XHA1 ergonomic sillinessess ...

[BARYE]

though I'm just getting the XHA1 into my hands, I want to note some obvious ergonomic things that bother me before I become accustomed to them -- and which could easily be fixed in vers. 2.0

Curious if those of you who've been using it for awhile disagree with my observations, or have any others to add.

1. Battery compartment -- storing its batteries within a closed internal anus, one that makes changing batteries cumbersome, restricts the size and capacity of its batteries, and does not mount them in a location that would serve to counter balance the camera's front heavy orientation.

Why not mount the battery externally as do other cameras which have the battery on the back with quick release rails

1a. Battery door -- What's even worse is that the battery compartment has a door -- one which potentially could have been used as a flat place to velcro a wireless receiver -- but it has a plastic door latch that seems too flimsy to withstand such stress and torque.

2. Headphone jack -- Locating the headphone jack where it can poke you in the face or get broken. What's even worse is that this continuously used port is covered by an obstructing, irritating cover.

3. Lens' bayonet mount -- This bayonet mount is not used by Canon's own WA adapter. Though I have yet to get the WA adapter its design seems incomprehensible to me (especially since I'm accustomed to a bayoneting WA on my VX2000.) Using a slow, potentially awkward screw on mount for their WA seems crazy when this camera comes with a bayonet mount, but which they chose to not use. This is especially true given that the WA adds to the existing front heaviness of the XHA1, obstructs one of its auto focus sensors, and marginally lessens its image quality -- all factors that make it desirable to not keep it permanently in place.

4. Grip strap -- This strap which helps me hold the camera is bloody hard to adjust. I like it tight sometimes -- loose other times. What a stupid design -- where is the velcro that would enable the quick adjustment needed if you're heading outside into the cold wearing gloves ??? The VX2000/PD150 have always had that design.

5. Power the hotshoe -- One of the more obscure but useful little accessories I carried around in my kit for use with the VX2000 was a small pocketable eye/face light -- one that was powered off the camera's main battery. It didn't consume gobs of power, and when needed it was irreplaceable, and weighed nothing. Why cannot a similar small LCD light be made by Canon to run off that hot shoe ?? Why have they provided power for using it only as a flash --- as a result no 3rd party could make a light either.

6. Microphone Mount -- it seems to require a 3rd party adapter to make it at all useful. (What's more, the mount surrounds and makes access to the mini-plug microphone port unnecessarily difficult.)

 

[Stu Siegal]

1. I love the battery compartment. The 950 lasts forever, the 970 forever+, so you won't exactly be opening and closing it every five minutes. Internal battery adds nice handheld balance, IMHO.

2. No different than the dvx. Search either here or dvinfo for a guide to drilling a hole if it bothers you.

3. Lens is plenty wide for me, haven't really considered the issue otherwise.

4. Well, I guess you have a point, but I personally couldn't care less...

5. Yeah, they could have, but I don't have any hotshoe accessories, most lights run on phantom power, so don't care.

6. Agree 100%. Absurd.

Check out the firmware upgrade thread at dvinfo - no ois on/off or xlr/internal switching
mappable to custom keys, now that's worth complaining about!

 

[Huy Vu]

1. The battery compartment is OK. At least there's no risk of tripping and having the battery popped out (happened several times to me on my last camera). Not so good with the way the charger works. Can't charge the battery AND run the camera on outlet at the same time? That's retarded.
2. Yea, the damn thing sticks out just asking to be broken off.

 

[dLight]

What bothers me most about the A1 is that the a couple of the buttons I use the most (Push AutoFocus and Exposure Lock) are extremely small - and could have had a better placement.

 

[BARYE]

7. Focus assist -- Yes the buttons are small, but since you can't use this function except while the tape is not running, it hardly matters. (Maybe I'm the only idiot who really needs focusing help while I'm actually shooting.) And why not have the option of a user selectable magnification (4X, 6X ...) ??

