It sure took them long enough (four years, in fact) but
Canon has finally released some successors to their famed GL2 cam: the XH G1 and XH A1. The two cameras offer a slew of new options to the prosumer, not least of which is the HD resolution offered by the
HDV format. Both cams feature the same 16:9, 1/3-inch CCDs of
Canon's XL H1, along with 1080i recording at 60 and 24fps and Canon's 24p-like 24f option. The XH cams nicely fill the GL2 gap, trading the XL's interchangeable lenses for size and cost savings. Both models feature 2.8-inch LCDs, 20X zoom lenses and even XLR inputs, but the XH G1 has an extra "jack pack" and a $3000 premium. What'll that three grand get you? Pro ports like HD/SD-SDI, Genlock and TC in/out that allow a serious shooter to output uncompressed HD footage for recording to another format with less compression than the consumer-ish HDV tapes. Smooth move on Canon's part, and we're sure more than a few pro video types will gladly fork over the extra cash for the privilege. The vanilla XH A1 version goes for $4000, and should be available in October, while the XH G1 will follow in November for $7000.
[Via
Camcorderinfo, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted July 26th 2006 11:41AM
Howdy...
At that price, the A1 seems poised to compete directly with the Z1 from Sony, although rumor has it another 'rev' of that unit may be possible by the October time frame. Personally, $3000K seems like a lot for the upgrade to the G1, but I guess some will need it.
Best,
Benjamin - Neo-Fight.tv
In response to Benjamen/Neoflight.tv:
I totally agree with your opinion with the price differences, however, from what i can see, it is correct
For the XL H1, you pay roughly around 10k. take away the interchangable lens and you get the XH G1. Lets say that the lens on the XL H1 is $1500. Take those away, and the pricing of the XH G1 should be around $7000.
As for the XH A1, i think it is over priced. Sony's camera has been out for at least a year and half and now that canon released their product, it seems like they are over pricing it. I feel that it should be roughly around $3000 if they want to get customers. As from what i can see, the main difference they have is that Canon has:
-20x zoom,
-XLR inputs
As for sony (FX1 which can be purchased for rougly $3000):
-14x zoom
-no xlr
-has a manual servo lens
As for sony's z1u (roughly $5000 last time i looked) is like the fx1, but with added features mainly the XLR as i recall. Something to me just doesnt seem right. Ill have to wait for the prices to go down before i go splurging for one...
Well, they don't offer a true 24fps mode. They use the same "segmented mode" (or whatever they're calling it these days), which drops resolution and sharpness significantly.
For the amount of money Canon (Sony too) spent on the r&d to develop this fake 24fps mode, I'm sure they could have made a real 24fps mode instead. JVC has it on their HDV cameras.
The more expensive model is in the same price category as Panasonic's HVX200, which, although it has its faults, uses a much better compression scheme (DVC Pro HD) than the Mpeg-2 based HDV format used by Sony and Canon (and JVC).
Seems my HDR-FX1 has been bested.
Have they elimimated the tape transport problem (and message) that I have found on both my GL 2 cameras, I hope so.
The "a" and "g" both appear to have the "right stuff" to move to the head of the pack. As an independent, single camera, always in the field shooter, I would appreciate advice from others here regarding the benefit of having the HD-SDI output. If I pop for the "g", can I or will I soon be able to buy a carry around recorder capable of recording this signal?
If I do, what do I do with it? I make travel and animal documentaries, with the more detail, the better. My end product is a DVD (Blu Ray in the future). So... "a" or "g?"