by Douglas Dixon
Manifest-Tech
HDV Goes Upscale
-- Early HDV cameras
Canon XH A1 and XH G1
-
Design -
Interfaces -
Shooting Modes -
Pro Technology
Wrap It
Customization: Canon
Console Software
-- Customization and monitoring
Focus FireStore FS-C Portable
Recorder -- Tapeless editing
HD is
coming! We've seen HD on broadcast TV
for several years now, and drooled over
the high-end broadcast studio equipment
required to shoot it. And now the HDV
format (MPEG-2 HD video on DV tapes,
www.hdv-info.org) has brought HD
video to a much broader market -- with
HDV camcorders for consumers down to
$1500, and now under $1000 with the
Canon HV10. And for high-end video
enthusiasts and event videographers who
want a more professional unit, there's
now a broad range of affordable choices
in the $4000 to $10,000 range.
For this
article, we'll explore the Canon XH
A1 HDV camcorder kindly loaned by
Canon for evaluation (www.usa.canon.com).
It's easily carried and yet packed with
pro features, with 3 CCD sensors, 1080i
resolution, and a 20X lens, and all for
under $3999. It's a nice design that
shows the broad range of features that
are available in this price range.
I've also
included comments on shooting with the
camera from John Markert, an
independent videographer with Accel
Video Productions, based near
Princeton, N.J. (www.accelvideo.com).
HDV
definitely has arrived: By the end of
2006, Cannon, JVC, Panasonic, and Sony
had expanded their lines of pro-style
HDV camcorders to offer a nice range of
options. These cameras have three
sensors, designed for HD with widescreen
16:9 aspect ratio, plus good lenses with
12 to 20X optical zoom. And all have an
abundance of controls for customized
shooting, and options for adding
additional lenses, mics, lighting, etc.
These are
relatively light hand-held cameras,
designed for on-the-go shooting and
electronic news gathering (ENG). With
support for a range of frame rates, and
particularly 24p (film-rate 24 frames
per second, full-frame progressive),
they also can serve the cinematography
needs of independent filmmakers. And the
higher-end products add time code and
genlock support, plus even full-quality
SD/HD-SDI output for studio operation.
Just to
summarize the early range of products:
- The
Panasonic AG-HVX200 P2 / DVCPRO HD
camcorder at around $5299 street price
not only records DV to tape, but also a
multitude of formats and frame rates to
the Panasonic P2 memory card format.
This offers immediate access to editing
the digital video files from the memory
card (with tape as backup), but memory
cards still are expensive and relatively
low capacity for HD video.
www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/cat_camcorders.asp
www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/hvx200microsite/index.asp
- The
early Sony HDR-FX1 at around
$3699 used 1/3" CCD sensors with 12X
zoom. The newer Sony HDR-FX7 at
$3499 moves to 1/4" CMOS sensors and a
20X zoom lens, plus a short-burst slow
motion function.
www.sonystyle.com/handycam
- JVC
offers a broad line, with the updated
JVC GY-HD110U at around $5600, a
step up to the JVC GY-HD200U at
around $8995 with enhanced signal
processing and 50p/60p recording, and
the full-up JVC GY-HD250 at
$10,000 with time code and SD/HD-SDI.
pro.jvc.com
pro.jvc.com/pro/attributes/HDTV/desc/prohd_camcorders.html
Canon
began with HDV with the high-end
Canon XL H1 upgrade from the XL1
design at around $8499, with 20x lens
and SD/HD-SDI output. The next addition
was the compact Canon XH A1 at
$3699 with 20x lens, plus its twin
Canon XH G1 at $6949 with
Professional Jackpack adding time code
and HD-SDI output.
www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndex1Act&fcategoryid=102
Canon XH A1, and XH G1 with
Jackpack
The Canon
XH A1 and XH G1 camcorders are twins --
the XH G1 is exactly the same as the XH
A1, with the addition of the
professional Jackpack terminals: three
additional connections that provide
professional quality interfaces:
HD-SDI/SD-SDI output, SMPTE Timecode
input/output, plus Genlock input.
www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=175&modelid=14061
The
HD-SDI connection outputs an
uncompressed 1.485 Gbps digital signal
with embedded audio and LTC Timecode (SMPTE
299M). The signal also can be set to
SD-SDI, during shooting or playback (SMPTE
272M).