BTW -- I'm new to this camera obviously, but I’m not finding peaking to be helpful for finding focus. What am I missing.

8. Viewfinder Eyecup -- The viewfinder eyecup’s hard rubber edge uncomfortably cuts into my eyesocket instead of acting as a bumper or a cushion that I can press against my face. Viewfinder cups in my experience conform to ones face -- the XHA1's intends to make my face conform to it !!

9. No back plane for essential switches -- the XHA1 use of its back as an internal battery compartment and as a location for many of its ports removes the best location for frequent and critically used switches. Yes the camera is chock full of switches mounted on every square inch of its surface -- except for that most usably accessable place: the rear. Ports should be located on the sides or even front of the camera -- the back prime real estate should be restricted to the most important most used controls.

10. White balance controls -- I very much prefer having the color temp controls all manipulated by a single thumb wheel like is done on the VX2000 --- (hiding the color preset switch in a seperate location under the viewfinder doesn't seem smart)

 

[henry cho]

kind of agree about the rubber cover that protects the IO ports. these rubber flaps seem to make their way onto quite a few cameras these days. if it bothers you that much, just rip it out. they have a tendency to fall off after heavy use anyway.

peaking does work while tape is running, magnification won't. this makes sense to me as it's very easy to forget magnification is on, and you could screw up the framing of every shot on your tape. regarding multiple magnfication factors, i can't help but wonder if it's really necessary. i find the focus aids very usable. my little gripe is that peaking and zebra can't be turned on at the same time. if you can't see the peaking visual aid, maybe you have your zebra stripes on?

agree about the viewfinder cup. good news is that some folks over at dvinfo have figured out you can fit the excellent sony z1 eyecup on the a1.

i think wb on the a1 is awesome and unrivaled in any cam of it's class. i leave it in k preset mode, and just dial in the color temp as needed.

everyone will have different takes on the ergonomics of any cam. one person's ideal can often be another's grievance. most of the issues you presented have been non-issues for me. considering the camera you have in your hands, i think you'd have to agree these are relatively minor issues.

 

[xray]

Barye:
I never saw someone who actually ownes the A1 being so negative and pointing at the small minor issues. Looking at the A1 is looking at a cam with the same chipset, the same (almost) 20x lens, as a cam that costs you $9.000 like its big brother. No other cam gives you this much for the money. Some small things you can easy live with.

1. batterieholder is superb, with 5 hour batterielive you never change batteries.
2. batterie slides in and out with a breath.
3 NO velcro on the grip strap, you are talking on winter and cold? well than is velcro not going to work anymore, with 9 years iceclimbing I tell you, this is a long lasting sturdy solution just like I want it.
4. Mic holder is very sturdy but you need to put some tape or tube inside.
5 eyecup could do better, change it with aftermarket cup from the Z1
6 hotshoe although I know this is something that amateurs want and entered the market on amateur cams, I don't have specific hotshoe gear and I don't need it.
7 white balance? Man, this is the best white balance you can get on a cam!! Kelvin steps!! Wauw!!

I can't understand that you write all these and can't see the PEAKING button. It's there , it works, and it has PEAKING written on it. That makes me wonder how much time you lived with this cam before you start typing.

 

[xray]

What bothers me most about the A1 is that the a couple of the buttons I use the most (Push AutoFocus and Exposure Lock) are extremely small - and could have had a better placement.

Yes, the Exp Lock I can find, but the Push AF is small. And the exp lock button does not function as a push auto exposure when you are in full manual mode, in manual mode this button is doing nothing...

BTW, I changed the setting so that peaking is always B/W mode.

 

[Huy Vu]

The iris ring is in my opinion not the best choice. It feels too "loose" for adjustment and it's too easy to accidentally bump it and change the exposure. I was shooting a show the other day and several times I accidentally changed the exposure while trying to reach for the zoom ring. A traditional iris knob would work better.

