
Haha. Even if I own an A1 I'll still be here as a DVX member. Good ol' DVX100a.

I'll also be over at XLcinema.com.
 
Zim said:
I don't know if anyone said, but how does the Canon XL-H1 look in standard def?
Click to expand...

It looks very, very good...but it's a shame to consign anything you shoot with the camera to DV. HDV offers more color to downsample to a better codec like PhotoJPEG in SD, but if time is of the utmost importance, DV is probably an easy path to take.
 
MovieSwede said:
Well if the end produkt is DVD it will not matter that much if you go via DV or PhotoJpeg.
Click to expand...

Not true. First of all, you will always have the ability to produce an HD DVD if you acquire in HDV, and second, 24F HDV downsampled to PhotoJPEG SD @100 % quality yields nearly 4:4:4 color, which is a hell of a lot better to encode a DVD from.

Yes, DV is sharp and reasonably colorful from the H1, but downsampled HDV is WAY better in terms of what can be done in SD.
 
Because PhotoJPEG makes a better editing codec than HDV. If you have basically cuts-only or minimal image processing than HDV to DVD is fine.
 
Yes but then you were refering to do the HD master in P-JPG. Because you want a HD master i would guess.

But the things I wounder.

Does a HD 4:2:0 really become a SD 4:4:4. Ive tried to do that but never succeded its still downsamples down "4:2:0 artifacts". But you maybe have another method? Or just different editor?

The other thing is that when im shooting PAL 4:2:0 i wouldnt get the same quality drop when im going from DV 4:2:0 to MPEG2 4:2:0. As I understod you were talking about going HD 4:2:0 to SD 4:1:1 to DVD 4:2:0 (4:1:0)?
 
Elton said:
It looks very, very good...but it's a shame to consign anything you shoot with the camera to DV. HDV offers more color to downsample to a better codec like PhotoJPEG in SD, but if time is of the utmost importance, DV is probably an easy path to take.
Click to expand...

I was talking over at DVinfo about using the XL-H1 in SD. So if you record in HDV then if the camera converts to SD when you capture the footage. You then have the HDV on tape and it will be better for someone who still needs to do some computer upgrades.

I think I can do HDV when I want to spend some time rendering, but I would still have a 16:9 camera.

Do you think the A1 will convert form HDV to SD in camera?
 
Zim said:
I think I can do HDV when I want to spend some time rendering, but I would still have a 16:9 camera.

Do you think the A1 will convert form HDV to SD in camera?
Click to expand...

Yes.
 
Tape recording and HDV is not dead and won't be for years. Solid state recording is very cool idea and obviously only a matter of time as standard, but in the meantime many of us will enjoy freedom tape brings. Btw, tape is still one of the best solutions for long-time archiving.

Recent 3-day production I did with XL2 (SD is not dead yet either) was so intense that using HVX and P2 cards would result in total disaster. Thank God, I had those cassettes inside and they were rolling :) "Record it and forget it until you're ready for editing" is not such a bad idea, especially for Lo or No budget productions. I heard at least a few dramatic stories of trouble with P2 media on the set. It's not a pinnacle of technology as many think. Capacities have to go way up and prices way down to make it practical solution for most of us.

Other interesting issue few people talk about is reliability of P2 connection. How much time of intense swapping of P2 cards will the socket in HVX stand? I read professional opinions rating P2 connection for 3 months of intense daily use. Of course, not all of us work for TV stations and run and gun in the city every day, but I think it's something we should be aware of. From this point of view I really prefer XDCAM media good for 40..120 minutes of recording with no mechanical contact involved that also proved extremely reliable.

Can I take HVX for 2-week trip in the mountains, far away from civilization, carrying only a backpack? I am not so sure. I can do that with no problems with small HDV camera and make beautiful documentary, if it's just for me and my friends or for Discovery or Animal Planet channel.

HDV vs DVCPro HD codec? OK. It matters, but if we start with the same core imaging system. If HDV camera that uses very effective progressive compression at 25mbps rate starts with 3x more resolution than DVCPro HD camera, namely HVX200, I will go with HDV :) If P2 media gives me more headache on the set instead of focusing on actors, storytelling, images and making better movie, I go for HDV. With less than $20k to spend, I go for Canon. No brainer for me.

Just thought I'd share some thoughts.

Cheers.
 
Ok Canon is holding a pre release seminar in Tokyo on October 6th. The release date should be known in a few days here.

EDIT - Confused this. My retailer will be displaying the camera in operation at their store on October 6th. Seems they have one for a day. I would expect release would be close to this date. Will update as I know.
 
I wonder what the latitude will be like on these cameras. The XL H1 is an amazing camera but rumor has it the latitude is not that impressive. The DVX has about 7 stops and this plays a crucial role on it's film look (it's funny that most people only talk about it being able to shoot progressive and don't even know about the latitude). I don't know the latitude on the HVX but I'm guessing it's probably not much over 7...film is about 12 (right?) so it would be pretty awesome if these new cameras had at least 7. But I'm thinking that's not going to happen (they're "basicly" a smaller version of the XL H1)...well, we can always dream.
 
rawfa said:
I wonder what the latitude will be like on these cameras. The XL H1 is an amazing camera but rumor has it the latitude is not that impressive. The DVX has about 7 stops and this plays a crucial role on it's film look (it's funny that most people only talk about it being able to shoot progressive and don't even know about the latitude). I don't know the latitude on the HVX but I'm guessing it's probably not much over 7...film is about 12 (right?) so it would be pretty awesome if these new cameras had at least 7. But I'm thinking that's not going to happen (they're "basicly" a smaller version of the XL H1)...well, we can always dream.
Click to expand...

Because ordinary people dont know more then what resolution the format has (I know I have been one of those) ;)
 
Read the Texas Shootout at dv.com. Latitude was about the same between the HVX, XL-H1 and HD100.

Having owned a DVX I can say that the H1 does indeed have better dynamic range.
 
Elton or any of you guys ever ask Apple if and when they wil come out with FCP or something that can edit 24F? A yes or no? Maybe. We don't know.
 
FCP 6 is expected to have full 24F support. When is it going to be released? Hopefully before hell gets a little chilly--it's overdue.

Rawfa: I actually think there's a good chance the little cameras will be improved in a lot of tangible ways. I expect Knee control (highlight compression/roll off) will be more finely tuned so that the camera can hold highlights even better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top