The
Genlock synchronization input supports
clean switching for multi-camera shoots.
Each camera can use synchronous time
code with the SMPTE time code
input/output.
As an
alternative to Panasonic's approach to
using P2 solid state memory cards for
tapeless recording, Canon recommends the
Focus Enhancements FireStore FS-C
Portable DTE Recorder -- a portable
hard disk drive designed for use with
video cameras so you can simultaneously
record both tape and to disk -- see
Focus FireStore FS-C Portable Recorder
sidebar.
So let's
take a look at the Canon XH A1 --
picking it up to check the feel and
locating the controls and interfaces.
These
cameras are derived from the original
Canon XL-H1 HDV camcorder, with the
same high quality 1/3" CCDs. But it's a
more compact design, for videographers
that have tighter budgets, but still
need pro features.
"It's the
same chip as the XL1," says Markert,
"native 1440 with less interpolation,
like a $10,000 camera."
The
camcorder is compact and lightweight --
approximately 6.4 x 7.4 x 13.8 in. with
the lens hood, and weighing 5.2 pounds
fully loaded with lens and battery pack.
You can hold it in front of the body
with one hand, or held by the top handle
for low-angle shots.
The
camera is relatively light, but the
short length means it does not rest on
your shoulder when shooting. "The A1 is
slightly front-heavy, especially with
the battery inside design, compared to a
similar hand held camcorder like the
FX7," says Markert. "The weight is on
the front, not on your shoulder. You
feel it in middle of your back after a
while. You need to use two hands, one
underneath or on the side."
The
handle has the microphone mounted on the
front, and the viewfinder on the back.
The handle also has additional record
Start/Stop and Zoom controls on the top
for convenient thumb operation, plus a
Lock switch to prevent accidental use of
these controls. Also on the handle are a
hot shoe, a Photo button, and six
playback control buttons under an access
panel.
The 2.8"
widescreen LCD display is mounted out of
the way under the handle. It can flip
out and rotate for viewing on both sides
of the camcorder. It also provides good
access to the camera's menu system
through Menu and Select/Set buttons at
the back left edge of the unit. It can
be used at the same time as the
viewfinder, and even point forward for
self-portrait shooting.
"The
monitor has a small screen, and kind of
blurry," says Markert. "It's good for
checking color quickly, and has a
peaking option. You get used to the
menus as you get to know the camera, and
can define presets."
The lens
on the front of the camcorder is
build-in, and has independent barrel
rings for manual Focus, Zoom, and Iris.
And it has two built-in Neutral Density
Filters (switch between Off, 1/6, and
1/32).
The main
recording controls are along the right
side for finger and thumb access when
shooting, including the Start/Stop
button, Zoom lever, and Photo button.
The camcorder also provides 16 zoom
speeds, plus high speed and variable
zoom modes.
"There
are lots of ways to shoot," says
Markert, "and the buttons are easy to
find on the left side." However, "the
touchy zoom rocker is hard to control,
and it's even more difficult to control
with the left hand when the camcorder is
on a tripod."
The back
of the XH A1 houses the internal battery
compartment, which can hold a regular or
large capacity battery. The memory card
slot also is located above the
batteries.
The video
connectors are located on the right back
of the unit, with DV/HDV terminal,
headphones, and component video, plus
the studio interfaces on the XH G1
Jackpack.
The audio
interface is positioned at the right
front of the camcorder, with two
built-in XLR terminals with mic/line
level and phantom power, and controls
for two-channel manual audio level
adjustment. There's also a
voice-recording mode, and an external
microphone input on the handle plus a
holder for attaching shotgun
microphones.
