joe jukes Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 hello all. i have am having a little difficulty in finding a non biased sounding review on the canon XH A1 i am looking to get my first decent camera and im a little unsure of what would be ideal for me with my limited knowledge of such things. basically i film snowboarders and the things associated with such people, in their own environment. i need a camera that is smallish, and fairly hardy, to handle very cold conditions, and also not mind being in a pub! it obviously has to be good at handling speedy movements and bright conditions. ideally it would also be good in low light conditions, have a fairly good built in zoom, hopefully good at very close up shots and maybe the ability for wide angle filming. i forgot...it needs to be as cheap as possible!!! i have heard that the XH A1 does fulfill alot of this...but i wondered what other peoples opinions would be, of this and other cameras. ta in advance joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve McBride Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 Since you're doing action shooting, you might want to think about non-tape cameras. It will be a bit more expensive for good ones, but there is less of a chance for damage to your stock. The XH-A1 is definitely a great camera, good size and great quality from the pricerange. If you can dish out the extra money, I would definitely look into a Panasonic HVX200A or a similar solid-state camera. Much easier to edit footage, and with it's P2 solid-state recording and many different recording modes you're footage will look great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Shannon Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 I am a fan of the XH A1; It is light, has a decent lens, great image quality, and many options to fine tune a certain "look" I have to agree with Steve about going tape-less though. If not for durability reasons then because it seems that solid state recording is the way things are going. If you can afford it I would recommend looking into the Sony EX1. I recently shot two different projects on the XH A1 and the EX1 respectively and would be more than happy to elaborate or show you some of the footage if you are interested. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham robbins Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 If extreme sports is your thing, then you should know my A1 has lasted through paint ball, surfing, motocross, ect. I love my camera and it has honestly never given me any trouble. Its very tough and has great image capability. Hope that helps, Good luck. Graham Robbins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe jukes Posted July 31, 2008 Author Share Posted July 31, 2008 ok guys well thanks very much for you knowledge...! i cant really afford any more than about £2000 so the XH A1 is at the very limit of what i can afford. in fact its a little more than that. as much as i would like to go down the tapeless route i just cant justify the cost. i think the A1 has as many pro features as im gonna get for this price! ill let you know how i get on when i make the purchase! one other thing... iv been hearing rumours that there have been probs with the camera and FCP? anyone shed any light?! joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve McBride Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 As long as your capturing through Firewire to your computer through FCP, you shouldn't have any problems. FCP does a great job at getting the right profile for the footage and your project, but it's always nice to double check it before you log hours and hours of clips ;) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Santucci Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Great camera but has no manual zoom. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe jukes Posted August 4, 2008 Author Share Posted August 4, 2008 Great camera but has no manual zoom. . Really? whats the deal there then? how do you zoom? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Schweigart Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 Really? whats the deal there then? how do you zoom? No manual zoom means there's not a zoom ring on the lens. Instead zoom buttons or whatever you call them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe jukes Posted August 5, 2008 Author Share Posted August 5, 2008 Oh!! Sorry to sound a bit thick!! Like I said im new to this...I can understand how that might be a bit of a pain...the zoom ring on my SLR is so much easier/better than the button rocker type system i have on my old video camera. Its not bad enough to warrent getting a different camera though is it? Also, I would be taking a lot of handheld, low down shots so maybe it wont matter to much as long as the zoom button is accessible from the handle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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