Customer Reviews Of Canon XH A1 Black 1/3" 3CCD 2.8" LCD 20X Optical Zoom High Definition Professional Camcorder

Item#: N82E16830120080 >

Customer Reviews

Customer Reviews for Canon XH A1 Black 1/3" 3CCD 2.8" LCD 20X Optical Zoom High Definition Professional Camcorder
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Review Summary (22 Reviews):
Excellent	19ReviewsExcellent	86%
Good	1ReviewsGood	5%
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Very Poor	2ReviewsVery Poor	9%
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Reviewer	Product Review
Hayden Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year	1/5/2009 3:43:49 PM Hayden Pros: Great HD image quality, lot of features for a modest price, down-converts to SD 16:9 and 4:3, for the price amazing low light!, XLR imputs, Phantom power. Cons: The lens is non remove able, no 720p but i have never needed it, built in mike is low quality and is very loose! Other Thoughts: I have owned this camera for over 4 months and have loved it. I havent been able to do much work with it but in the little I have done it has served me well. I suggest that you buy a shot gun mike with it, nothing to fancy about 200$ is fine, also get a polarizing filter and a clear UV filter that you can always leave on to protect the lens since it is non removable. Also get a good hard bag, this is one of the best things you can buy to protect your investment. Also I have tried both DV tapes that sayd they work for HD recording, and the HDV tapes, they are both identical on the first record of the tape it only makes a difference if you record over the same section multiple times, then you may see dropouts. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Vincent Tech Level: average Ownership: 1 week to 1 month	12/7/2008 2:28:32 PM Amazing Camera Great Entry Level Pros: Got this for a Documentary project. The picture is stunning, looks amazing on a high def LCD. XLR Audio inputs work great. This camera is relatively easy to use. Cons: I had to get this somewhere else because newegg's price on this is thirty percent higher than other web stores. I wish newegg was as competitive with camera pricing as they are with computer parts. Other Thoughts: I thought about waiting for generic P2 media to come out for the Panasonic, but for now it is just way too expensive to record onto solid state media. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Lou Tech Level: average Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	12/2/2008 8:55:07 PM Exceeded My Expectations! Pros: Clarity, Quality of Construction, Adjustments. Cons: None for me. Other Thoughts: Still the best bet for HD video on a beginners budget. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Merck Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	7/30/2008 7:22:54 AM Amazing HD Camera Pros: You can't beat the quality for a home video camera. I have used junk $400 cameras that I would be embarrassed to show my kids in 20 years. I have previously owned the GL2 camera and this camera is on par. The High Def is amazing on a 47 inch LCD. Cons: Sound is below average. If you are in a controlled environment it is okay, but any wind sounds like a freight train. Get a wind screen or a different mic. Editing can be cumbersome with HD. Other Thoughts: A good tripod and this camera = great video. Did you find this review helpful? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Philro Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year	4/27/2008 1:43:27 AM Awesome Prosumer Buy Pros: I'm a student filmmaker and thought long and hard about what camera to get, I looked at Sony and Panasonic and then saw the Canon. It shoots comparable to the HVX for half the price, the lens is a lot nicer and the amount of image quality you get for the price is amazing. I watched a film I shot projected from a DVD (SD!) and it still looked better than anything else at the student festival. 1.67 million megapixels per ccd is fantastic in terms of information to work with in post, you can pull the colors to just about anything. 24f looks exactly like 24p- visually there's no difference between the two. I've always wanted to shoot footage at night and never been able to, this camera does really well at night. Cons: Well, drag and drop capture would be nice but I didn't lay down the money for anything like that. The LCD is a little small, but that does help battery life a great deal. (The one it comes with lasts 5 hours!) My DP loved the image quality but didn't like that he couldn't mark the lens for focus pulling because it does it electronically. Sometimes capturing can be a pain with Final Cut Pro (getting the computer to see the camera etc.) I've also had to have it repaired because the firewire port went out on me- you've got to be careful with it. Other Thoughts: If you're a student filmmaker and you want to improve your production values take a hard look at this camera. You're essentially getting 1080i 24p shot with a fantastic lens for a very reasonable price. This camera also uses the same imaging system as it's bigger $9,000 brother the XL H1. My friend and I are going to put a 35mm adapter on it soon and get the absolute most out of it that we can. Good luck! 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Merck Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	4/25/2008 7:31:11 AM Wow Pros: Amazing quality. Looks better than any of my high def channels on my 47" HD tv. Cons: Learning curve. I just use it for my home videos and my wife is just now using it. 0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