 

[BARYE]

Barye:
I never saw someone who actually ownes the A1 being so negative and pointing at the small minor issues. Looking at the A1 is looking at a cam with the same chipset, the same (almost) 20x lens, as a cam that costs you $9.000 like its big brother. No other cam gives you this much for the money. Some small things you can easy live with...

I fear I may be a little too idiosyncratic for full membership in the XHA1 fan club.

Perhaps its my nature. Once while traveling in Japan I was interviewed for some minor thing -- at the close the reporter smilingly asked what I thought of Japan (where I had been for about 3-4 weeks). As his smile melted into jaw dropped disbelief, I proceeded to tell him. (FWIW, I love Japan.)

I've told girl friends that they could maybe excercise more.

In general, I'm not so very popular ...

 

[Huy Vu]

It's cool Barye, I feel the exact same way about the flaws in the A1. People tends to get too defensive about their gear sometimes to the point of getting belligerent when someone critique it. Just look at the A1 vs. HVX thread. The A1 is a good camera and the good does outweight the bad but that doesn't mean that we should pretend that the flaws doesn't exist or try to make excuses for them.

 

[henry cho]

i don't think anyone is getting belligerent here. certainly not more so, than say, the hvx forum.

i think these types of posts have to be taken with a grain of salt. they are criticisms from an op that has self-admittedly spent no time with the camera. first impressions can prove to be valuable, but only to a certain point -- when ignorance starts to cloud the facts.

all cameras in this price point are more similar than dissimilar, and all have defficiencies in one area over another. the big differences always seem to be in the areas of ergonomics and shooting style. if one cam's ergonomics don't work for you, thankfully, there are other choices.

a true manual focus, zoom and aperture would be awesome. but can this be seen as a "flaw" if no other hd cam close to it's price range offers it either? just askin really...

 

[marlontorres]

I love the battery compartment. It makes good of the space not being used by the circuitry.

 

[J.R. Hudson]

I fear I may be a little too idiosyncratic for full membership in the XHA1 fan club.

Perhaps its my nature. Once while traveling in Japan I was interviewed for some minor thing -- at the close the reporter smilingly asked what I thought of Japan (where I had been for about 3-4 weeks). As his smile melted into jaw dropped disbelief, I proceeded to tell him. (FWIW, I love Japan.)

I've told girl friends that they could maybe excercise more.

In general, I'm not so very popular ...

Good for you

I'm loyal to my DVX and the HVX (If I could afford it) but neither are perfect; I have plenty of gripes about them

But ...

It's as good as it gets for me right now. :cheesy:

 

[BARYE]

kind of agree about the rubber cover that protects the IO ports. these rubber flaps seem to make their way onto quite a few cameras these days. if it bothers you that much, just rip it out. they have a tendency to fall off after heavy use anyway.

peaking does work while tape is running, magnification won't. this makes sense to me as it's very easy to forget magnification is on, and you could screw up the framing of every shot on your tape. regarding multiple magnfication factors, i can't help but wonder if it's really necessary. i find the focus aids very usable. my little gripe is that peaking and zebra can't be turned on at the same time. if you can't see the peaking visual aid, maybe you have your zebra stripes on?

agree about the viewfinder cup. good news is that some folks over at dvinfo have figured out you can fit the excellent sony z1 eyecup on the a1.

i think wb on the a1 is awesome and unrivaled in any cam of it's class. i leave it in k preset mode, and just dial in the color temp as needed.

everyone will have different takes on the ergonomics of any cam. one person's ideal can often be another's grievance. most of the issues you presented have been non-issues for me. considering the camera you have in your hands, i think you'd have to agree these are relatively minor issues.

