Users and industry watchers wondered for more than a year if, and when,
Canon would eventually join Sony and JVC in the HDV camcorder market.
The upcoming XL H1, which Canon unveiled in September, has three
1/3-inch interlaced native 16:9 CCD chips that record images at 1080i
resolution. Features include adjustable frame rates of 60i, 30f and 24f
and, in true Canon fashion, a knockout 20x HD video zoom lens with
Optical Image Stabilization. Other cool additions include Canon’s
"professional jackpack" (located on the back of the camera, it outputs
uncompressed digital HD-SDI output for seamless integration into
broadcast studios or high-quality image transfer to nonlinear editing
systems); a Genlock feature that lets you easily synchronize camera
settings across multiple camcorders; and SMPTE timecodes in and out,
for more streamlined tape and edit management. One tricky note for
format followers: Though Canon says its new camera offers "24 frame
mode," that’s not true 24p. According to the company, the H1 was
developed from the same proprietary system as the XL1. Canon also
introduced Console, new PC software ($500) that externally controls the
H1’s features, either manually or automatically, via remote control. It
includes waveform and vectorscope readouts for camera setup and
diagnosis. A trial version of the software can be found at
www.canondv.com (a Mac version is in
development). The camera with lens is expected to ship this month.
$8,999.