yetanotherguy Tech Level: high Ownership: more than 1 year	3/10/2008 6:01:56 PM This is the camera to beat Pros: First.. I'm an engineer S/W H/W Engineer and have worked for Avid, and other video related companies.. I've been shooting documentaries for a couple of years as a second job. This is my second Canon, an XL-H1 was my first. The guy maz with the bad review had a cross between bad luck and also being shorted intelligence. I've had zero problems with this camera, and it works BETTER than the XL-H1 that I have about $12K into. Nothing in this price range is close. If you have this camera a decent Sennheiser shotgun (or equivalent), you have a fully professional setup (missing of course, tripods, lav, wireless setup, crane, steadicam, lights, etc ;-) But seriously.. Nothing even now rivals it in this price range. The autofocus is much better, its much easier to hand hold (If someone complains about holding this camera, they never used a pro camera.. this is a dream). If you really need something like this, this is the best. Cons: Fixed lens.. but that's why the more expensive cameras cost so much more.. There is a wide angle attachment for this for about $400.. but the autofocus doesn't work well with it. But personally, unless its run and gun, I never use auto anything. It is nice when you need it though. Other Thoughts: If you buy this camera.. you have to know that the whole point is to use if manually, otherwise just buy an HV30 (great camera too).. Doing interviews, etc never trust anything in auto or you can expect the intelligent camera to do something stupid.. Also.. I strongly suggest to only use -3 and 0 for gain.. NEVER auto. 10 out of 10 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
hydreamspro Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: more than 1 year	1/7/2008 3:22:24 PM canon xh-a1 Pros: Beautiful image, play back on my LCD TV and look great. Even when is down convert to SD. Use for weeding and they love it. Cons: After a few minute the camcorder got some kind on heavy, I recommend to use a tripod or something similar. Need more accessories options Other Thoughts: Recommend to download custom preset to the camcorder, it will make a big different. 0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
MisterMcC Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	12/27/2007 10:14:35 PM An Excellent Purchase Pros: I've been producing event and studio video projects for several years with SD cams with similar specs. I was a little nervous about getting into HD, but I really like this camcorder. Color saturation in the HDV color space is noticably better. I love the lens with focus, zoom, and exposure rings and 20x optical zoom for shallow depth of field. I watched some of my footage on an HD monitor and loved it. 24f looks similar to 24p footage I've shot even though it's going through interlaced chips. Cons: I wish you could record internal mic signal on one channel, and XLR on the other. I also wish there was an S-video in/out. Auto focus switch is difficult to reach without moving the camera. Other Thoughts: I prefer shooting to tape for archiving purposes rather than hard drive or cards. Even if you edit and deliver in SD, you still have an HD archive that can be used later when HD delivery will be more common. Shooting in HDV is an easy cost effective way to get into HD. 4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Vashinaz Tech Level: average Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	10/21/2007 1:38:12 PM Professional Quality - Great Price Pros: I was torn between buying a JVC at $1500 dollars more, but when I received this camera in 3 days and took it out of the box I was impressed with it's professional appearance! The .4 Lux Rating ( the reaso I bought the camera) makes this camera perform very well in low light. The color does not suffer at all to my tests. I did not find the grain to be heavy until I took the light down to < 1 lux, but who reall would dare to film in that low of light situation with a 1/3" CCD with- out some atificial light. I found that the mic was wobbly if you wiggled it with your hand, but that wobble is due to the rubber fitting for shock absorbtion I'm guessing. I have already ordered a shotgun mic for better sound isolation and only plan to use the mic for ambient sound. I found this to be a robust camcorder with every switch and jack I need to expand my equipment needs: Menu driven camcorders are over-rated and hard to adjust on the fly. Very good investment for me. Cons: Dial Power switch/selector is hard to set quickly, but very hansome. Accessory sellection hard to find other than on Canon.com, i.e. lights, mics lens, filters, batteries. I Had to buy everything on other sites to save money, but saving $800 on these items was worth it. Other Thoughts: Works well with Vegas 8 Pro (also bought here) using a high speed IEEE 1395 connection. Would have been nice to have the viewfinder/eyecup located by the mic for shoulder-mount filming. 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
