Canon XH A1 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 PM
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Audio (9.75)
The XH A1 has a strong audio feature set, and with two XLR terminals as well as a mini mic plug, not found on the XL H1. The onboard microphone is mounted on the front of the handle over the lens. If you opt to record with the onboard mic, several settings are available in the menu that cannot be used with third party equipment including presets for NORMAL, VOICE WS (wind shield noise reduction), and mic sensitivity. If you have purchased this camcorder, however, you’ll probably only use the onboard mic if you’re in the unfortunate position of having no other choices at your disposal. That’s where the on-camera shock mount comes in, and it should accommodate many third-party mics like the Audio Technica AT-4073 or Sanken CS-1. It’s not as well isolated from the camcorder body as the mount on the XL H1, so a better third party shock mount attached to the shoe will be a better option in some cases.
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The XLR inputs on the right side |
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External audio controls are primarily located in two control clusters, one to the rear of the Power/Mode dial on the left side of the camcorder body, and on the “audio box” on the right side, where the XLR terminals are located. The attenuator switch for the onboard mic labeled MIC ATT. is marooned in the LCD cavity on top of the camcorder, and is the only external audio control outside the main audio control clusters.
The XH A1 is equipped with two XLR terminals, and they are positioned just in front of the main grip on the right side of the body, with CH1 on top, and CH2 below. The location of these terminals is not as convenient as on the XL H1, where they point backwards from the rear end of the shoulder mount, causing a minimum of drag. For a small camcorder, however, I think it’s a reasonable location that should keep incoming cables out of the fray. Unlike all of the XL camcorders, the XLR terminals cannot be selected via an external control. Instead, you’ll need to select the XLR terminals as your audio recording source in the Audio Setup section of the menu, but all other controls remain external. The relegation of audio source selection to the menu is one minor complaint I have about the XH A1’s redesigned interface, but in other ways, it remains easy to navigate.
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The built-in mic, external mic mount, and mini mic input |
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The top face of the box housing the XLR terminals includes four switches, with XLR MIC ATT. switches on the left. These switches have selections for OFF and ATT. (on), and apply a 20dB pad to the corresponding channel. The top switch controls CH1, and the bottom switch controls CH2. The 20dB attenuator pads the audio considerably, and the option to apply it to either channel makes it easy to create a safety channel for sound recording in dynamic environments. These controls do not affect sound from the onboard mic, which has its own attenuator switch in the LCD cavity.
A screen shot of how audio levels appear.
To the right of the MIC ATT. switches are a LINE MIC selector switch, and an input channel selection switch. The input channel selector switch has options for CH1 and CH1, CH2. When CH1 is selected, XLR 1 is recorded to channel 1, and XLR 2 is recorded to channel 2. The CH1, CH2 position will record audio from XLR 1 to both channel 1 and channel 2, and cannon be used for recording from both terminals.
There are two phantom power switches on the front-facing side of the audio box, adjacent to the CH2 XLR terminal, under the heading label +48V. The two switches correspond to CH1 and CH2, with positions for on and off. When these switches are set to on, they send phantom power to external mics directly from the XH A1. The signal from external mics connected to the XLR terminals can be boosted by 12dB in the Audio Setup Menu, an option that carries over from the XL H1.
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The audio level controls are too shallow to get a good grip on. |
On the camcorder's rear you'll find the headphone jack in the large port compartment below the FireWire terminal. I find this location to be an improvement over the phone jack on the XL camcorders where pointed up at an angle from the handle and was highly exposed to stress. The XH A1 has also lost the thumb-pad headphone volume controller that set flat against the body. On the XH A1, headphone volume is controlled using the menu selection dial.
As on all the XL camcorders, audio levels for external audio sources can be controlled with dials on the left side of the body. The dials are flat against the surface at the back left edge of the camcorder, with CH1 on top and CH2 below. Rotating the dials counterclockwise raises the recorded signal volume while turning them clockwise lowers the recorded signal volume. The levels are displayed on the LCD by two horizontal bars with a green dot indicating a default peak level. Red markers at the right end of each bar indicate signal clipping. The audio levels are also shown on the small screen inside the mode dial on the left side of the XH A1.
A few things have been lost in the down-scaling from the XL H1 to the XH A1, but I for one don’t miss them. While the H1 and G1 are both camcorders that will appeal to shooters who do at least some studio shooting, the A1’s market is likely to be people who work in the field, including independent producers, ENGs, and documentary filmmakers. The XH A1 retains two XLR inputs, phantom power, basic on-camera mixing and adds a very useful mini stereo mic jack. The loss of the four-channel recording capability (at a lowered bit rate) and RCA inputs found on the H1 won’t impact most light and fast productions.
The VCR controls are located on the handle under a hard, plastic flap.
VCR Mode (9.0)
The VCR function on the XH A1 is virtually identical to the one found on the XL H1 in terms of interface and features. The button-based playback interface includes a full complement of standard controls behind the hatch on the top of the handle including Pause, Stop, Rewind, Play, Fast Forward, and Record.
The EVF pivots up, but does not telescope out.
Ports (12.0)
The XH A1 has an extensive selection of ports and terminals, grouped primarily on the back end and right sides of the body. On the rear face of the camcorder, to the right of the battery slot is a large plastic port cover that conceals the input/output terminals which are aligned vertically. On top is the LANC terminal, followed by the HDV/DV FireWire terminal. To the right of the FireWire terminal is a small LED indicator lamp that glows blue when in HDV mode. Below the FireWire terminal is a headphone jack, video output selection switch with options for A/V1 and V2, and the A/V1 terminal. At the base of this port cluster is the COMPONENT OUT terminal.
Most of the ports are located under a rubber flap on the rear of the body.
The BNC terminal, labeled V2, is just around the corner, on the right side of the XH A1. This terminal is protected by its own small rubber port cover. On the XH G1, the Professional Jack Pack terminals (timecode-in, timecode-out, GEN-Lock and HD/SD-SDI) would appear below the V2 but that space is blank on the XH A1.
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The BINC composite-out is located on the right side. The hot acceosry shoe is on top. |
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Two XLR terminals can be found on the right side of the body just behind the lens, and a single mini stereo microphone input is above the XLR terminals on the handle. The memory card slot is inside the battery compartment door, above the battery slot.