The Canon XH A1

The Canon XH A1?

Design

The Canon XH A1 is a fairly new camcorder that was released in 2006. This particualr version is widely used and marketed towards independent and documentary filmmakers, and for broadcasters and journalists for electronic news gathering.

Although, the camera weighs a hefty 2Kg, it is still conciderably lighter than most camcorders which makes it a comfortable choice. All the buttons and controls sit in logical locations, grouped roughly by function and generally in the same locations as previous models.A large chunk of the camcorder's design lets you determine the speed and subtlety with which shifts occur during shooting, including focus, zoom and exposure changes, and white-balance adjustments. This Canon XH A1 also offers a Slow speed option,plus a distance readout, help to keep a steadier control over focus response.

Features

• 1/3 inch CCDs ( Charge- coupled device - analog shift register) with a resolution of 1440 × 1080 in high definition Mode.
• When recording in standard definition in a 4:3 aspect ratio an area of 1080 × 1080 pixels
• Capable of shooting with either 50Hz and 60Hz scanning range.
• Video is recorded to MiniDV cassettes with a maximum record time of 80 minutes.
• Customizations to the image on the camera include gamma, knee, black levels, color gain, and sharpness settings. These settings allow the person using the camera to create different looks for the production within the camera.
• Built-in microphone with a audio volume lock
• The camera features a flip-out LCD capable of being viewed from both sides of the camera.
• Instant AF is an auto-focus assistant that dramatically increases both speed and accuracy when paired with HD technology.
• Optical Stabilization Feature: it helps defeat camera shake from hand held shooting and even shake produced from a moving vehicle.

This particular camera was used for the production of the motion picture Crank 2: High Voltage.^[4]