Canon XL H1 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Nov 7, 2006 10:00 AM
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The XL H1 is to the XL2 as Darth Vader is to a run-of-the-mill storm trooper. It's bigger, it's burlier, and in a departure for Canon, it's black. Its overall form resembles the popular standard definition camcorder, while most changes reflect the camcorder's ability to shoot in HDV as well as SD video. In this tour, I'll detail the camcorder's features with the stock lens and onboard mic mounted, as it appears in the basic package.
Viewed from the front the XL H1and XL2 are nearly identical, sharing the hallmark T-shaped appearance. The large removable plastic lens hood is the most prominent feature, and it extends several inches past the front of the lens. The Canon HD 20x L IS lens itself extends about 8 inches beyond the main camcorder body.
Just above the lens mount, a large handle extends up from the body. At its front is a tally lamp and remote sensor, both visible on a small plastic oblong patch. The EVF (electronic color viewfinder) unit makes up the horizontal bar of the XL H1's T shape, and attaches to the front side of the handle above the tally lamp. The viewfinder cable meets the EVF, at its center front side, and plugs into the body via a port on the left side. The right side of the EVF unit houses the LDC screen and eye cup, while the left side serves as a shock mount for the onboard microphone. The shock mount is adjustable, and easily accommodates many third party shotgun mics. The supplied microphone extends forward of the EVF unit by about six inches. The entire EVF/mic mount is adjustable both side-to-side and front-to-back about 2" - 2 1/2".
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Forward of the camcorder body is the standard Canon 20x lens with a minimum focal distance of 20mm to 1m, and aperture settings of F1.6, F2.0. F2.8, F5.6, F8.0, and F9.5. On top are a Stabilizer on/off switch, Position Preset switch (for set zoom positions), AF switch/Position Preset on/Set switch (for temporarily entering AF and setting zoom presets), and Focus Selector switch (Auto/Manual). Moving forward are the ND filter ring, the Zoom ring and the Focus ring. All three rings are distinguished from one another tactilely: the ND ring is plastic, and must be released by pressing a button on it top side; the Zoom ring is made of rubber; and the Focus ring, also rubber, flares slightly out and is wider than the Zoom ring.
The entire EVF unit is highly adjustable, shifting left and right along a 2.5" track, and can be removed from the body of the XL H1. Unfortunately, we found the screw that keep it in place inadequate. It comes loose after lugging the camcorder around, allowing the EVF to slosh back and forth.
The Right Side (17.0)
The right side of the XL H1 hosts many of the camcorder's ports, the tape compartment and the grip with its integrated controls. From the camcorder's top rear, the handle extends up and forward horizontally to rejoin the body above the lens mount. At the front of the handle is the jack for the supplied mic, and above and to the left of that is an on/off switch for the zoom toggle located on the top surface of the handle.
The camcorder's main grip extends out from the camcorder's body to provide comfortable hand placement. On the top surface of the grip is the camcorder's primary zoom controller. One of this camcorder's main assets is its considerable length, which allowed Canon to keep controls at an optimal size rather than miniaturizing them, which tends to happen on smaller prosumer models. The zoom rocker is a good example of full-sized controls, and is operated using both the middle and index fingers, providing better control than one-finger zoom toggles. Just behind the zoom rocker is a photo button, positioned in easy reach of a user's index finger.
Moving towards the camcorder's back, the XL H1 body slants upward, giving it the distinctive XL look, and the tape compartment is positioned in the center of this angled section. The compartment hatch is opened via a switch above it, on the top surface of the camcorder, and loads from the top. The tape compartment hatch opens easily on a sturdy bottom hinge. To the left of the tape compartment is the recessed battery slot with a release at its lower right corner. The battery release button is conveniently placed, but reaching it is a tight squeeze when numerous ports are in use.The camcorder's two main port compartments are to the left of, and below the battery slot respectively, both protected by hard plastic port covers.The first port compartment, along the XL H1's back edge, contains terminals for, from top to bottom, S-video, BNC video, RCA video, RCA audio 2, and RCA audio 1. Next to the video terminals is a BNC/RCA toggle switch.
The second port compartment below the battery slot is arranged horizontally, and it contains terminals for Time Code in, Time Code out, Gen Lock, and HD/SD SDI from left to right. These ports are on the right side of the shoulder rest, which comprises a distinct part of the XL H1's body. While the main body is angled, the shoulder rest fits like a wedge underneath the angled back of the XL H1's body.
The Back (9.0)
The back of the XL H1 body features a number of controls and ports, including the XLR audio inputs, located at the back end of the shoulder rest. This camcorder has two XLR inputs, for channel 1/3 and channel 2/4 (the camcorder can mix up to four balanced audio signals sans external mixer with the optional MA-300 adaptor). Below the XLR inputs is the component video out port, capable of 1080i output as well as sending a down-converted 480i signal to SD monitors. Above the XLR inputs, the body shape follows an arc that continues seamlessly onto the handle.
Concealed by a sturdy protective cover are a number of controls and terminals beginning with the headphone level dial on top. Like the XL2 phones level dial, this is a textured "thumb dial" that is set flat against the body of the camcorder. I didn't care for this dial on previous XL models, and I would prefer a raised dial design to this one, or a pop-up button like the gain and white balance controls on the left. Just below is the mini headphone port, behind its own small cover, and below that is another port cover concealing the HDV/DV in/out terminal and the LANC jack.Below these ports are five audio control switches. The first is a Line/Mic signal selector switch, and below that are two phantom power On/Off switches for channel 1/3 and channel 2/4. Rounding out this set of audio controls are two microphone attenuator on/off switches corresponding to channels 1/3 and 2/4. When set to Att., this switch knocks down the signal by 20dB and could be used to make one channel a safety in high-decibel environments.
