Run'n'gun Canon
Canon XH A1 By Adam Wilt
The first article by Taylor Wigton is a review and reports on some tests on the 24F mode of the Canon cameras. 24F is a progressive format which is derived from an interlaced image. They report that there is some loss in the vertical resolution by using a single field of interlaced video (540 lines) to generate a full frame of HD video (1080 lines.) But overall they are pleased with the image quality in Canon's 24F mode, even in comparison with much more expensive cameras with true 24 frame progressive imaging. I got a tip from the Canon Booth at MacWorld that you can use the low-cost Canon HV10 camera to capture 24F footage in FCP at 24fps. Obviously you can do the same thing with the XH A1 but using the HV10 could save you some wear on the heads in the long run if you use your camera a lot. I found this report at FresHDV.
The second article by Adam Wilt gives the XH A1 a DV Award of Excellence at DV.com (registration required). Very nice endorsement for Canon. Sony is doing true 24 progressive with the V1, but the Z1 can only record 60i. (The Z1 also has a fake progressive mode but it's still gets recorded in a 60i video format.) Seems like Canon is now besting Sony in the sub-$5K market. What with just about every new TV being sold having a progressive display, I think the time is coming to drop interlace. On the other hand, broadcast TV still has 2 interlaced formats that are dominant, 480i and 1080i. However, generally it's easier to bring a progressive image into an interlaced format than vice versa.
1 comment:
Nice article. I haven't experimented the 24F mode with my XH-A1 yet. One thing I don't like about the camera is a lens cap! It's so cumbersome to take out and put it back... Sony Z-1 has a way better cap that is incorporated in the camera. But that's only my complaint on XH-A1 so far.
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