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  • Introduction

  • Front

  • Back

  • Sides

  • Top

  • Bottom

  • In the Box

  • Color

  • Noise

  • Motion

  • Video Resolution

  • Low Light Sensitivity

  • Low Light Color

  • Low Light Noise

  • Audio Features

  • Compression

  • Media

  • Editing

  • Auto Mode

  • Zoom

  • Zoom Ratio

  • Focus

  • Exposure

  • Aperture

  • Shutter Speed

  • White Balance

  • Gain

  • Color & Image Controls

  • Other Manual Controls

  • Still Features

  • Still Color

  • Still Noise

  • Still Resolution

  • Ease of Use

  • Handling

  • Image Stabilization

  • Portability

  • LCD Battery Life

  • Viewfinder Battery Life

  • LCD & Viewfinder

  • Menus

  • Playback

  • Connectivity

  • Comparisons

  • Conclusion

  • Photo Gallery

  • Introduction
  • Front
  • Back
  • Sides
  • Top
  • Bottom
  • In the Box
  • Color
  • Noise
  • Motion
  • Video Resolution
  • Low Light Sensitivity
  • Low Light Color
  • Low Light Noise
  • Audio Features
  • Compression
  • Media
  • Editing
  • Auto Mode
  • Zoom
  • Zoom Ratio
  • Focus
  • Exposure
  • Aperture
  • Shutter Speed
  • White Balance
  • Gain
  • Color & Image Controls
  • Other Manual Controls
  • Still Features
  • Still Color
  • Still Noise
  • Still Resolution
  • Ease of Use
  • Handling
  • Image Stabilization
  • Portability
  • LCD Battery Life
  • Viewfinder Battery Life
  • LCD & Viewfinder
  • Menus
  • Playback
  • Connectivity
  • Comparisons
  • Conclusion
  • Photo Gallery

Introduction

Front

Lens & Imaging System


The provided Canon lens on the XL H1A

Back

Sides

Top

Bottom

In the Box

 

The Canon XL H1A Camcorder comes with the following items:

  • Canon 20x HD Video Lens III
  • Camera Dust Cap
  • Lens Cap with Soft Case
  • Lens Hood
  • Color EVF Unit
  • CA-920 Power Adapter with AC Cable
  • Microphone Unit with holder
  • MiniDV Cassette
  • DC-920 DC Coupler
  • BP-950G Battery Pack
  • 32MB SDHC Memory Card
  • Remote Control (with AA batteries)
  • Shoulder Strap
  • Component Video Cable
  • Audio RCA cable
  • External Monitor Cable
  • Tripod Adapter Base

Color

The Canon XL H1A produced a bright, strong image at 3000 lux in auto mode—in fact it appeared a bit too bright. The image tended to look better and colors were deeper when we closed the aperture up a bit or set the AE shift down a level or two. Running our test images through Imatest confirmed this as well, and the camcorder recorded its best color error scores when we manually lowered the light levels. Even so, the XL H1A still earned a color error of 3.42 in auto mode, which is quite good. The camcorder also produced a color saturation of 87.03%.  (More on how we test color.)

Note: CCI is using a new color error formula this year for our new 2009-2010 rubric, so the numbers won't match up with the results from previous camcorders we reviewed. The new system uses the CIEDE2000 formula, which is the most accurate equation for determining color error.

Of course, if you don't like the way the Canon XL H1A looks in auto mode, there are dozens of settings you can adjust in order to obtain whatever color performance you're looking for. We shot our still life scene using a variety of color different color settings. Some were presets provided by the camcorder—Video C, Cine V, and Cine F—and others are settings we made by adjusting the options in the Custom Presets menu on the camcorder. According to Canon, the Video C preset is designed for playback on a consumer level monitor, the Cine V preset is for creating a film-like feel for video to be displayed on a TV, and Cine F is for video that is to be transfered to film. For the Color Gain +50 and Color Gain -15 we adjusted the camcorder's Color Gain settings to manipulate saturation. The Natural and Average Film presets are based on settings we found on DVinfo.net. Natural is meant to reproduce outdoor color and light while Average Film is designed to provide the look of an average film stock.

Shooting our still life scene with the Canon XL H1A, we noticed some bleeding and blurring. We noticed this in nearly every color mode we shot our scene in, with the exception of the -15 Color Gain setup and the Cine V preset. We also noticed some blurring at the top of the RGB pinwheel, mainly in the blue slice, but also in the red. A smaller amount of blur was present along the borders between red-blue and blue-green. Keep in mind, our still life scene is very taxing for a camcorder to reproduce faithfully. The Canon XL H1A actually does a decent job, despite the noticeable blemishes. All these images were pulled from video shot at 3000 lux with auto shutter, auto aperture, and 0dB gain.

The Canon XL H1A has a brighter image than the Sony HDR-FX1000, which we shot in conjunction with the Canon. The brighter image gave the Xl H1A more flexibility when it came to adjusting color modes and settings. The Sony, however, did produce a sharper image and showed less blur and distortion in the bright reds and blues. The Canon is the clear winner when it comes to color accuracy, as it scored a 3.42 color error in auto mode, compared to the Sony's 4.42. This one point difference is rather significant, especially when comparing professional camcorders. The Sony HDR-FX1000 also had a lower saturation level than the Canon.