The Left Side (18.0)
This is where the XL H1's features really shine. The left side is a smorgasbord of controls for image control and audio mixing, and Canon's interface is generally well-implemented. Shooters who are familiar with the XL2 will feel right at home, with most controls carried over directly to its HDV cousin, including the trademark Power/Mode Dial.
The Power/Mode Dial is the centerpiece of the XL H1's left-side, located midway between the back of the camcorder body and the lens mount. This is a unique control, with a small locking button that is pressed to move from one setting to another. As on the XL2, this dial is easy to operate, and places numerous operating modes and presets at your fingertips. Note that you'll need to memorize some of these because they are represented by an icon or letter on the dial to make space. Reading clockwise on the dial, the operating modes are External Control mode, VCR/Play mode, Power off and Auto. These basic modes are followed by presets for Shutter-Priority, Aperture-Priority, Manual, Spotlight, Night, and Easy Recording. While I like the Canon XL series Power/Mode Dial, I do wish the dial selection marker was back-facing rather than at the dial's top. In the case of XL camcorders, the marker doubles as a green LED power indicator.
Image controls are to the left of the Power/Mode Dial, both on the camcorder body and on the stock Canon HD lens. Closest to the dial are a Light button at about 11 o'clock, which illuminates the side panel for viewing in dark settings, and an Audio Monitor button at about 7 o'clock. This button is used to select audio channels for manual adjustment, and pressing the button repeatedly cycles through the options. Another set of controls are arranged horizontally along the base of the XL H1's body, and they are identical to those on the XL2. From left to right: the Gain Dial, White Balance Dial, manual white balance button, and Standby button. Pressing Standby puts the camcorder in Power Save mode, which shuts down the VCR while maintaining camera settings.
Above the four previous controls, you'll find a curious depression in the camcorder body that looks like the cavity in an apple when a slice has been removed. This dual-faced cavity provides additional surface area for a suite of image controls. On the face parallel to the left side of the camcorder are Frame Rate switch, (60i, 30F, 24F) and a Mode Select switch (HD, 16:9 SD, 4:3 SD). On the face pointing towards the camcorder's rear are four buttons, from the top: Record Review, Bars/Fade Select, Bars/Fade On/Off, and Menu. While I generally appreciate the way Canon has implemented the XL H1 interface, the Menu button placement is another personal pet peeve. It's a button that you'll need to access frequently - and I'd prefer its placement just around the corner with the Select button and Iris/Select dial, the other menu navigation controls. For its importance, I think it's undersized.
The other two menu controls, Iris/Select dial and Set button, are a little closer to the lens on a nubbin that protrudes out from the camcorder's body. This protrusion is one of many surface features of the camcorder body that help with the navigation of the left side interface, serving as tactile signposts. The Set button, used to choose a menu item, is above the Iris/Select dial, which is used to cycle through menu options. In camera mode, it serves as the Iris dial. Above the nubbin, on the camcorder body, are several more controls. Moving up is the Lens Release latch, an Exposure Lock button (used to lock a particular exposure when shooting in Auto), and two buttons that assist with focus: EVF Peaking and EVF Magnifying.
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To the rear of the Power/Mode Dial are the XL H1's onboard audio controls, located behind a large plastic protective hatch. Opening the hatch by its rear hinge reveals six selector switches and four audio level dials divided into two sections for Audio 1 (lower) and Audio 2 (upper). In the lower Audio 1 section, at left top, is an input selection switch with options for Front Mic (onboard), Audio 1 (RCA 1 line level in), and Rear (XLR) inputs. Below the Input Select switch is a recording level selection switch for either auto or manual. To the right are two switches, one for recording channel selection and an on/off switch for the front mic's 20dB attenuator. Level dials for channel 1 and channel 2 are below.
Above the Audio 1 section is the Audio 2 section, used when recording audio channels 3 and 4. Recording to channels 3 and 4 must be enabled in the menu. On the top left side of the Audio 2 is an input selection switch with options for the Shoe, Audio 2 (RCA line level in) and Rear (XLR). The Shoe on the XL H1 is hot, and used with the MA-300 XLR adaptor enables the camcorder to record from four balanced mic inputs. Below the input selection switch is a recording level switch for auto or manual modes, and to the right are audio level adjustment dials for channels 3 and 4. Holes in the audio controls hatch allow access to all four audio dials when the cover is closed.
The Top (9.0)
The top of the XL H1 body has a number of important controls, including the onboard VCR interface, centrally located on top of the handle. From left to right, the VCR controls are Record, Fast Forward, Play, Rewind, Stop and Pause. The buttons are covered by a hard plastic cover that swings open. Several of these buttons have secondary functions. When playing back stills, Rewind and Fast Forward enable you to move between images, while Play starts and stops a slide show. The Pause button serves as a Drive Mode selector for still capture, enabling Continuous Shooting, High-Speed Continuous, Auto Exposure Bracketing, and Single shot modes. The Stop button also acts as a metering method selector in still modes other than the presets (Auto, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority or Manual). Each press of the Stop button moves through metering options, including Evaluative, Center Weight Average, and Spot.