The (non
XLR) external mic input is a mini-phone
jack. "It's a nice touch," says Markert,
"an extra added convenience for
non-professional inputs." In general, he
says, "the audio circuitry attenuates
sounds well, even in loud music
environments, and can be manually
overridden."
The left
side of the unit then has the Power dial
for selecting recording mode, plus a
plethora of controls for fine-tuning
your control over the camcorder's
operation. These include dedicated
toggle switches for gain, color bars,
and white balance. The XH A1 provides
great control over camera options
through the menus, including defining
presets that can be accessed from the
buttons (these also can be set using the
Canon Console software -- see
Customization: Canon Console Software
sidebar below).
When
you're getting started, the camcorder
can be run in automated modes with Auto
and Easy Recording modes (plus
auto-focus), with a total of 7 program
AE modes for Shutter-Priority,
Aperture-Priority, Spotlight, and Night.
As you get more experienced with using
it, you then can switch to full Manual
to control and customize to your liking.
Beyond
its video modes, the XH A1 is an
interesting still photo camera as well.
It captures 2.0 megapixel still images
at up to 1920 x 1080 resolution to a MMC
or SD card. You can use the camcorder in
digital still camera mode, capturing
photos in digital camera color space,
complete with metering modes, continuous
shooting modes, and the option of using
the dedicated flash shoe.
Even
better, you can capture photos at the
same time as video is being recorded to
tape, using video color space. The
camcorder also includes a still image
histogram and EXIF display for exposure
verification.
Beyond
the surface appearance the Canon XH A1
(and XH G1) includes interesting design
features and technology.
Some
highlights:
-
Optics: The
Canon-designed HD video lens provides
with 20x optical zoom. The f1.6 - 3.5,
4.5 - 90mm lens has a wide focal range
of 32.5 - 650 mm (35mm equivalent).
Canon also offers an optional WD-72 wide
converter (.75x).
-
Imager: The
camcorder has three 1/3 inch interlaced
CCDs, native 16:9 full 1440 x 1080
resolution to capture HDV video at
1080i. In SD mode it uses approximately
1080 x 1080 pixels in standard 4:3
aspect ratio, and the full 1440 x 1080
for 16:9.
"The lens
is wide and versatile," says Markert.
"But when you zoom in, the iris shuts
down, from 1.6 to 3.4, so it's not very
light-sensitive when you get all the way
in. It's two stops less than the JVC DV
500, so you need to be twice as close or
have two times more light."
Lighting
does require an adjustment when shooting
wide-angle HDV, in order to avoid hot
spots and to adequately light the frame
from edge to edge. Says Markert, "when
shooting widescreen 16x9, you must
update the on-camera lighting from a
standard single round bulb to twin bulbs
or LightPanel-type rectangular format."
-
Frame Rates:
Selectable 60i, 30F and 24F frame rates
("F" is Canon's indication of true
progressive). You can shoot the 30 Frame
rate for fast motion events with full
clear frames, use 60i for ENG or a
reality TV look, and switch to 24 Frame
rate for a movie film look. Plus, the
camcorder can be upgraded for 50i/60i
PAL for an additional fee.
-
Image Stabilization:
Canon's Super-Range Optical Image
Stabilization compensates for camera
shake (from hand held shooting or even a
moving vehicle). The stabilization is
optical, not electronic or digital,
using two detection methods (gyro and
vector), and designed to deliver smooth,
steady video even at longer focal
lengths.
- Auto
Focus: The
Canon Instant AF system uses an external
sensor in addition to the camera
autofocus to significantly reduce the
time it takes to find focus, even in low
light conditions. It is designed to
resolve focus instantaneously, reducing
focus "hunting," and to be particularly
useful in high brightness and for night
shooting. The camcorder offers three
auto focus modes: Natural for least
distraction, Stable, and Super Quick.