The darker image produced by the Sony may appeal to some people, but it makes for less-accurate colors. The Sony also appears to have more noise and artifacting in the green and blue colors, which you can see in our close-up color comparisons above.

Noise

The Canon XL H1A is capable of producing a very clean image in bright light. The camcorder has three noise reduction options—NR1, NR2, and Selective Noise Reduction—and it offers very tight control over gain settings so you can limit the amount of noise that shows up in the image. Testing a variety of settings on the camcorder, we found when gain was set to -3dB and the NR1 feature was engaged the XL H1A produced the least amount of noise—an average of 0.3875%. Now, the noise reduction features will effect the overall image on the camcorder, so they aren't something you'll always want to use. NR1 on the XL H1A adds a significant amount of trailing to the footage, making it almost look as if a slow shutter is being applied. NR2, on the other hand, is much less noticeable and is more like applying a smoothing or soft image filter to the image. (More on how we test noise.)

Even without using noise reduction, the XL H1A produced good results with noise levels. At 0dB gain the camcorder recorded 0.7125% noise, and at -3dB gain it produced 0.6125% noise. These are fairly low scores, although the Canon doesn't offer a -6dB gain setting, which is occasionally found on other professional camcorders.

Above we have mapped the XL H1A's noise levels against the Sony HDR-FX1000. The Canon's noise values are based on the results across the gain settings using the NR2 feature, which is the more effective of its manual noise reduction settings (it also doesn't create trailing and ghosting like NR1). Since the HDR-FX1000 doesn't have any manual noise reduction, we simply graphed its results across the gain settings.

Above, we've compared the XL H1A with the Sony HDR-FX1000 using 100% crops. These images were taken without any manual noise reduction settings. The Sony appears to show more noise in its image, although it is sharper and has a higher level of contrast than the Canon. Looking at the numbers on the left side of the image, the XL H1A appears a bit soft in comparison to the Sony, which is likely why it shows less noise. Looking at the numbers, the Sony HDR-FX1000 averaged a slightly higher 0.81% noise at 0dB gain than the Canon. At -3dB gain, the two camcorders produced identical results (0.6125%). The HDR-FX1000, however, offers a -6dB gain setting, which resulted in its lowest noise score—0.515%.

The Canon XL H1A wins the battle when it comes to noise scores, but that is mainly due to the fact that it has multiple noise reduction settings. The Sony HDR-FX1000 doesn't have any manual noise reduction options, so the only way to bring down the noise on the device is to lower the gain, or brighten your light source. Using the NR1 and NR2 features on the Canon we were able to acheive an ultimately lower noise level than the Sony HDR-FX1000 was capable of.

Motion

The XL H1A records HD video in three different frame rates: 1080/60i, 1080/24F, and 1080/30F. For more information about the 24F and 30F frame rates on the XL H1A, see the Compression and Media section of this review. Below, is an embedded YouTube video of the camcorder taken at 1080/60i. Click on the link for a large HD version. (More on how we test motion.)

Canon XL H1A
Click Here for large HD Version

Overall, the Canon showed decent motion in each frame rate, but it did run into some problems. The XL H1A continued to have difficulty with the RGB pinwheel, especially on the borders between the various colors. There was also noticeable blur on the burst pattern pinwheel. The 24F and 30F frame rates definitely slow down the image, but it cannot be definitively stated that they capture the 'look' of film. 

Sony HDR-FX1000
Click Here for large HD Version

The Sony HDR-FX1000 actually produced a sharper, clearer moving image than the Canon XL H1A in our motion tests. This may be a result of better processing on the part of the HDR-FX1000, or it could stem from the fact that the Sony utilizes CMOS sensors, rather than the CCDs found in the Canon. Anyway, the difference wasn't tremendously noticeable, but the Sony clearly showed less breakup on both of the rotating pinwheels—its lines were sharp, smooth, and clean.

Video Resolution

The XL H1A measured a horizontal resolution of approximately 800 line widths per picture height (lw/ph) and a vertical resolution of 700 lw/ph. These are stellar scores, although it is expected that a pro camcorder has high resolution measurements. These resolution numbers are significantly better than those measured on the Samsung SC-HMX20, which recorded the highest resolution amongst consumer camcorders we've tested. (More on how we test video resolution.)

 

While the XL H1A produced a great video resolution score, the Sony HDR-FX1000 scored even better. The Sony measured 900 lw/ph horizontal and 800 lw/ph vertical. The HDR-FX1000's superior resolution is another reason the camcorder looked slightly better than the Canon in our motion test.

Low Light Sensitivity

In our low light sensitivity testing, the Canon XL H1A showed us some strong numbers. When running the test without any adjustment to gain levels (0db gain), the camcorder reached 50 IRE with 49 lux of light. Now, you must remember this was a result of shooting without any gain boost, which is why the number is so high. Shooting with auto gain control engaged, the XL H1A required only 5 lux of light to peak at 50 IRE. These two numbers give you a good idea of how much the gain control is actually doing for the camcorder. It also gives you a good idea of how much light you'll need if you want to limit or reduce noise. (More on how we test low light sensitivity.)

