Canon XA-20 & XA-25

I wonder what Canon would do next with their XF-series now as their line is do for update now.
 
Interesting, especially the HD/SDI port.
Is MP4/35mbps the same as XDCAM EX?
And I wonder if we'll soon see these new CMOS chips in a XF400/405.
 
With Sony and Panasonic going 4K maybe that's what Canon will do with their higher end XF line? Their new DV Digic IV should be good enough for that I'd think or maybe it can only do 60P and we need to wait for DV Digic V?
 
vanvideo said:
Interesting, especially the HD/SDI port.
Is MP4/35mbps the same as XDCAM EX?
And I wonder if we'll soon see these new CMOS chips in a XF400/405.
Click to expand...
The Mpeg 4 35mb is not he same as XDCAM which is Mpeg 2 35mb....

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com
 
A newly designed 1/2.84-type 2.91 Megapixel HD CMOS Pro sensor
Click to expand...

Why 2.91 Megapixel? 1920x1080 is 2.07 Megapixel. I wonder if it is down sampling to 1080, or if it isn't using the entire chip.

While this looks like an update to the XA10, it really seems like it is a totally new camera, not just some marketing copy. XA10 chip is 1/3" & native 1920x1080, & only has a 10x zoom.

I'm courious how they doubled the zoom ratio while keeping it so small & the price about the same. That is quite a feat to have the lens that goes a little wider, but very much tighter.
 
zijital said:
Why 2.91 Megapixel? 1920x1080 is 2.07 Megapixel. I wonder if it is down sampling to 1080, or if it isn't using the entire chip.
Click to expand...
From the Canon UK website: Image stabilization system: Optical lens shift system (angle & vector movement detection) + electronic stabilisation; 4 modes: Intelligent (Auto), Dynamic, Standard, Powered

It seems that like Sony, they now have "Active" stabilization. If my understanding of this is correct, optical stabilization is enhanced by using electronic stabilization as well, and electronic stabilization uses a buffer zone of pixels on all 4 sides of the sensor to do it's work, essentially creating a 1920x1080 "window" in the slightly larger pixel count sensor.

That might explain the extra pixels...
 
The Canon G30 will be 1700$ and the Ac90 Panasonic is 1800$
Tough to make a decision.
Might have to get both!
So far, I am very excited about the G30. Please Canon, just knock off a few hundred dollars from the price.
Can't wait to see some product videos and samples.
Besides being creative with the audio, I see no reason why you can't use the G30 for professional jobs as a B camera, if everything works out.
 
Why is the G30 put against the AC90? I'd think that by category, the XA20 is supposed to go against the AC90, and pricewise the MSRP on the AC90 is $2250 and the XA20 (speculated) $2199 - so in street price they'll probably be about comparable.

In the end I guess it'll be about image quality, but the XA20 is wider than the AC90 by 3mm (26.8 vs 29.8) - I think the AC90 has serious competition from the XA20 more than the G30, seems to me... no?
 
Frankly speaking all the three cameras XA 25, XA 20 and G30 look pretty good to me. With slow motion 60p, you can intercut a few seconds of action footage with the cinema cameras and get your production complete. I haven't had my handson with these. Will have to check with Canon to lend me these interesting cameras.
 
It looks good the XA20/25, loaded with great stuff like the Wi-fi, 20x lens but it's a one chipper. I think it's going to lose a little resolution from the bayer filter.
 
Tom Roper said:
It looks good the XA20/25, loaded with great stuff like the Wi-fi, 20x lens but it's a one chipper. I think it's going to lose a little resolution from the bayer filter.
Click to expand...

Perhaps it will lose some resolution, but having a bigger sensor means better low-light performance, one of the things its predecessor, the XA10, was noted for.
 
OldCorpse said:
Why is the G30 put against the AC90? I'd think that by category, the XA20 is supposed to go against the AC90, and pricewise the MSRP on the AC90 is $2250 and the XA20 (speculated) $2199 - so in street price they'll probably be about comparable.

In the end I guess it'll be about image quality, but the XA20 is wider than the AC90 by 3mm (26.8 vs 29.8) - I think the AC90 has serious competition from the XA20 more than the G30, seems to me... no?
Click to expand...

One thing I do know about the AC90 is that it has some fairly extensive image customization features (i.e. the ability to set knee, pedestal levels, etc.). The predecessor to the XA25, the XA10, lacks all of these features and only offers
basic image adjustment controls. So I wonder if the XA25 will have more advanced exposure and image-adjustment features than the XA10 does. Time will tell, I guess.
 
Tom Roper said:
It looks good the XA20/25, loaded with great stuff like the Wi-fi, 20x lens but it's a one chipper. I think it's going to lose a little resolution from the bayer filter.
Click to expand...

If you interpolate a red and blue part of resolution from the bayer pattern (a green part is the basic part of luma resolution) than there is some minimum number of pixel when this interpolating works well. This number is about 3.5mil pixel for HD resolution and in this case it's mean that colors from that type of bayer pattern are interpolated very well (3mil pixels XA25 are close to this number of pixels).

Some number of pixel may be for Advanced Image Stabilizer (it works over a basic optical stabilizer), but I know that Canon used a small resize for XF100 dynamic IS, so it is a question which part of pixels over 2mil is for the beter color interpolation and which part is for an advanced IS.
(XF100 has only 2mil pixels - 1mil green and 1mil red+blue, there was very small number of "free" ef. pixels for advanced IS.)

But colors resolution is more important for me than luma resolution or an advanced image stabilzation, because the luma resolution is very good in these new HD cameras.
 
Last edited:
Froma Canon u.s.:
Focal Length: 3.67-73.4mm (35mm equivalent: 26.8-576mm without Dynamic IS; 28.8-576mm with Dynamic IS)

- it means that without Dynamic IS you have more pixels on the chip for better colors (better interpolation from the bayer pattern), 1.5mil green pixel + 0.75mil blue + 0.75 red is better start point for creating 2mil green pixels + 1mil Red +1mil Blue pixels. DSP works in 422 colors and it is better even when storage is the AVCHD 420 files.
 
OldCorpse said:
Why is the G30 put against the AC90?
Click to expand...

Because the price difference between them is only $100


OldCorpse said:
I'd think that by category, the XA20 is supposed to go against the AC90, and pricewise the MSRP on the AC90 is $2250 and the XA20 (speculated) $2199 - so in street price they'll probably be about comparable.
Click to expand...

Well, except Canon's pricing structure is much different than Panasonic's. I've never seen new Canon products introduced at anything less than full list price. And typically they keep their products at that initial price point longer.

Of course, with today's competitive market, and the shape the world economy is in, who knows what may happen with prices?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top