Camcorderinfo has just posted their review of Canon's anticipated mid-range HDV camcorder, the XH-A1, and the comments are overwhelmingly positive. At less than half the price of Canon's XL-H1, the XH-A1 features nearly identical video performance in most lighting situations. Praising the camera's high level of manual control, including not only in-depth image performance functions, but actual interface and display options, Camcorderinfo says: "the Canon XH A1 is a dynamite camcorder – that's the bottom line conclusion.... The manual control set is simply fantastic... the list of shortcomings is small compared to the number of reasons to love this camcorder... Canon clearly spent a great deal of time making this a product that would fit into multiple markets and plant itself for some time to come. We don't see any reason why it shouldn't stay there."
Pretty exciting stuff here. Camcorderinfo has thoughtfully included comparisons to similar camcorders at the end of their review. With its impressive feature set and reasonable price tag, this camera could be a big deal for indies and low budget filmmakers, run and gun documentarians, and professional videographers. Check out the review for more.
1. Let me just say, I have had some hands on time with this camera (With more on the way hopefully), and it is easily one of the best cameras I have ever had the pleasure to toy around with. It is perfectly balanced, the colors are rich and vibrant, and, for the lazy out there, the auto-focus doesn't rack back and forth trying to focus.
The only negative thing I really have to say is that the internal battery is a big inconvenience. Not only does it set specific limits on the specifications (Read: Old batteries won't work...time to reinvest) on 3rd party batteries and accessories, but it adds a few too many steps to what should be a simple task; swapping the battery out.
Me and this camera have another meeting soon, and I can't wait.
Posted at 12:41AM on Nov 22nd 2006 by Nick