The XL H1A's 0dB gain sensitivity of 49 lux is actually quite good, and it bested the Sony HDR-FX1000 by 8 lux. We've seen camcorders get better numbers than 5 lux using auto gain on the sensitivity test, but the score achieved by the XL H1A is, again, quite impressive.

Low Light Color

The Canon XL H1A has three large CCD sensors, which means it should be able to record a strong image even at very low light levels. Boosting the gain levels will give you significant color improvement at low light levels, but it will come at the cost of increased noise. When we boosted gain levels just slightly, the XL H1A showed us strong, vibrant colors at 60 lux, although with 0dB gain, the image was too dark and its color error score wasn't very good. (More on how we test low light color.)

 

At 0db gain the XL H1A produced a color error score of 6.47. This is a sharp drop from its 3000 lux color error score, but it is quite average for a camcorder shooting in low light without any gain boost. The image looked very dark under these conditions and the colors appeared weak and under-saturated.

The Sony HDR-FX1000 scored a nearly identical 6.49 color error at 60 lux with 0dB gain, and both camcorders produced a very similar image with these settings. The Sony did have a bit more vibrancy in its colors, however, and it recorded a higher saturation level than the Canon.

 

At 6dB gain the canon improved greatly and the colors looked bright and deep. 6dB was nearly enough gain to make the XL H1A's 60lux image look as good as its 3000 lux image. With 6dB gain, the camcorder earned a color error score of 4.14 and had a saturation level of 74.23%. Noise started becoming noticeable at 6dB gain, however, although it wasn't bad and the image was still very usable. Interestingly, when we tested the camcorder using 12dB gain, the noise percentage went down. This is likely due to the XL H1A's automatic noise reduction kicking in as the gain went higher. For more information about the noise levels in our low light testing, read the Low Light Noise section of this review.

Each time we raised the gain on the XL H1A the color score improved dramatically. At 12 gain its reported color error nearly matched that of its 3000 lux color error. With auto gain control engaged, the XL H1A had a better color error score at 60 lux than at 3000 lux. 

The Sony HDR-FX1000 couldn't keep up with the Canon on these tests, as it consistently reported less accurate colors in each gain setting we tested (with the exception of 0dB). The HDR-FX1000 didn't fair horribly in low light color, however, as the two camcorders actually produced similar scores in this category. 

Low Light Noise

As we saw in our low light color testing, images get brighter and colors tend to get more accurate when gain levels are increased. With the XL H1A, the video image was very dark and washed out when shooting with 0dB gain, but at 6dB gain and higher the picture became vibrant and rich. Along with this increase in color accuracy and picture quality comes noise. Noise is mainly a problem at low light levels, although some camcorders produce heavy amounts of noise even under bright light. The XL H1A showed us very low noise scores at bright light, and its multiple noise reduction features worked very well. Here we're simply looking at noise levels in low light conditions, without any noise reduction settings engaged. (More on how we test low light noise.)

The XL H1A had an average noise percentage of 2.18% when we shot our 60 lux image using 6dB of gain. This is a decent noise score and there is barely any noticeable noise on our 100% crop images above. The Sony HDR-FX1000 had a slightly lower noise percentage here, but we could barely see a difference between how much noise showed up in each camcorder's image.

The XL H1A had an average noise percentage of 2.18% when we shot our 60 lux image using 6dB of gain. This is a decent noise score and there is barely any noticeable noise on our 100% crop images above. The Sony HDR-FX1000 had a slightly lower noise percentage here, but we could barely see a difference between how much noise showed up in each camcorder's image.

Turning things up to 12dB gain, the image appeared noisier on the Canon XL H1A, but our Imatest results said otherwise. According to Imatest, the XL H1A produced only 1.5775% noise when using 12dB gain, which is actually lower than the results with 6dB gain. The reason for this noise decrease is likely due to an automatic noise reduction system kicking in as the gain level increased. The image looks noisier above because everything is brighter and the imperfections to the image are easier to see.

The low light noise scores on the Canon XL H1A are roughly what we expected them to be (other than the irregularity between 6dB gain and 12db gain). The scores aren't incredibly low, but all this testing was done without using any manual noise reduction settings. Engaging those features can knock the noise levels down significantly and Canon gives you the ability to control the noise in your image. Check out the Noise section of our review (under the Performance tab) to get an idea of how well the XL H1A's noise reduction features worked.

Audio Features

Onboard Audio

Fans of Canon's pro camcorder series will quickly notice that audio controls have been simplified on the XL H1A in comparison to the older XL H1. The camcorder is no longer capable of recording 4-channel audio, but instead maxes out with 2-channels. This isn't a huge reduction, however, as the audio controls on the XL H1 were cluttered and difficult to maneuver. Plus, if you really want to fine-tune your audio recording you'll want to use a separate audio mixer and recording system anyway, that way you can have as many channels as you need.

On the front of the Canon XL H1A, mounted above the lens, is a stereo electric condenser microphone. It connects to the 3.5mm mini jack located just under the accessory shoe at the front of the handlebar. While most pros and audiophiles will dismiss this on-board mic as garbage, it'll still record decent sound when you're in a pinch.