"Focus is
more critical for high definition," says
Markert. "Framing focus is pretty
accurate. The auto-focus is so good it
can be left on most of the time and
produce outstanding results. One-touch
focus also works great when focusing
manually. The peaking feature works well
on both the viewfinder and the LCD
screen."
-
Image Processor:
The camcorders feature Canon's DIGIC DV
II proprietary digital signal processor
for both HD and SD video signals and
still photos. New noise reduction and
gamma systems are designed to provide
highly accurate color and tonal
reproduction for high HD image quality.
-
Image Enhancement:
The camcorder includes face tone
settings, cine settings, plus a sky
detail function for removing detail or
noise in the sky without affecting other
areas of the picture. And for extreme
low light situations, the video gain can
be increased up to +36dB.
-
Shooting Assists:
The Level Shot Control button displays a
horizontal marker to help line up the
horizontal lines in the shot. The Grid
Marker displays a precise grid top help
accurately compose the shot.
The Canon
XH A1 HD camcorder nicely demonstrates
the range of professional features and
control available today for around
$3500. You get DV and HDV shooting at up
to full 1080i, 20x zoom, 24p frame
rates, plus continuing innovations in
optics, focus, stabilization, and image
processing.
"This
camcorder can surpass expensive ENG
cameras," concludes Markert. "Manual
control is much improved from the XL 1.
You can lock in quickly."
"Image
quality can meet or exceed that of more
expensive 'pro' and 'ENG' camcorders in
Standard Definition," he says, "and
greatly surpass SD camcorders in high
definition recording. On the other hand,
low-light performance lags behind modern
DV camcorders by about two stops. With
1440 native chips, pro audio inputs, a
20x lens, and 24p, Canon still priced
the camcorder thousands less than the
competition."
The
camera also is very quiet in operation.
"It has a confidence-inspiring hum, not
clunky gears," adds Markert. "It seems
like a precision instrument."
for more info and
special
$250 rebate on the Canon XH A1
for more info and
special
$500 rebate on the Canon XH G1
The Canon
XH A1 provides extensive customization
over the image, display items, and
functions:
- Use
Custom Presets to store up to nine image
quality presets in the camcorder's
internal memory, including gain,
sharpness, color matrix, black, and H/V
balance.
- Use
Custom Functions to set up three custom
function modes, each selected from up to
21 camera controls, such as high-speed
zoom, color bar display, and tally lamp
settings.
- Use
Custom Display to create a custom menu
with up to 22 display items, such as
zoom, focus, image effects, DV record
mode, tape reminader, light meter, and
battery.
You also
can save these settings on SD memory
card to transfer your preferred settings
to other XH A1 camcorders.
And while
the camcorder's menu system provides a
straightforward interface for adjusting
and saving these settings on the
fold-out LCD display, Canon also offers
another alternative: its Console
Image Control and Storage software
that provides remote control of
camcorder functions and settings from a
Windows computer through a single
FireWire (IEEE 1394) cable.
www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=169&modelid=14062
When
shooting, you can use the Console
software when the camera is mounted on a
remote crane or studio -- to view the
live video stream, adjust the camera
controls, monitor the shoot with
on-screen Vectrascope and Waveform
monitor windows to adjust video and
phase parameters, and record the video
to the computer's hard disk.
Even
better, the Console software provides a
great interface for viewing, adjusting,
and saving your preferred camera options
and settings, organized and displayed in
different windows. For example, you can
set zoom, focus, iris, shutter speed,
white balance, shooting mode and frame
rate, and adjust gamma, master pedestal,
color phase, and AE metering. And then
you can save and restore these settings
for specific shoots.
The
Console software is available from Canon
for $599. Most functions also are
compatible with Canon's XL2 digital
camcorder. You also can download a
14-day trial version to try it out.
