The A1s gain and cine control compared to the H1?

[James Briggs]

Hi

 

I love my XL2 but things are just getting harder with more and more people wanting HD. I've seen the Panasonic and Sony HD cams in action and I'm not that bothered compared to what my XL2 can do. Especially in low light. But of course I have had my eyes on the H1 since day one. I've held out for a long time as I do wan't to move to HD BUT I can't see myself doing a project bellow the standard of picture look you can get with an XL2.

 

After using the Panasonic HVX-200 I was impressed by the picture and could see the benefits if it was be transferred to a larger screen. However. The noise and picture in low light was nothing compared to my XL2.

 

The major thing I really care about more than anything is gain control. On my XL2 to insure fantastic rich blacks and zero noise I shoot at -3 whenever I can. The picture control I have learnt on my XL2 I think is unbeatable for getting pictures with clarity and avoiding that really flawed cheap look other cameras get in low light.

 

Reading back over other posts I found mention of such grain on the A1.

 

From mentioning earlier about the Panasonic camera from what I can tell the A1 features the same gain switch of low, medium and high. Which frankly horrifies me after using similar. I found these ambiguous very bulky settings naff compared to my XL2 where everything is at your fingertips and the results are astounding and you can be accurate. I like to set my custom pre-sets for each project and have to then trawl through the menu during shooting as little as possible. Doing my research I can't really find anything that lets me know if its still possible to access proper gain control with the same results as my XL2. And it also makes me wonder for the price is it really total cine control and also are custom presets as good as my XL2?

 

If I can just find out whether the A1 can offer up the same access to gain control my XL2 has like the H1 I would really consider buying it. At the end of the day I can't afford the 6X HD lens, I would like the camera to be more portable and I like the idea of the LCD screen, also one of my XLR sockets doesn't work on my XL2 and I would like to use two mics, and for the price it is really good.

 

But if it can't offer a picture like my XL2 then it isn't worth the money to me. And if the H1 can but will give me it in 1080i I'll have to consider selling my soul or something to come up with money!

 

If anyone can help out at all it would be really great. Thanks.

James

[Guest will griffith]

A1 features the same gain switch of low, medium and high. Which frankly horrifies me after using similar.

 

The L/M/H settings are not very telling!!

They are user defined down to -3, so don't worry.

 

The A1 uses the same chip as the H1 and the only drawback is the lens

is not fixed aperature like the 16x manual.

 

The OIS is great and almost as good as the 20x H1.

 

You will be very pleased coming from a XL2 like we did.

I use the A1 more and more even though we have 2 H1s.

[Jorge Espinosa]

I´ve been using the XH A1 for a month now, and the quality of the image is simply amazing. The colors are so rich! Just try one, dude.