Canon XL H1A Camcorder Review

by Jeremy Stamas and David Kender
Published on Feb 6, 2009 6:00 PM

Intro
 Product Tour
Performance Low Light Performance
Audio Compression & Media
Manual Controls Still Features
Handling & Use Playback & Connectivity
Comparisons Conclusion
Photo Gallery Specs and Ratings


Introduction
The Canon XL H1A ($5999 MSRP) offers some small but useful improvements to the first-generation XL H1A. An upgraded 20x lens kit lens adds an iris ring to the focus and zoom rings. The in-camera color controls, already beyond what most camcorders offer, has been extended even further. Most importantly, Canon has increased the affordability of a shoulder - mount camcorder. In this latest generation, there are two versions. The XL H1A offers all the handling and controls. The XL H1S ($8999 MSRP) has an identical form factor, but adds uncompressed HD/SD-SDI output, Genlock and Timecode. Both camcorders are damn good, offering the performance and handling that can stand up to the most discerning critics. It's not perfect – the weight balance could be better and the audio was reduced from 4-channel to 2-channel (a minor downgrade). Overall, though, we like them very much.
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Section The Good The Bad
Product Tour Lots of dedicated buttons and dials for manual control It's a large body compared to other HDV camcorders
Performance Excellent performance with color, noise, and resolution Some blurring was present in our motion tests
Low Light Performance Adjusting gain levels provides good color accuracy and strong low light sensitivity. Noise levels too high at certain gain levels
Audio Audio controls are easily accessible and numerous 4-channel recording reduced to 2-channel on this generation
Compression & Media Tape is reliable and cheap 24F and 30F footage can only be played back on Canon camcorders
Manual Controls Extensive, powerful manual control set Too many settings make fine control confusing
Still Features Simple interface and use Provided SD card limited to 32MB
Handling & Use Easy access to controls and  intuitive interface for basic functions Uneven weight distribution
Playback & Connectivity Simple playback and a wealth of ports Steep $3000 upgrade for Genlock and Timecode (on XL H1S)



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