The microphone is fairly directional, so it won't pick up much noise coming from behind the camcorder and Canon claims it picks up sound with 120-degree range. The supplied mic has a black, foam cover that is not removable, and there's a switch on its side for changing between stereo and mono recording. In the camcorder's menu there's also a wind screen option for reducing the amount of wind noise picked up by the supplied microphone (this option only works with the supplied mic). The mic can be set to record at normal or high (+6dB) sensitivity settings.

The best aspect of the provided microphone may be the way it's positioned and mounted the XL H1A. The mic slides into a vice-like grip that can be loosened and tightened by turning a small dial. The grip is braced on a flexible shock-mount, which means the microphone shouldn't pick up ambient sound created by rotating lens rings, pressing buttons, and movement of the camcorder. The grip will also accommodate most traditionally-shaped microphones, so if you have a particular shotgun mic you like using it should fit seamlessly into the microphone holder on the Canon XL H1A.

Additional Audio Controls

For those who want to venture beyond the supplied microphone, Canon offers a good amount of audio controls and connectivity options so you can rig up a professional-quality audio recording system right on the camcorder. Opening the large hatch on the left side of the camcorder reveals most of the audio controls. A few more controls are located on the back of the camcorder, above the XL H1A's two XLR inputs. There are also two RCA audio-inputs (left and right) on the right side of the camcorder under a large port cover. Plugging an audio source into these inputs will produce unbalanced audio that cannot be adjusted using the XL H1A's audio level controls (see below), but a mixer or a device for AV-DV conversion could be connected here.

The main audio control panel on the left side of the camcorder is broken into two sections—CH1 and CH2. Both channels offer independent sensitivity control, as well as the ability to choose audio input selection between Front, XLR Mic, and XLR Line. There is also a button for switching each channel between automatic and manual audio recording levels. When the record level is in manual mode, each channel can be adjusted separately using the gain dials. Having individual adjustment for each channel is an excellent perk, as it makes the camcorder's 2-channel recording more versatile. With the XL H1A you can simultaneously use the front-mounted mic to pick up ambient sound on one channel, while running a boom-operated mic through an XLR input on the other channel. Audio levels can be viewed on the camcorder's LCD screen, as well as on the information box located on the outside of the mode dial.

Both the front mic and each XLR input have attenuator controls that will reduce the audio signal by 20dB, which is useful if you're recording something that is coming in too loud. The front microphone attenuator is located with the rest of the audio controls on the camcorder's left side, while the XLR controls are on the back of the camcorder just above the mic inputs. Above the XLR attenuator controls are two phantom power switches that will give +48V of power to microphones connected via XLR. Further up on the back is a 3.5mm headphone output jack with its own volume level dial. The jack is covered strongly with a rotating port-cover and it is positioned well on the back of the camcorder.

In the camcorder's audio setup menu the XLR microphone sensitivity can be adjusted from +12dB, +6dB, 0dB, -6dB, or -12dB. Adjusting these sensitivity settings changes the gain level of the XLR microphone input and it is not the same as manipulating the record level by rotating the dials on the left side of the camcorder. The audio gain sensitivity settings are only adjustable for XLR microphone inputs. There is an audio peak limiter feature on the XL H1A's as well. When activated, the camcorder places a limit on the amplitude of audio input signals at -4dBFS and any audio input that comes in louder will be automatically reduced.

Compression

The Canon XL H1A compresses video using the HDV format for high definition footage and DV format for standard definition video. This is the standard compression format when recording HD video to MiniDV tape. Unlike the more expensive XL H1S and XL H1, the XL H1A cannot output uncompressed HD video as it does not contain an HD/SDI port.

The Canon XL H1A has three frame rate options—1080/60i, 1080/30F, and 1080/24F. 60i is the standard  frame rate for television, 30F is designed for display on a progressive scan monitor, and 24F offers film-like motion. While the 30F and 24F frame rates are designed to look like progressive rates, they aren't truly progressive. The camcorder is still capturing footage using an interlaced CCD sensor.

The 24F and 30F modes on the XL H1A are not quite the same as the 24p and 30p modes found on Canon's consumer HD camcorders. In 24F on the XL H1A, the camcorder captures 24 frames per second footage and records it to tape as actual 24fps video. However, for playback the signal is down-converted to 60i using the 2:3 pulldown method (video output from the FireWire terminal is in 24p). Canon provides a graph in the XL H1A's instruction manual to help clarify what the 24F and 20F frame rates are actually doing:

Shooting with the alternate frame rates in SD, the camcorder does not record 30p or 24p video to the tape like it does in HD. What is recorded to the tape is the same down-converted 60i stream that you see during playback (using the 2:3 pulldown conversion). Shooting with 24F mode in standard definition there's also the option of using a 2:3:3:2 pulldown conversion instead of 2:3.

Media

The Canon XL H1A records both HD and SD video to standard MiniDV tapes. MiniDV is still a popular option for professional and prosumer camcorders as it records a decent amount of footage (60 minutes per tape) and the tapes are very inexpensive. The tape speed when shooting in SP mode is 18.81 mm/second. For LP mode (DV-only) the tape speed is 12.56mm/second. The camcorder does have an SD/SDHC card slot (also holds MMC), but only pictures and custom presets can be stored there. The memory card slot is located at the front of the camcorder, on the opposite side from the hand strap.

