Will Final cut pro 7.0.3 work with Canon xa10 and xf100 (AVCHD and XF codecs)?

M

Melchior

Member
My workstation is Final Cut Pro 7.0.3. 2.66 Ghz processor, 9 Gb 667 Mhz of RAM. (computer is older back when Apple first switched to Intel Dual Cores)

I need to get a new camera for videotaping seminars, and I'm looking at the Canon xa10 and xf100. My question is, will FCP 7 work with the codecs for these cameras? AVCDH and XF respectively. Is there a way to make it work without buying FCP X?

All of my previous work has been with footage from an older panasonic hvx200 (not mine), and it's been awhile since I've needed to think about getting a new camera.

Thank you.
 
I have the XF100 and love it. The XA10 has the same sensor but shoots AVCHD. Both work great with FCP7 and X - the only caveat is that with the XF100 there is a plug in from Canon required for use with either version of FCP.
Despite its tiny size the XF100 offers a lot of pro features. Out of the box it shoots very flat, but with Custom Picture files you can adjust contrast, saturation, sharpness, etc. to get any look you want. And, the 4:2:2 color really does help if you do much green screen.
 
thank you, this was very helpful. I'm definitely leaning towards spending the extra $ on the xf100 after looking at test footage. Is low light performance a really bad issue with it?

I've read that out of the box it's not that great, but by going into custom settings it can be improved a lot.
 
In my opinion the XF100 is pretty decent in low light - not amazing, but definitely better than the Panasonic HMC-40 which I previously had access to at work. Just don't use full Auto in low light - it lets the Gain pump up to 25db or more and you won't like the results. I limit gain to no more than 6-12db. It helps that the lens looks best at around f2-f4, so I keep it pretty open but with low gain. And if your subject matter is such that you can use 24p, the low light is much improved.

And like I said earlier, if you want a flat, highly adjustable-in-post look, that's the default. If you want more crushed blacks, vivid colors, more sharpness, etc., you can do all that as well with storable Custom Picture file settings.
 
We have three XF100 cameras, and had two for a year before buying the third, so clearly they were performing well enough.

We typically use these for wedding ceremonies and speeches (typical low light church and receptions for speeches) although we do also use them for green screen and other corporate jobs from time to time. We use DSLR and XF300 the rest of the time.

The XF100 is decent in low light. At 6db it's starting to reach the limit of my tolerance for noise, but this is equal (luminance) to the 5D2 at around ISO1600. We created profiles for the XF100 in Neat video for 6db, 9db abd 12db settings and when required, we run through Neat video and the footage is still excellent.

We also have a Canon HF-G10 which is the consumer packaged version of the XA10. The difference between the cameras is quite significant. The G10 is a lot more saturated, and crushes the blacks a lot easier. This has proven to be a problem several times. OTOH, it's been a life saver in low light some times because it's built in noise reduction combined with the over saturation provides a more pleasing result than the XF100 at more than 12db! Go figure. It does however record in AVCHD and without timecode.

We purchased the third XF100 simply because we don't like to rely on the G10, due to the image differences in normal light. The 4:2:2 from the XF100 is also more pleasant to work with most of the time.

It's also fair to say that the XF100 is a LOT easier to operate. At first I really liked the touch screen of the G10 but I've since grown to hate it. Getting in to the menus is tedious, as is scrolling through them to find the menu item you're looking for (e.g. initialise card or setting white balance etc). I'd take the XF100 over the XA10 any day.

We HAVE imported both in the FCP7 in the past. Use Canon's plugin for the XF100 or simply transcode the XA10 footage to prores (within the Log & Transfer window) and you are good to go.

As a side note, FCPX is now mature enough that there are few reasons to keep using FCP7 unless you are collaborating with others using it, or need very specific features. FCPX is saving us several hours on every project now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top