As an
alternative to Panasonic's approach to
using P2 solid state memory cards for
tapeless recording, Canon recommends the
Focus Enhancements FireStore FS-C
Portable DTE Recorder -- a portable
hard disk drive designed and ruggedized
for use with video cameras to
simultaneously record both tape and to
disk, in DV and HDV mode. You then get
"direct to edit," with the ability to
connect the drive to your computer with
a FireWire cable to immediately begin
work on your recorded footage without
needing to first extract it off the
tape.
www.focusinfo.com/solutions/catalog.asp?id=171
The FS-C
is around 1.5 inches think and weighs
one pound, and can be mounted to the
back of the camcorder using a mount kit,
or clipped to your belt. It can be
powered using the removable battery or
from the AC adaptor.
It
interfaces with the camcorder using a
single FireWire cable that passes audio,
video, timecode, and control
information. Each press of the
camcorder's record button creates a new
clip on disk. And you can mark scenes to
categorize clips into pre-named folders.
The front
of the unit has a backlit LCD display,
with menu navigation buttons and
playback controls. The camera and
computer FireWire connectors are on the
top, along with a remote control /
serial connector, and two status LEDs
that change color and blink to indicate
status modes.
The FS-C
is available with either a 60 GB hard
drive (around $1299) for up to 4.5 hours
of DV or 1080i HD recording time or a
100 GB hard drive ($1899) for more than
7 hours of recording time. You also can
chain an additional FS-C for extended
recording time. It also includes a
10-second cache to buffer through
shocks, and a 10-second retro record
mode that saves up to 10 seconds prior
to the time that you start recording.
The FS-C
can record in a variety of digital video
file formats for compatibility with both
Windows and Macintosh editing software.
In DV mode, it records as RawDV, AVI
Type 1 / 2 (for Adobe Premiere) / 2 24p,
Matrox AVI, Canopus AVI, Pinnacle AVI,
Avid OMF (for Avid Xpress DV), and
QuickTime / 24p (for Apple Final Cut).
In HD mode, it records up to 1080i
MPEG-2 transport streams (.m2t). The
FS-C version 2.0 firmware also can now
record 1080i-50/60 in native QT HDV file
format, which can be imported directly
into Apple Final Cut Pro.
However,
the design of the FS-C is a little
clunky for the Canon XH A1 camcorder --
it a bit large and not convenient to
mount on the top above the handle or
hang off the back. On the other hand,
says Markert, "a metal body would hold
up better. It would be okay to have a
little more weight."
In
addition, the displays could be easier
to use. "It's hard to see the lights and
display outside," says Markert, "you
need to shield them from the sun. The
two LEDs have different functions, so
you need to get used to them. You really
need a color confidence screen. For
example, it's easy to put the FireWire
connector in the wrong plug, the
computer and not the DV side."
"This can
be very valuable tool," concludes
Markert. "Tape becomes the backup. You
can rely on the disk, and edit directly
from start to finish."
References
HDV
Format
www.hdv-info.org
Canon XH
A1 / XH G1
www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=175&modelid=14061
Canon
Console Image Control and Storage
software
www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=169&modelid=14062
Panasonic
AG-HVX200 P2 / DVCPRO HD camcorder,
$5299
www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/cat_camcorders.asp
www.panasonic.com/business/provideo/hvx200microsite/index.asp
Sony
HDR-FX1, $3699 / Sony HDR-FX7, $3499
www.sonystyle.com/handycam
JVC
GY-HD110U. $5600 / JVC GY-HD200U, $8995
/ JVC GY-HD250, $10,000
pro.jvc.com/pro/attributes/HDTV/desc/prohd_camcorders.html
Focus
Enhancements FireStore FS-C Portable DTE
Recorder
www.focusinfo.com/solutions/catalog.asp?id=171
Originally published in
Camcorder & Computer Video magazine,
23, 2, April 2007.
Manifest Technology®
Copyright 1999-2007,
Douglas Dixon, All Rights Reserved
Manifest Technology is a
registered trademark of Douglas Dixon
