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Canon XH A1S


Liam Howlett

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Has anybody had any experience using the A1S ? I'm looking into buying my first prosumer HD cam, and I'm eyeing this one mainly because of this test footage I saw here -

 

Do you think this is worth the price of 3k? Or is there something better for the same price, or even for cheaper?

 

Regards.

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Wow, amazing stuff.

 

To answer your question, not much to nil experience, other than holding and playing with one at either Fry's or one of the local photographic rental houses. It's the camera I've had my eye on for some time, and the camera I wanted to use to create a small demo reel of some shorts I wanted to shoot.

 

Years back I had the forerunner, the Canon L1, which was also an amazing camera (for the time). But, it couldn't capture anything like what's posted on your link.

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  • 2 months later...

Has anybody had any experience using the A1S ? I'm looking into buying my first prosumer HD cam, and I'm eyeing this one mainly because of this test footage I saw here -

 

Do you think this is worth the price of 3k? Or is there something better for the same price, or even for cheaper?

 

Regards.

 

 

3 months ago I bought one from ebay for $2300.00 which included the Canon wide angle lens attachment. I sold my 2 Canon Xl1s cameras to get it and it was well worth it. When looking at the youtube demo, you have to remember that most of the images coming directly out of the camera will not look like this. The camera is awsome and has many features that I will never use. but there is still a small amount of grain in low light. But most of it can be removed using Color Curves in Premiere Pro or After Effects by crushing the blacks a little bit. I also use a firestore FS-4HD instead of tape which records files in M2T format which will not play in windows until it is converted. If you capture video to the computer by playing tape through the camera I have found that the files must be deinterlaced once they are loaded in the computer.. I am so happy with the quality of this camera and it is essentially the same as the more expensive XL-H1 models without the ability to change lenses as well as the ability to output in some more professional editing systems. Inside the camera it is basically the same as its eight or nine thousand dollar big brother XL-H1. So, it is a steal. I got the Firestore FS-4HD on ebay for $400 and it was well worth it and it records up to 3hrs of HD files, which I have never even com close to using up before downloading them to the computer. With the camera and the Firestore for under $2800 it was an incredible deal and I love both Items.

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Has anybody had any experience using the A1S ? I'm looking into buying my first prosumer HD cam, and I'm eyeing this one mainly because of this test footage I saw here -

 

Do you think this is worth the price of 3k? Or is there something better for the same price, or even for cheaper?

 

Regards.

 

 

Important!!!!!

 

If you do go on ebay for one of these, do not be scared away by a description mentioning a loose onboard microphone. After researching this I found that it is normally supposed to be loose and have movement as this feature is a sort of vibration or "shock absorber" for the onboard mic. A lot of descriptions on ebay mentioned this and I feel that I got this camera at a lower price because shoppers and owners were not aware that this is normal. I also feel that the onboard microphone has excellent quality. I also thought the same of the mic on the Xl1s. Some people may disagree but I always have been able to get a good sound out of the mics from all of my Canon cameras. If you have an extra person and a boom Mic you can plug it in the Xh-A1 but if not the onboard does a good job.

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  • 1 month later...

I Own an XH-A1S and it is an amazing camera for the price. Out of the box the camera shows a lot of red bias in the images, so I suggest a hot mirror filter. Here is some footage I shot with mine recently that was not color corrected. You can see both the great quality of the picture, and also the red bias (I've been meaning to color correct this but just haven't had the time!). There are tons of options in the camera to dial in exactly what looks you want. I highly recommend the XH-A1s.

 

http://www.vimeo.com/10504974

 

Clayton Moore

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  • 3 months later...

Hi,

 

Please read my thread on this camera

 

http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=49534

 

It's a great camera:) I love it. It's hard to pull off though.

 

I also have a hv30. I get better footage on the hv30 at the moment because its such a user friendly camera. But i have a lot to learn about the xha1s because i can put it to it's full potential:)

 

It's a great camera to learn with!

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