Canon XH A1 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Nov 21, 2006 12:00 PM
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Still Features (7.5)
The Canon XH A1 (Specs, Recent News, $3279.99) is not a hybrid camcorder/still camera, but it does have a strong suite of still photo features. Stills can be taken in four resolutions - two widescreen (1920 x 1080, 848 x 480) and two 4:3 (1440 x 1080, 640 x 480) – during video recording, primarily as a shot continuity tool. Image quality can be set to normal, fine, or superfine. Stills are saved to memory cards, which are inserted into a card slot inside the battery compartment door, and above the battery slot. A 16MD card ships with the camcorder.
The SDHC card slot is located in the battery cavity.
A small toggle switch is used to engage still photo recording mode from any video mode. The switch is located against the right side of the camcorder body just behind the grip, and is identifiable by icons of a memory card (photo mode) and a tape (video mode). The photo button is on top of the grip behind the zoom lever, and a secondary photo button is on top of the handle.
Like the XL H1 (Specs, Recent News, $7947.89), the XH A1 includes features found on most Canon camcorders including Focus Priority, continuous shooting mode (3fps) and high-speed continuous shooting mode (5 fps) up to a maximum of 60 shots, and auto exposure bracketing (-1/2EV, 0EV, +1/2EV). The XH A1 also features several metering modes: Evaluative Mode, which meters several zones in the frame, Center Weight Average, and spot metering, which meters a spot in the center of the shot.
The XH A1 can also record video to tape and still photos to memory card simultaneously by setting this as a custom function. This camcorder can also save custom preset camcorder settings to a still photo. In any video recording mode, select the Recording Setup menu option Still I. Rec., and then choose ON+CP DATA. When this option is selected, pressing the photo button will embed camera preset information in a still image corresponding to the current settings of the XH A1. The preset information can be imported at a later date by accessing the relevant still image.
Still image playback is engaged by setting the card/tape switch to card mode when the camcorder is in VCR playback mode. The VCR control strip on top of the handle doubles as still photo playback control buttons: Forward moves forwards, Rewind moves backwards, and Play initiates a slideshow. While in video playback mode, hitting the photo button saves a still photo of the video frame to the memory card.
The Canon XH A1’s hot shoe is compatible with E-TTL II Canon Speedlite flashes used on Canon SLR cameras.
Still Resolution (7.1)
The Canon XH A1 was tested for its still resolution by shooting a standard ISO 12233 resolution chart and running those stills through Imatest imaging software. In total, the 1920 x 1080 stills produced an approximate resolution of 719680.6. This is a similar score to the Canon XL H1, and good for a camcorder with stills of this size. Of course, many consumer camcorders are capable of taking larger stills, some up to 4MP-5MP.
Still Performance (4.5)
Normally, we state in this section that camcorders are not designed to take stills because video and stills treat colors differently – they have different gamma spaces. The XH A1, however, contains two separate processors, the DIGIC DVII for video and the DIGIC II for stills, the same processor found in several of Canon’s still cameras.
The results are sharp looking stills, but not stills that look the same as its video performance. The picture is sharp, there’s no denying that. But the real question we must ask is this: Do you want a camcorder that takes great stills at about 2MP, or do you want a camcorder that takes stills that can closely match how the video looked? After all, the likelihood of a person using this as a substitute for a still camera is pretty small. More likely is a scenario in which a videographer has the perfect lighting, the perfect angles, and perfect camera settings, and then wants to snap off a few photos for future reference. From what we can tell, these still photos would be able to accurately capture some of those aspects of a shot, but the colors would look totally different. Great photos are fine, but the features should match the needs of the shooter. However, as our scores are based on pure performance compared to the stills of other camcorders, the Canon XH A1 scored well.
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