Canon XL H1A Camcorder Review

The XL H1A is a tape-based, professional camcorder from Canon that offers some minor updates to the previous generation, the Canon XL H1. The 20x lens has been upgraded to include a third control ring and the extensive manual controls have been enhanced to allow for even more flexibility. Most importantly, the XL H1A is a far more affordable option for pro videographers who are on a budget. The shoulder-mounted camcorder costs roughly $5999—a significant drop from the $8999 price tag on the XL H1, without any loss in video performance.

With this lower cost, however, you lose some of the professional connectivity options that are found on many top-notch camcorders. The XL H1A cannot output uncompressed video because it lacks an HD/SD-SDI output. Nor does it offer Genlock or Timecode ports. The audio system on the XL H1A, while still allowing for two XLR inputs, was also cut down from 4-channels to two. For those features, you should seek the Canon XL H1S, which packs in the pro inputs for an extra sum ($8999 MSRP).

The camcorder comes with a hefty 20x optical zoom lens that features three individual control rings and two built-in neutral density filters. The rings are large and smooth, offering precise control over focus, zoom, and aperture. The lens is also detachable, which means the camcorder is compatible with any of Canon's XL-series of professional lenses. The lens is equipped with an optical image stabilization feature that performed quite well in our rigorous testing. The total weight of the camcorder with the supplied lens is roughly 5.5 pounds—a substantial weight for sure, but quite reasonable for a shoulder-mounted device. While the overall handling of the XL H1A was decent, the camcorder felt a bit unbalanced unless we placed our left hand on the lens to make things steady.

If you're shooting with the XL H1A, most of your experience will be spent looking at the 2.4-inch LCD, which serves double duty as the viewfinder. A large, rubberized eye-piece snaps down in front of the screen to transform it into a standard viewfinder—or you can flip the eyecup up and work with a regular LCD screen. The screen allows for a good deal of rotation and adjustment, but we found the mount to be a bit loose, frequently unscrewing itself from a locked position. The camcorder has an extra EVF output for connecting an external monochrome viewfinder.

The large amount of surface area on the Canon XL H1A allows for a much greater assortment of external controls than a compact, handheld camcorder like the Canon XH A1 or Sony HDR-FX1000. The layout of buttons, dials, and switches seems well designed; controls are frequently grouped by function, so that all the exposure controls are in one area, while the white balance is in another. No-look switching is vital for a run-and-gun shooter, and Canon will not disappoint in this regard.

There are so many manual controls on the XL H1A it's difficult to pick where to start. The camcorder offers precise control over aperture, shutter speed, white balance (including direct Kelvin temperature control), gain, 2-channel audio levels, and exposure. All these controls are easy to adjust and they each utilize dedicated buttons, dials, rings, or switches. Delving into the camcorder's extensive menu you'll find even more manual controls—16 levels of zoom speed, 7 options for over-exposure warnings (zebra pattern), peaking and focus assist features, manual noise reduction, color correction, and skin tone control.

But that's not all. The XL H1A also features what Canon calls Custom Presets. With these Custom Presets you can fine tune your image down to the slightest degree—adjusting image controls such as gamma curve, knee point, master pedestal, sharpness, detail frequency, coring, and a variety of color controls. Up to 6 custom presets can be stored on the camcorder at one time, but more can be saved to inserted SD/SDHC memory cards.

The XL H1A also three frame rate options—60i, 30F, and 24F—the latter two of which provide an entirely different aesthetic than conventional video. Canon implements this plethora of controls without letting the XL H1A feel cluttered or confusing. It is an easy camcorder to use if you're familiar with pro equipment, and it shouldn't be difficult to learn even if professional video is foreign to you.

Performance (read in-depth lab performance at CamcorderInfo.com)
The Canon XL H1A records video in the HDV format to tape. Inside, the camcorder is packed with three 1/3-inch CCDs, each with a gross pixel count of 1.67 million. The XL H1A put on an excellent video performance, the least you can expect for $6000. It averaged very accurate colors in both bright and low light, measured a high video resolution, and captured excellent motion overall. The camcorder's multiple noise reduction features did wonders in bringing down the noise levels in its recorded image and the supplied battery life on the XL H1A lasted a staggering 3 hours and 56 minutes.

As with many pro camcorders, the XL H1A has limited still image features and capabilities. This isn't really bothersome, however, because if you probably shouldn't be using the XL H1A to take a family portrait anyway. The still image system is more designed for saving reference images and custom preset data than anything else.

Comparisons (read in-depth comparisons at CamcorderInfo.com)
The Canon XL H1A is a very good camcorder and it is reasonably well-priced for what you get. There are, of course, a slew of cheaper "prosumer" options like the Sony HDR-FX1000 and Canon XH A1, both of which record to tape, offer hand-held designs, and have more limited controls. It all depends on what kind of shooting you're used to. The shoulder-mount design of the XL H1A is popular amongst documentary filmmakers and ENGs, but it may be uncomfortable for people who are used to the traditional hand-held feel of a consumer camcorder, or when a smaller body is needed to get a particular kind of shot.

Stepping up from the Canon XL H1A, you begin to enter the very expensive professional camcorder territory. The aforementioned XL H1S costs an extra $3000, also records to tape, and includes more professional video connectivity options. There's also Panasonic's line of P2 camcorders, like the AG-HVX200A, that allow for memory cards recording instead of tape. If you require the ability to export raw, uncompressed HD data, you'll have to settle for a more expensive option than the XL H1A. However, if you're looking for a shoulder-mounted camcorder with an entry-level price, the XL H1A should satisfy all your needs.

For a more in-depth review, visit the Canon XL H1A Review at our partner CamcorderInfo.com