The XL H1A records to MiniDV tape

Both Sony and Panasonic have released pro models that capture video to high-capacity flash memory cards, but all of Canon's pro camcorders still use a tape deck. If using tape is something that alienates you, there is the option of recording directly to a FireStore device that connects to the camcorder via its Firewire port. FireStore recorders are sold separately and will cost you between $1200– $2000, depending on the capacity of the device.

Editing

Editing HDV footage is rather simple, especially when compared to the AVCHD format, which can be very taxing for computers and editing systems. Footage taken with the XL H1A can be easily captured and imported into a non-linear editing system via the FireWire connection on the back of the camcorder. Things get a bit trickier if you want to edit video taken in the 30F and 24F frame rates. Most entry-level software, like iMovie, Final Cut Express, and Premiere Elements, don't offer the ability to edit frame rates other than 60i natively. Upgrading to professional editing software does grant you the ability to work with this footage, but you'll have to fork over the extra cash.

Auto Mode

Sometimes you just need a camcorder to make its own decisions about exposure, focus, and white balance while you're busy with other things. In those, cases, the auto controls are vital. And for pros, it's not simply a question of whether the automatic responses are correct. The look and feel of transitions is important. On the whole, the Canon XL H1A is decent at this task.

The camcorder offers several shooting modes, all of which offer varying degrees of auto or manual control. The simplest is Easy mode, in which nothing can be altered. It's hard to imagine most serious shooters will use it, but it's there if you need it. Then there's Auto Mode, which allows you to turn the manual controls on one-by-one, while auto mode takes care of the rest. The Aperture and Shutter Priority modes work as expected, allowing you to manually adjust one control or the other, while the camcorder compensates for exposure. Then there are two Scene modes, described in a section below.

Unlike consumer camcorders, the XL H1A offers some small control over the transition speed of its auto responses. In the Custom Function menu, there is a set of options called Shockless White Balance/Gain. When activated, the transition time is slowed down so as not to jar your audience. We saw the white balance adjust time move from around 3-5 seconds with the feature off, to around 10 seconds with the feature on.

However, there's not much more that the XL H1A offers in this regard. The Sony HDR-FX1000 offers control over the speed of both the white balance and exposure transitions speeds. Neither offer auto focus speed control, perhaps assuming that you'll do this manually if you really want control. If you decide to use the Focus/Zoom Preset (described at the bottom of this page), you can set those transition times.

Low Light Modes

If you're in a pinch, there are a few low light modes that the Canon XL H1A offers, though it seems unlikely that one would need them with so many other, finer controls. On the mode dial you'll find a Night AE mode, which drops the minimum auto shutter speed down to 1/4 (in 60i and 30F) or 1/3 (in 24F).

Scene Modes

Consumer camcorders are typically loaded with scene modes (frequently known as AE modes) for shooting in tricky environments. The Canon XL H1A includes one, Spotlight mode. The manual indicates that this is meant to keep the auto exposure adjusted for subjects lit by a strong, single light source (like a spotlight). In casual testing, we could not see a difference from normal auto mode.

Zoom

The zoom can be controlled from three places – the lens ring, a large rocker on the right side, and a small rocker on the top handle. The lens ring is definitely the choice method. While not a true mechanical zoom, the servo motor is pretty good. In order to compensate for preferences, the sensitivity of the ring can be set to Normal, Fast, or Slow. And like the other rings, you can change the orientation of dial to spin in the other direction.

Another, smaller zoom rocker is located on the top of the handlebar

 

If you don't trust the speed of your own hand, the large rocker is another excellent method of zooming. Located on the right side, it's well placed on the hand grip for the index and middle finger. The zoom speed can be set to Variable, the default mode that is dependent on your finger pressure, or to a fixed speed. Making the switch is incredibly convenient; there's a toggle on the back of the hand grip, and a god-sized dial to select the zoom speed, ranging from 1 to 16. At speed 1, the crawl is incredibly slow, taking over a minute to traverse the 20x zoom.

The third zoom control is a mini-rocker located on top. If you're gripping the Xl H1A from above, this little rocker can be controlled by the thumb. The zoom speed is controlled by the speed dial on the hand grip. It's a little frustrating that this rocker has no pressure-sensitivity, and that it doesn't matter if the toggle is set to Variable or a fixed speed – the speed will be fixed to your most recent setting.

Zoom Ratio

[]The Canon XL H1A has a 20x optical zoom on the kit lens. There is no other lens with a larger zoom that is specifically designed for Canon's HD camcorders. However, with the EF Adapter XL you can use the entire EOS series of lenses from Canon's still camera line. Be aware, though, that the magnification factor is a steep 7.2x.

