Canon XL H1A Camcorder Review

Handling & Use Summary
• Generally, the handling experience is comfortable, given the easy access to controls. • The balance is off, tipping the weight towards the front-left. • For an HDV camcorder, the XL H1A is not very compact. There are smaller options.
	Still Features	(Page 9 of 12)	Playback & Connectivity

Ease of Use (8.5)

The Canon XL H1A is, by and large, an easy camcorder to use. The long profile allowed the designers to populate most of the left side with functions that would otherwise be buried in the menu. It might take new users time to "hunt and peck" for various controls, but the muscle memory will develop and you'll eventually be able to change shutter, gain, white balance, etc. without looking. That's just not possible with menu-based controls.

That's no to say that the menu is bereft of items. In fact, there are dozens and dozens of fine detail controls that alter color, detail, display preferences, and handling preferences. These are not easy to use, unless your intimately familiar with options like "Coring" and "Horizontal Detail Frequency," just to name a few. Add to that the fact that Canon had to abbreviate most of the items just to fit the text on the screen. There's hope, though. Firstly, the included manual is very good. Secondly, you may never need to use half of these controls, so who's worrying?

Images provided by Canon

Handling (8.0)

The Canon XL H1A is identical in design to the older XL H1, for the most part, and borrows heavily from the standard definition XL1 and XL2. If you didn't like the way those camcorders handled, you won't like this either. If you're a fan, or if you're an XL1/XL2 owner ready to step up to HD, the transition should be very smooth.

The Canon XL H1A being held by the top handle

For something in the $6000 price range, the XL H1A is large. This means that the weight is considerable, at about 3935g (8.7 pounds), but also that there's a lot of surface area to use for buttons and dials. All the crucial controls are close at hand. On the new kit lens, you'll find rings for focus, zoom, iris (a new addition), and an ND filter. On the body of the camcorder, there are large pop-up dials for white balance and gain, a dial for iris, and independent buttons for shutter and exposure lock. A whole slew of audio controls are hidden behind a large plastic door, and a huge mode dial shifts between full manual mode, auto mode, easy mode, priority modes, and a couple AE modes. If you need quick access to a common manual control, it's probably right there for you. 

The shoulder mount doesn't offer the best balance or support.

That's not to say that the menus lack for options. The XL series is virtually a color correction software package with a lens on the front. It's hard to imagine that the majority of shooters actually take advantage of half the extensive series of adjustments, but they're available if you need them. Making adjustments in these menus can be a time-consuming process, and not something that run-and-gun shooters will likely employ while shooting. However, the camcorder rewards companies that have several XL camcorders in their inventory. A camera operator can make all their adjustments just how they like them – color preferences, control preferences, and display preferences – then store them on an SD card. When you pick up any of the XL camcorders from the pool, just pop in the card and load your presets.

One problem that's gone unanswered since the last generation is the overall balance of the body. The damn thing just won't sit straight. It flops to the left when you pick it up, and it stays flopped even when you hoist it up on your shoulder. You'll definitely need a stabilizing left hand on the lens. The Sony HDR-FX1000 and, presumably, the Sony HVR-Z5U (due to arrive in our office very soon) are much lighter and better balanced.

One final note. Navigating through the menu is done with a dial on the nubbin on the left side of the camcorder. The dial is small, but suitable for the job. However, there's one incredibly frustrating aspect to the dial. To confirm a selection, you have to tap a separate button located directly above. But the first inclination is to push in on the dial. And after months of handling this model, and the XL H1 before that, we can assure you that the inclination never goes away. It would save time and smooth out the handling. Spreading out the buttons is just frustrating.

Image Stabilization (13.31)

The Canon XL H1A uses optical image stabilization, where an element inside the lens moves to compensate for hand shake. We found that the XL H1A did an excellent job overall of correcting for hand shake, as well as doing a good job with our more intense shake tests.  (More on how we test image stabilization.)

Canon XL H1A Low Shake Test

90% improvement with Stabilization on

Our first test subjects the Canon XL H1A to a low level of shake, about the same as you would expect from having the camcorder on your shoulder and using the controls. The graph above shows the amount of movement we detected in the captured video with the IS off (bottom line) and with the IS on (top line). As you can see, the IS feature of the XLH1A made a significant difference to the video, removing much of the shake. There was still some shake present, though; the stabilization did not remove it all.

High Shake Test

86% improvement with Stabilization on

Our high shake test is a more intensive test of the stabilization, as it involves shaking the camcorder signifcantly harder, as if it was being held while walking or poorly balanced in one hand. In this, we found that the XLH1A did a very good job as well; the amount of shake with the IS on (the orange line in the graph) is much reduced from video shot under the same conditions with IS off (the blue line in the graph), although, again, it is not perfect; the shake is still visible in the video, but it is much reduced. Below is a video showing some sample footage captured with IS both on and off with the low shake applied, although you should note that this has been heavily compressed to upload it to YouTube.

