Canon XA10 Experience ???

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drdimento

Well-known member
Just wondering if there is anyone out there using an XA10 alone as a small profile Pro camera and/or in conjunction with any other Canon AVCHD camera for say documentary work or say a 5D Mk2? Would love to hear some actual experiential results and/or see some footage respectively.

Thanks in advance for those who respond.
 
Phillip Bloom do a nice review of the XA10 and the XF100/105 some time ago, you can see footage and the review here:
https://vimeo.com/26184320

The differences in video quality between the XA and XF was minimal, i have work with a XA10 and is a great camera, the only drawback is the touch screen operation.
 
xenogears said:
.....The differences in video quality between the XA and XF was minimal, i have work with a XA10 and is a great camera, the only drawback is the touch screen operation.
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Thanks "xenogears" for your kind response. That is the part that has amazed me about this whole new line of Canon AVCHD camcorders. I have the Canon HF M40 which was the replacement to the DV HV40 model tape machine and WOW was I blown away (other than the very challenging screen menu system) and thus I have interest in replacing my XHA1 and XHA1s's with two of these XA10's and the M40 as a B Roll.

Do you know anyone using the XA10's for much broadcast work?
 
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drdimento said:
Thanks "xenogears" for your kind response. That is the part that has amazed me about this whole new line of Canon AVCHD camcorders. I have the Canon HF M40 which was the replacement to the DV HV40 model tape machine and WOW was I blown away (other than the very challenging screen menu system) and thus I have interest in replacing my XHA1 and XHA1s's with two of these XA10's and the M40 as a B Roll.

Do you know anyone using the XA10's for much broadcast work?
Click to expand...

What is your definition of "broadcast work"? My understanding is that broacasters generally require 3 chip cameras recording at a minimum of 50mbps. I recently purchased a Canon XA10 to test it to see if it will be a suitable replacement for my Sony V1U cameras for our Wedding and Event Videography business. In my case I don't have to worry about "broadcast" as I am generally delivering an online version of my edit along with a DVD and Blu-ray.

So far we have only shot one wedding with the XA10 as a primary camera and we have yet to edit it to see how it worked out. Initial impression from the shoot and looking at some raw footage is that it did quite well. As you mentioned about the HF M40 the hardest thing about the XA10 is getting used to finding almost everything in the touchscreen menu vs having buttons. However it is intuitive for the most part and I am getting used to it.
 
Notlad said:
What is your definition of "broadcast work"? My understanding is that broacasters generally require 3 chip cameras recording at a minimum of 50mbps. ....
Click to expand...

Our standard cameras at present are Canon XHA1 and XHA1s as primary cameras and Canon HV40 as B roll (wide switch.) We have tweaked the XHA1 series cameras to use a preset that gives us the color richness, skin tones, and color trueness that we seek under multiple ranges of light ranging from spots to Arri Fresnels. We have used these since abandoning the Panasonic DVX100's and HVX200 for ease of use when switching to High Definition broadcast productions. The HVX file sizes were just way to large to work with for 30 and 60 minute productions even though the total minute count was 28.5" and 52.5" respectively.

Note that the HV40 is a small handheld camcorder and was first used in a film project I believe on Crash 2. The lens is amazing and the quality of picture is quite good although definitely not at all as quality as the XHA1 series with that awesome $1,000-2000 lens hanging on the front of it, let alone the nice 3 Ring adjustment capability.

However, this all said, of late we find ourselves using less and less pro features on the cameras as we switch camera cuts more often, use more handheld work, and edit the new look (IMO very unprofessional look of) reality shots. Moreover, as the market seems to be driving toward this short shot, A.D.D. (not AVCHD) audience driven media, the quality of an image, the quality of a shot, and the edit quality just seems to no longer be a factor in broadcast. So, smaller, easier to use "auto" cameras, and lower cost less trained videographers seems to be the way to go.

Therein, I am very interested in a High Definition camera at under 2 grand that I can pack 3 to 5 into a nicely cut and molded case for ease of use and carry/transport. The XA10 looks to be just that camera and I am curious if anyone out there is using them accordingly before I drop down a few grand to run a broadcast test with our local market before taking the next step to the network.

BTW, as a side note, the XHA1's and the HV40 are mini DV at 24mbps and we have already tested and been approved with our Canon HDSLR's (5D Mark II and 7D) at I believe 35mbps. Also, the BBC took our 24mbps material from the XHA1's in its' HD mode without any questions at all.
 
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xenogears said:
Phillip Bloom do a nice review of the XA10 and the XF100/105 some time ago, you can see footage and the review here:
https://vimeo.com/26184320 The differences in video quality between the XA and XF was minimal, i have work with a XA10 and is a great camera, the only drawback is the touch screen operation.
Click to expand...

Nice review. Down to earth and simple. Would have liked to have seen some footage but on Vimeo there is a lot and I been checking them out. I'm definitely going to get one. I'll use my 5DM2 and 7D as my primary and the XA10 and M40 as B rolls on "big" shoots and use the XA10 as primary and M40 as B Roll on docu's and "smaller" shoots. This will be a nice package for my new "easy rider" style of shoot . . and . . i can fit it all into a backpack and medium size carry on with some efficient packing along with a nice small footprint follow focus that I just picked up.

Thanks to all for the input. And, if anyone comes up with info on where the XA10 might have been used on a broadcast project or two, I would love to hear from ya. Thanks again.
 
Well, according to the IMDB website, an XA10 was used in the filming of the new film "End of Watch" with Jake Gyllenhall. Of course they also mentioned GoPro cameras too.
 
We use the G10 (same as XA10 - but without the mic input) and my biggest complaints are:

1) No timecode :( We have timecode in all our other cameras and use it for sorting clips in to time order. Oh well. Not a big deal to many people so I guess Canon didn't bother with it.

2) The footage is way over saturated compared to our XF100 cameras. We always have to increase gamma and desaturate in post even though we already have the saturation turned down in camera to the minimum.

3) I hate the touch screen interface. At first I thought I loved it but it's a PITA when you want to access specific things in the menu and you are scrubbing up and down using your fingers.

Other than that - I love it :)
 
Well, I purchased the XA20 and I only have one regret . . I WAITED TOO LONG !! This camera is a blast. Small, lightweight, yet awesomely powerful and WOW on the images. Thanks for all the help folks :-)
 
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