Focus

The manual focus control on the Canon XL H1A is strong. The primary control is a lens ring, the largest of the three rings on the lens. The double-wide set of rubber bumps makes it easy to feel without looking. To help with the task of focusing, there are a few tools that the camcorder provides to make it easier. There are two peaking settings that create a light or heavy emphasis on sharpening. When the sharpening is boosted, you can see the edges of objects easier. Surprisingly, consumer camcorders have taken a major step forward in this area, much better than XL H1A. Several JVCs, and now the Canon XL HF S10 and HF S100, offer a brightly colored peaking that makes focusing much easier.

The Canon XL H1A also offers an instant 2x digital magnification. Both the magnification and peaking can be activated with buttons. You can also opt for either or both of these functions to trigger a switch on the viewfinder from color to black & white. You'll want to use every tool at your disposal, because the EVF is limited to 215,000 pixels.

The XL H1A offers interchangeable lenses (extra lenses sold separately)

Focus data is displayed onscreen in either feet or meters. Like the zoom dial, the sensitivity and rotation orientation of the dial can be adjusted.

Exposure

The exposure on the Canon XL H1A can be by ab AE shift control knob, located under the handle on top. There are 13 settings in total, which should suffice for most quick adjustments. This is a great quick way to shift exposure by small degrees, without the complications of adjusting aperture or shutter speed.

You can also lock the exposure with the Exposure Lock/Push AE button located on the left side. When pushed, a scale appears on the screen with an arrow indicating where the camcorder would like to place the auto exposure. While the lock is enabled, you can adjust aperture and shutter, and the display will tell you how far off the mark you are (measured in 1/2 EV steps).

Aperture

The aperture on the Canon XL H1A can be adjusted in Manual mode or Aperture Priority (Av) mode. In both modes, options include 32 settings. This is a significantly expanded range of settings, especially in the f/9.8 to Closed range. 

Aperture adjustments are made in two places. New this generation is an aperture control ring on the 20x kit lens. It's handy to have close at hand if you find yourself adjusting aperture a lot, but seems less critical than the focus or zoom rings. Most shooters will be happy with the secondary control, the small dial located on the nubbin (for lack of a better word) on the left side.

Shutter Speed

The shutter speed can be adjusted in two modes, Manual mode and Shutter Priority (Tv) mode. In Shutter Priority options are more limited than they are in full Manual mode. Also note that the options differ depending on which frame rate you're shooting in.  

These options are identical to the ones found on the previous generation XL H1. Shutter changes are made by two small buttons on the back of the nubbin on the left side. The buttons are back in a slight recess, which should prevent accidental bumping while handling.

White Balance

The white balance control offers good, fast access, with a lot of finer controls buried in the menu. A pop-up dial is located on the left side for quick switching between Auto White Balance (AWB), Outdoor preset (5600 K), Indoor preset (3200 K), and Custom Preset A and Preset B (adjusting between 3200 and 5600 K). The last setting, indicated by the letter 'K' on the dial, indicates a specific Kelvin temperature that you set in the menu. The range is much larger: 2000 to 15,000 K in 100 K increments). The only thing extra that pros may have wished for is a second dial setting for a specific Kelvin temperature, but all told, the controls are very good. 

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Gain

The manual gain control is a pop-up dial located next to the White Balance on the left side. The dial has 8 settings. The last setting, '0-18,+36dB,' is new on this generation camcorder. It allows you to select a specific gain setting rather than falling back on the presets. The manual range extends from 1dB to 18dB, with increments every 0.5dB. From 18dB, it jumps up immediately to +36dB, which is incredibly noisy but presumably useful to someone. 

Color & Image Controls

The level of color and image control onboard the Canon XL H1A is staggering. In fact, there's more here than any one person could use, and a lot of people would choose to do some of the color work in a post-production environment. However, there's certainly some truth in Canon's argument that every generation of correction past the original footage is going to degrade image quality. If you can perfect color at the time of the shoot, why not? Below is a list and brief description of each setting. For more explanation, see the manual (link opens PDF).

Other Manual Controls

Still Features

Being a pro camcorder, the Canon XL H1A isn't designed as a hybrid still/video device. There are, however,  a few unique and interesting still image features on the camcorder designed to assist the professional videographer. You can capture still images while recording video, and, in the menu, you can setup the camcorder to embed custom preset data within the still image. This means you can use the still image as a reference when you want to look at the settings of your custom presets. This simple feature can be a very useful tool when testing out different color modes and image controls.

Also featured is a continuous shooting mode that will capture a quick burst of images when you hold down the shutter button, or an auto exposure bracketing set of three images.

There is no flash on the Canon XL H1A, but a compatible Canon Speedlite flash can be mounted on the accessory shoe. The camcorder doesn't capture very large still images (the max resolution is 1920 x 1080), but the image quality isn't bad. The camcorder doesn't have a true 'dedicated still mode,' but there's a switch above the right-side record button that goes between tape and memory card capture mode. Only still images can be captured to the memory card and it cannot be used to record or playback video.

The XL H1A captures still images onto SD/SDHC cards in the JPEG format. The card slot is located near the front of the camcorder, on the opposite side as the hand strap. The camcorder ships with a 32MB memory card, which won't store many still images. It will, however, store plenty of custom presets, which can also be saved to memory card for easy transfer between multiple camcorders.

Still Playback

To review still images on the XL H1A, you have to turn the mode dial to VCR/PLAY just as you would to playback videos. Then you must switch over to card mode on the switch above the record button. Using the playback controls on the camcorder's handle, you can sift through the still images contained on the inserted memory card. There's also a slideshow option that can be started by pressing the play button. Pressing the zoom toggle back will display a series of photos as small thumbnails.

When playing back the still images, the camcorder displays a good deal of information about each photo. A histogram is located in the upper right corner, followed by info about image size, file size, white balance setting, focus, AE shift, shutter speed, aperture, mode, date, and time. Saving and displaying all this information on playback is another nice way to save and check your settings.

Still Color

At best, the Canon XL H1A produced an approximate color error of 3.28 when we shot in still mode. This is only a slight bit better than its color error score for video, which is due to the fact that we shot the still image using a variety of exposure settings. This means the camcorder faithfully reproduces colors in still mode in a mostly identical fashion to video mode, which makes the still images on the XL H1A very good for reference and comparison. (More on how we test still color.)

The color error map from our still color test with the XL H1A

The camcorder showed us its most accurate colors when we shot still images with a slight negative AE shift. Brighter and overexposed images had far worse color scores than the slightly darkened images. Overall, the most accurate colors came when we shot the XRite chart with a -0.5 AE shift.

Strangely, the Sony HDR-FX1000 showed us the opposite of the Canon when it came to still color. The Sony also put up a very solid still color score—2.99—but this score came on the brightest image we captured (with +0.75 AE shift). Even though both camcorders produced very accurate colors, they worked best with completely different exposure conditions—the Canon had accurate colors in underexposed light, while the Sony worked best with overexposed images.

Still Noise

At best, the Canon XL H1A produced an average of 0.615% noise in still photos taken with the camcorder. This is a very low amount of noise and it is better than even the best consumer camcorders are able to produce (the Samsung SC-HMX20, last years best still image camcorder when it came to noise, measured an average of 0.685%). The three large CCD sensors under the hood of the XL H1A don't just provide excellent video quality—they produce crisp, color-accurate still images as well. As with color error, the Canon showed the cleanest images when we bumped the AE shift up a little bit. (More on how we test still noise.)

The XL H1A trounced the Sony HDR-FX1000 in this category. The HDR-FX1000 measured, at best, 1.6025% noise in our still image testing. This is more than double the percentage on the XL H1A.

Still Resolution

The XL H1A also showed us admirable still image resolution, although definitely not the best we've seen from a camcorder. Its horizontal resolution measured at 1168 line widths per picture height (lw/ph) with 7.9% oversharpening and its vertical resolution was 1126 lw/ph with 3.8% undersharpening. These are good scores for a camcorder that takes stills at a maximum size of 1920 x 1080. (More on how we test still resolution.)

Ease of Use

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?

 

If all else fails, the XL H1A has an Easy Recording mode, which simplifies operation to bare bones point-and-shoot. When Easy Mode is engaged, the camcorder doesn't allow for any manual adjustment (other than zoom). There's also an Auto mode, which allows you to control some settings—like custom presets, white balance, and gain—while automatically selecting the aperture and shutter speed.

Handling

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

Portability

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

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.)

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

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.

LCD & Viewfinder

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 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.

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.

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.

Playback

The playback function on tape-based camcorders is never that complicated. If you owned a VCR, you understand the principles (and if you've never heard of a VCR, ask your parents to explain). All the playback controls on the Canon XL H1A are located on top of the handle, hidden under a hard plastic cover that pops open. All the buttons are clearly labeled and easy to use. There's also a record button here if you tire of using the other three.

The VCR controls are located on the handlebar

Connectivity

The Canon XL H1A offers a great assortment of connection points for the budget or student filmmaker, or anyone satisfied with a FireWire (IEEE 1394) transfer. For connecting to displays, the best option is the component cables, which certainly makes us feel the lack of an HDMI connection. If it's for another EVF, the camcorder does offer a second EVF output, but most people will want to connect to TVs and large monitors.

Professionals that require flawless data transfer will want to considering stepping up to the Canon XL H1S, which includes the 'jack pack:' TC-in, TC-out, Genlock, and HD/SD-SDI for uncompressed output. At $3000, it's not a cheap upgrade, but professionals that require syncing and uncompressed video output will probably be willing to pay. 

All the connection points on the Canon XL H1 series feel rugged enough to survive tough ENG demands, though the tethers on some of the flimsy port covers may rip right out. An optional bracket screws into the back to hold secondary batteries, an external hard drive, or whatever else you need. 

Comparisons

The Sony HDR-FX1000 is the consumer version of the HVR-Z5U. It features an identical lens, with a slightly different sensor and processor (no native progressive record modes). It also lacks XLR inputs and many of the finer manual controls found on the Z5U. Basic performance of the two Sony camcorders should be similar and our review of the HDR-FX1000 is due very soon.

The main differences between the Canon XL H1A and the Sony HDR-FX1000 is manual control, connectivity (specifically audio), and size. The HDR-FX1000 does not utilize a shoulder mount and it weighs nearly half as much as the Canon. The Sony does come with a larger, higher-resolution LCD monitor, and an independent electronic viewfinder. The HDR-FX1000 doesn't offer interchangeable lenses and the amount of manual controls on the camcorder simply doesn't compare to the XL H1A. Even so, the Sony performed very well in our testing for a low-end prosumer model and it even bested the XL H1A in a few categories.

The Sony HDR-FX1000 consistently produced a darker image than the Canon XL H1A in our tests, and our Low Light Sensitivity results reflected this visual consistency:

The XL H1A required significantly less light than the Sony when shooting with both 0dB gain and Auto Gain control. This means the Canon will be able to record an image in a darker environment than the Sony. The Sony HDR-FX1000, however, scored better than the Canon when it comes to low light noise and it held up adequately in low light color. The Canon XL H1A did a bit better in bright light noise, likely due to the fact that the camcorder has multiple noise reduction settings. This 100% crop with the HDR-FX1000 shows off the differences between the two camcorders at 3000 lux:

One of the most surprising aspects of the XL H1A's performance was its battery life results. The provided battery on the Canon lasted an incredible 236 minutes, 6 seconds in our battery test (close to 4 hours). This is roughly an hour and a half longer than the provided battery lasted on the Sony HDR-FX1000. We should also note the Sony didn't show a significant battery life improvement when using the viewfinder instead of the LCD.

The biggest surprise for the Sony HDR-FX1000 was its video resolution score, which beat out the XL H1A by a noteworthy margin. It seems the sensor and processor on the HDR-FX1000 is especially well designed—despite the fact that it is an entry-level prosumer camcorder and $2800 cheaper than the XL H1A. The XL H1A measured a horizontal of 800 lw/ph and a vertical resolution of 700 lw/ph, while the HDR-FX1000 produced 900 and 800, respectively.

The original Canon XL H1 was released in 2006, one of two first-generation HDV camcorders from Canon. The upgrades in this second-generation model are few. Firstly, Canon expanded the shoulder-mounted line by splitting it into two versions, one fully loaded for pros with uncompressed output, Timecode and Genlock, and a second, less expensive version that retained the professional look and feel. Other updates are few, but potentially useful to some. The kit lens has been upgraded with an iris ring, and the sensitivity of the zoom has been enhanced. Some of the ports were bulked up, though functionality remained the same. Internally, the already overwhelming level of fine tuning has been expanded even further. Several color settings that had a range of -9 to +9 now have a range of -50 to +50. There's one minor loss, as well. 4-channel audio recording was reduced to 2-channel, dropped to lack of use, according to Canon.

The Sony HVR-Z5U is a hand held, rather than shoulder-mount, design, making for a very different handling experience. Another HDV camcorder, it features three 1/3-inch CMOS chips and a fixed 20x lens. The Z5U is lighter and smaller than the Canon XL H1A, and offers an excellent 3.2-inch, 921,600-pixel LCD and a 1.2MP EVF. The Z5U utilizes progressive CMOS sensors, which means it features native 24p/30p record modes that can output progressive video via the camcorder's FireWire connector. While, the 30F and 24F modes on the XL H1A are similar, they are created using an interlaced chip, thus the video isn't truly progressive. Sony has been pushing the low light capabilities of the new sensor and processing technologies, which we've only begun to test now on the sister model, the Sony HDR-FX1000.

Conclusion

The Canon XL H1A ($5999 MSRP) is a great budget option for those who need the size or handling that accompany shoulder-mount camcorders. The video quality is excellent, including accurate colors and high resolution. The level of fine detail control, especially color and sharpness, is incredible, and was increased even more in this latest generation Canon HDV camcorder. The $3000 upgrade to the Canon XL H1S is not cheap, but includes HD/SD-SDI, Timecode, and Genlock connections on the same body as the H1A – something that pros may want to consider.

The XL H1A is not the perfect camcorder for everyone, however. At 3935g (8.7 pounds), it tips the scale for an HDV camcorder. There are plenty of more portable options that offer comparable image quality, including Canon's own XH A1. We're also expecting great things from the Sony HVR-Z5U, due for a review shortly. We've already begun testing on the similar Sony HDR-FX1000, and the results have been promising. Another complaint – if you're shopping for a shoulder -mount camcorder, you should expect a perfectly balanced camcorder. We found the XL H1A to pitch forward and to the left, which wears on your hands after a while.

Overall, you can't fault the XL H1A for its performance, which overshadows most complaints. Our suggestion is to try one out at your local video supply store / camera shop before you buy, just to get a feel for the weight and balance.

Meet the testers

David Kender

David Kender

Editor in Chief

@davekender

David Kender oversees content at Reviewed as the Editor in Chief. He served as managing editor and editor in chief of Reviewed's ancestor, CamcorderInfo.com, helping to grow the company from a tiny staff to one of the most influential online review resources. In his time at Reviewed, David has helped to launch over 100 product categories and written too many articles to count.

See all of David Kender's reviews
Jeremy Stamas

Jeremy Stamas

Managing Editor, Video

@nematode9

Jeremy is the video expert of our imaging team and Reviewed.com's head of video production. Originally from Pennsylvania and upstate NY, he graduated from Bard college with a degree in film and electronic media. He has been living and working in New England since 2005.

See all of Jeremy Stamas's reviews

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