Image Stabilization Comparisons

Portability (7.1)

The Canon XL H1A body, with the viewfinder and microphone attached, weighs approximately 3935g (8.7 pounds). With the 20x kit lens attached, the whole package weighs 3935g (8.7 pounds). This is just slightly heavier than last year's XL H1, and is probably all in the new lens.

The camcorder is not compact, either. You'd need some mighty big pockets to sneak it into a night club. In fact, it won't fit in anything but a very large camera bag. Canon also makes a custom-fit hard shell case, which would be ideal for shipping or plane travel.

By comparison, the Canon XH G1 and XH A1 are much smaller and lighter, weighing around 2400 g (4.7 pounds). The Sony HVR-Z5U and HDR-FX1000 weigh roughly the same. All of these models are hand held rather than shoulder-mount bodies.

The XL H1A comes with a long-lasting battery pack.

LCD Battery Life (11.8)

The Canon XL H1A includes the BP-950G battery pack. In our testing, we found the battery to last for 236 minutes and 6 seconds (3 hours, 56 minutes, and 6 seconds) of constant shooting. This was about the same as the original Canon XL H1A. (More on how we test battery life.)

Battery Life (LCD) Comparisons

The Canon XL H1A trounced the Sony HDR-FX1000 in our battery life tests—even though the Sony is smaller and more compact.

Viewfinder Battery Life (11.8)

Normally, the battery test is split up into two tracks: a test shooting with the LCD and another with the EVF. Because the EVF is one-in-the-same on the Canon XL H1A, the battery test score is the same as above. 236 minutes and 6 seconds.

Battery Life (Viewfinder) Comparisons

LCD & Viewfinder (5.85)

The LCD and viewfinder are one in the same on the Canon XL H1A. It features a 2.4-inch TFT LCD with a limited 215,000 pixel resolution and an RGB delta configuration. The screen can be viewed straight-on, or you can flip down a large black eyecup/magnifier to use the screen as an EVF. The fact that there isn't a separate viewfinder and EVF is not a serious drawback. The design makes it not only possible, but simple, to use the viewfinder as either. There is also an extra EVF port for connecting an monochrome viewfinder.

The drive for higher resolution LCDs is definitely putting Canon in the back seat here, however. The Sony HDR-FX1000 and Sony HVR-Z5U both have a 3.2-inch LCD with a huge 921,000-pixel resolution. The viewfinder on those models have a 1.2MP viewfinder, to boot.

The LCD screen with the magnifier flipped up	The eyecup/magnifier flipped down

The viewfinder on the Canon XL H1A is placed on a mount it shares with the microphone. It's supposed to be adjustable, shifting from the left to the right, then lock into place. Instead, it has a tendency to roam back and forth, as the wheel lock comes loose all the time. Under the screen are three red LED lights, labeled Shutter, Record, and Gain. They light up if the the shutter changes from 1/60, if the camcorder is actively recording, or if gain is being used.

There are, of course, tons of controls surrounding how the viewfinder looks. The menu has brightness, contrast, color, and sharpness controls, as well as a black & white mode. In the Custom Display menu, there are 21 separate parameters that affect what and how information is displayed on the screen. Like the Custom Function and Custom Preset menus, you can save your Display preferences on an SD card and take them with you.

An extra EVF output is available for connecting a monochrome viewfinder	The viewfinder is large and adjustable

Menus (7.5)

The menus on the Canon XL H1A contain a lot of options, but organization is not a problem. It's a shallow, simple structure that is easy to navigate. However, you will absolutely want to spend time with the manual before an important shoot. There are so many settings and tweaks, especially when you get to the Customize menu, containing the Custom Preset, Custom Function, and Custom Display submenus, that much of the info is abbreviated to a handful of mysterious letters. Often, the only way to decode is to run to the index in the manual.

the main menu (Camera Menu)	Camera Setup Menu

Unlike most consumer camcorders, there is no real separation of settings across multiple menus. This is partly due to the design. There are so many buttons and dials for individual controls that your settings and their display on the viewfinder can be discrete.

So far, we've only been talking about how the menus look. How they handle is a different story. The scroll dial on the left side is small, and it's frustrating that you can't simply push in on the dial to confirm a selection. Instead, you have to tap a separate button above. It's such an obvious and simple thing to correct, and it's driven us all nuts.

Below are menu grabs of the three customizable menu features:

The Customize Menu	Custom Preset Menu

Custom Function Menu	Custom Display Menu