deviant Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	8/20/2007 8:59:07 AM You had me at the 72mm Lens Pros: The Lens optics are very impressive. Preforms very well in low light situations even without any added light accessories. This camcorder does its job and steps it up some too. Cons: IMO it should come with firewire. It comes with ever other cable known to man, not a real big issue. The Canon Digital Master tapes are a little hard to find. This isnt really a Con, just be prepared. They are worth it. Other Thoughts: This is a very nice step up from regular consumer camcorders. I almost feel like a professional now. I was truely stunned and was in awe after my first post production movie. To those who see this cams weight an issue, get over it. Its 5 lbs fully loaded with battery and tape, add a light and external mic, its maybe 6lbs. Have you ever used a tripod? Even without a tripod the results are well worth the "heft"....LOL. Very nice to see products out there that can out preform Sony and its sheepish following. 3 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
maz Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month	8/17/2007 10:30:11 AM Canon XHA1 Mega Problem! Pros: Beautiful looking camera. Cons: Hi Guys, I have a very, very poor experience to share with you. I just bought an XHA1. You might say so what? I say exactly, so what! So what about everything, the construction materials left me in disbelief when I opened the box. The microphone rubber support must have shrunk in transport as the microphone rattles if you shake the camera or indeed if you touch it. The cassette access door shuts as badly as the back door of a Robin Reliant. But wait! The best is yet to come! To restore my faith I decided to test the new 1.670.000 pixels quality sensor against my old XM1 320.000 pixels so I took both cameras out for a walk in REC mode. Came back, captured both footages on my Newtek VT4 for further analysis as I couldn't understand how you could improve so much the already excellent picture from the old one. To my biggest surprise I was right. They didn't manage to improve it but after several attempts of readjusting the XHA1 I still could not even match the 4 out of 31 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
xpreshun Tech Level: average Ownership: less than 1 day This user purchased this item from Newegg	8/9/2007 9:15:44 PM great camera Pros: Very good camera. Great quality. Nice price. Cons: Gains get pretty grainy. Saturation levels not as saturated as the Panasonic HVX. Microphone is wobbly. Other Thoughts: Is there an HDD for this thing? 1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
N/A Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	8/2/2007 11:57:57 AM Excellent Pros: Fantastic array of manual controls and operational options. Highly customizable image. Outstanding image quality and surprising low-light functionality. This camera is just all around perfect for any professional, whether it be film-making or broadcast. Cons: A few audio control issues to adjust to. not recommended for the unexperienced due to the learning curve. Other Thoughts: Highly recommended to indie film-makers 1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
dissapointed custome Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month This user purchased this item from Newegg	7/5/2007 9:52:45 PM DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA !! Pros: The body of the camera looks very professional, has some cool custom preset features, is a good deal larger than GL2 Cons: AWFUL quality!!! I upgraded from gl2 and must say NOT IMPRESSED. I wish I never bought this camera. for $3500 it is totally not worth it. The picture quality is a joke. I am just soooo disappointed with this camera. I have been so loyal to Canon up until now. Plus it has major issues with premiere pro 2. The camera is also VERY heavy. Other Thoughts: There are other things Id like to mention too but according to the guidelines will not... 3 out of 33 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
JH Video Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month	5/26/2007 12:20:41 PM Pros: I have never owned a canon before, but as soon as I opened the box I felt confident I made the right decision. I love the placement of the LCD screen, you don't have to look around it to find a switch or button to make an adjustment. The manual controls pretty much allow you to do anything you want with this camera. External battery charger, long life battery included, full size manual, nice solid feel, XLR's. Canon really hit the nail on the head with this camera. Cons: I do a lot of weddings and coming from VX2100's which pretty much set the bar for low light capability it does fall a little short, though I think it maintains color accuracy better the my sony cams. Also in auto mode the noise level is higher than I would like in low light situations. Manual control is this camera's strong point if you play around with it you can come out with great looking footage. Other Thoughts: I definetly plan on buying a second before the end of the year. The Console Software that Canon offers, is a great tool to see exactly what the camera can do. If your not already familiar with this camera. Do yourself a favor and download the 14 day trial from Canon's site. Hopefully canon will make some kind of rebate offer in the future that includes this software with their cams. 5 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
