xl2 or XH A1?????

creepyclownproduction's

creepyclownproduction's

Active member
Hi

I'm finely saved up enough to parches the xl2

however the xha1 is of equal price..

the fact that it's in hd or not isn't that big of a deal to me.

However I would like the camera with the best image quality and functionality.

Witch should i pick???
 
Boy, that's a tough decision if HD is not in the equation. Having the changable lenses of the xl2 and the larger form factor is definately nice.

Although I haven't done this comparison myself, I have read quite a lot of folks feel that shooting the video in HD and then downconverting the SD produces a better quality picture than just shooting SD directly.

Personally, I would go with (and did) the XHA1. Although HD may not be of importance to you right now, you may and probably will find it important in the future. Overall, with all of the customability of the camera and the recorded video (just do a search of all of the custom presets you can download to change the look of the footage) the XHA1 is the better choice. If you really need interchangable lenses, you could always purchase a 35mm adaptor later on and get the best of both worlds.
 
I would and did go with the A1. You say HD isn't an issue but if you're going to be spending the dough to buy the camera, there is no sense buying an SD camera that will get you nowhere in a couple years.
 
It's not even close when you consider that proper downconversion of HDV can essentially yield 4:4:4 SD. Hell, I downconvert HDV to ProRes SD all the time and it's simply astonishing how much better it is than DV. No coarse color transitions--just sharp, artifact-free SD and amazing CC potential.


DV is over ten years old. It may be a well-established codec and workflow, but it's quite sucky compared to what's possible with HDV downconversion.
 
Personally I think the XL2 has a better image than the A1 for SD, but I would not advise buying XL2 at this time when SD is going obsolete. Unless of course you are making money from it in which case it will pay for itself quite soon.
 
I have both cameras and I have to say that the XL2 probably has the sharpest image of all the prosumer SD cameras out there, however it's no contest comparing it to the A1 which handles colour much much better, especially in low light where the XL2 turns Caucasian faces into a mushy pink.

Other than what people above have already said I can tell you that the handling of the XL2 in terms of ergonomics & manual control is very different to a proper shoulder mount cam. As Barry Green has pointed out elsewhere on this site, the servo zoom & focus controls feel like they're linked to the lens elements via soggy lettuce and the iris control is a joke! Also as far as handling goes, you will need to also buy the optional 910 battery charger/power adapter and two additional king size batteries & a wireless receiver mounted if you want this thing to sit on your shoulder like a proper shoulder mount.

Also think about how important it is to have interchangeable lens and the extra $2K-$4K these will add to the cost of the camera.

The best thing I would suggest to you is to go and try one of these before you make the investment. From a wedding shooter's opinion where cameras are treated to regular abuse the A1 is almost as good to go as the DVX, you can't just throw an XL2 in the beck seat of a car while you're speeding off to get the next venue. :thumbsup:

Cheers,
 
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