Thanks for the viewfinder tip -- I've ordered one (and just got notified that they're out of stock temporarily because of high demand)

for anyone else its: Large eyecup Part Number: 217941401

I'll eventually make a hole in that flap for the headphone -- but the location remains stupid. (headphone ports should be on the side -- not where it can poke you in the face)

As for your fear that the option of invoking focus assist during a shot would lead to potential confusion -- there are a million visual cues that could prevent that (unlikely problem ) from happening -- something as simple as magnified graininess, flashing the words: focus assist, VF becoming B&W etc. etc. (BTW -- I believe the Z1's focus assist is 4x)

I continue to find peaking inadequate for genuinely fast and accurate run and gun focus -- I plead with canon to make a firmware patch to assist me by making on the fly focus assist available.

 

[Bill Ball]

In general I find that I dont agree with the complaints listed, but people use a camera in different ways, and that could account for our different feelings abut these things.

One suggestion I wanted to contribute concerns the microphone holder. I knew it was something I would never use since I always record with a mic not mounted to the camera. The first thing I did when I got the camera was take a precision screwdriver and remove that akwardly prodtruding clamp. It's just two little screws underneath. The cam fits in my bag a lot easier and feels much more streamlined without it.

 

[xray]

The Rycote softiemount fits in the microphone holder too. That way the mic is turned away from lens or motor noise.

 

[BARYE]

In general I find that I dont agree with the complaints listed, but people use a camera in different ways, and that could account for our different feelings abut these things.

One suggestion I wanted to contribute concerns the microphone holder. I knew it was something I would never use since I always record with a mic not mounted to the camera. The first thing I did when I got the camera was take a precision screwdriver and remove that akwardly prodtruding clamp. It's just two little screws underneath. The cam fits in my bag a lot easier and feels much more streamlined without it.

I've taken mine off too -- but there will be times when I do need an additional attachment location (for when a light is on the hot shoe).

Instead of using those tiny easily stripped easily lost screws to fasten that unusable microphone holder, why didn't they use larger, simpler screws -- or even thumb screws -- so that removing and re-attaching the holder wouldn't have been such a chore. (Had they used standard screws a better third party mic holder could be used in its place.)

And since the holder as it is is so badly designed, wouldn't it have been better if they had just put a second cold shoe at that same location ??

 

[scannon]

It's cool Barye, I feel the exact same way about the flaws in the A1. People tends to get too defensive about their gear sometimes to the point of getting belligerent when someone critique it. Just look at the A1 vs. HVX thread. The A1 is a good camera and the good does outweight the bad but that doesn't mean that we should pretend that the flaws doesn't exist or try to make excuses for them.

I don't think the word flaws is correct its just that certain features don't work the way they did on your (or my) prior camera. Also as noted all of the included features of this camera were designed for a $3600 price point. Expecting perfection in every feature of this camera is unrealistic to achieve the quality/feature set combination of this price point.

If your used to driving your car/truck and you get into a rented vehicle you feel uncomfortble since the layout is unfamiliar. If you drive it long enough you get used to it!

I bought this camera becuse it fills my immediate needs for an HD/HDV quality acquisition tool. It was paid for in a recently finished project and I haven't really touched the surface of its capabilities.

Just go out and shoot with this camera and enjoy it

S Cannon

 

[Huy Vu]

I don't think the word flaws is correct its just that certain features don't work the way they did on your (or my) prior camera.
If your used to driving your car/truck and you get into a rented vehicle you feel uncomfortble since the layout is unfamiliar. If you drive it long enough you get used to it!

I loved the A1 too. It's the best camera I've ever own and I think Canon hit every major feature right on the mark. But it's the minor stuff that they got wrong that's so annoying. They really are flaws and not quirks, although none is a deal breaker. The poor zoom ring, small and inaccurate LCD (I'm not so much concerned about color reproduction but exposure was the biggest problem for me); the cumbersome way the battery has to be charged and the way the mic holder isn't the correct size for most mic, these are really problems that can be corrected. I would say it's more like getting into a rented vehicle and realizing that the speaker isn't as powerful as your own car or the steering wheels just isn't as sensitive.