GeoJustice Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	4/17/2007 11:40:56 AM Great Investment Pros: Camera is absolutely fantastic. Great video right out of the box. With a little color tweaking even better. XLR inputs make mic'ing a breeze. Cons: None. 1 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
The Z-man Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 day to 1 week This user purchased this item from Newegg	4/13/2007 11:49:34 PM Canon XH A1 Pros: Wonderful camcorder. I have been watching this thing for a long while and finally purchase it this week. I have been very pleased with its performance. I purchase this camcorder mainly to shoot footage for my kids and I have to say I am more than happy to see the crystally clear picture/video under just the kichen light. I also have Canon HV10 but I am afraid it will only be used on the trip when I don't feel like to cary this beautiful camcorder with me in a long trip Cons: Too expensive. In a long run, this became less important. After all, how do you place a price on the memory? Many years (well, it seems that way anyhow), I purchase a Canon 10D camera. It was awfully expensive ($1500 for the body and an additional >$1400 for the lenses). However, it was the best investment I made. I have since taken thousands of pittures of my kids doing all sort of interesting things. Even my wife had come to agree that was a good thing that I bought that carmera against her will. Other Thoughts: HDMI connection would have been nice. That might have made my purchase easier. 1 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
ICVideo Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year	4/10/2007 1:59:11 PM Best camera under $5500 Pros: This is a follow-up to my previous review. My company has now purchsed three of these because the image quality alone has brought us more business. Being able to send out a 30sec Hi-Def clip to prospective buys makes them drool. The cameras are intuitive, versatile with framing (16:9 4:3) and shooting modes (1080i, 480, 60i, 30F, and 24F). Using these with a Davis and Sanford tripod has produced outstanding reults from plays, corporate events, sporting events, and weddings. It takes some time to get to know what this camera can, but it is well worth it. Cons: Menu driven XLR or line mic adjustment instead of a switch. Other Thoughts: Using a lastolite white balance screen to set the three cameras equal has proven that the cameras record a good consistent color and the onboard mic works well when needed. Many people complain about the interior battery compartment. I have had no problems with it or with Impact aftermarket batteries. Some cheaper brands, I had an Empire laying around, do pose problems after heating up. last note; the factory battery usually last 3-4 hrs continuos shooting. Incredible 18 out of 19 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
zac Tech Level: high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year	3/18/2007 11:24:12 AM Amazing Pros: This camcorder beats out any camcorder I have ever used. It zooms in pretty far and looks spectacular. Cons: You can't control XLR inputs both separtly.It's not very affordable. 1 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
The Rev. Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 month to 1 year This user purchased this item from Newegg	2/26/2007 3:26:23 PM Better Than You Would Believe! Pros: Beautiful camera to look at, which is a great place to start. Is easy to grip from the side, top or balance on a SteadyCam or FigRig. Layout of buttons is intuitive, and leaves the most used ones out of the menu in placement of hard switches. Great audio inputs, wide range of options with internal and external audio. Cons: Zoom could be slightly higher, 10x doesn't really do it for me. Sound from internal mic leaves something to be desired. Switches for playback under a door in the handle. Other Thoughts: This camera puts out AMAZING HD footage. I shot at 60F and then straight, and the HD footage was beautiful with no color correction needed. For $3500 this is THE best choice for HD camera. Forego the Sony, and don't spend more on the Panasonic, the Canon XH-A1 is everything you will need in a camera. I agonized for months over this, and this is my choice, and I love it. 2 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!
Zelkien Tech Level: somewhat high Ownership: 1 week to 1 month	2/15/2007 10:08:34 PM Unbelievable quality Pros: This camcorder is amazing. I stepped up from a couple of Canon GL1's to two of HX-A1. The picture quality is amazing. The colors are very true and require very little if any correction in post production. The manual lens controls and audio controls make this camcorder a true standout for the price. High definition weddings, birthdays, and corporate videos are amazing. Cons: The weight will immediately suprise people coming from GL series cameras. We had to retune our tripods to compensate for the added heft. Other Thoughts: We are probably going to purchase one more of these for our shoots. Amazing value for the money. 18 out of 19 people found this review helpful. Did you? Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided!