Canon XH A1S and XH G1S HD

Canon has upgraded the XH A1 and XH G1 HD camcorders with the announcement of the XH A1S and XH G1S HD. These are both tape-based cameras, and while they may be fighting a rear-guard action, Canon continues to believe in tape for some applications:



"HDV tape format continues to be the most cost-effective medium for high-quality high definition video capture and storage," -Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A.


XH A1S


There have been a number of changes to functionality and image processing. Interface changes include a redesign of he manual adjustment rings, (focus, zoom and iris): three sensitivity settings for the manual focus ring; normal, fast, and slow zoom speeds, and acceleration and deceleration have been added when starting and stopping in the zoom key mode to achieve a more natural motion. 


Frame rates include: 60i, 30F and 24F. (That's '24P' to you and me.)

Both cameras have two XLR inputs for audio and there's the option of recording to HDV tape and directly to an external Hard Disk Drive by using the FS-CV DTE Recorder. 


The XH A1S and XH G1S HD are scheduled to be available in late December for an estimated retail price of $3,999 and $6,999, respectively.



Okay, beyond my budget (I'm still hoping to get an HDR-FX7 sometime soon) but impressive cameras. The XH-A1S is particularly tempting with it's XLR inputs; not to dismiss the other features. $4k for a camera is just outside my budget though.

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