Canon XL H1

Superb Optics, Genlock and HD-SDI Out, All In A Compact HDV Package

By Bruce A. Johnson

April 1, 2006    Source: Studio Monthly

While Canon has turned out dozens of great still cameras and lenses over the years, when the DV revolution came about the company was relatively unknown in the video world. Canon’s consumer cameras were a mixed lot — anyone remember the original ZR? Now that was weird. And even when the XL1 came out, it certainly wasn’t perfect. I ought to know, I bought one and own it to this day. But give Canon credit, it was committed to fixing its problems and improving the camera. Learning from its fixes on the XL1, many additions and modifications on the XL1s, and many more on the XL2, which I also own, here comes Canon again with the XL H1. It’s no exaggeration to declare it a worthy successor to its older siblings.

The first change everyone will notice is the new black color. Believe it or not, the iridescent pearl of the XL series is one of the things many pros disliked most about it. Other new features abound on the XL H1, such as the unique addition of an HD-SDI connector, and multi-camera shooting and editing will be made much easier by the time code in- and out- jacks. One of the most head-scratching omissions from the XL2 was a line/mic level selector switch on the audio inputs (yes, there are several very good portable audio mixers that are line-out only.) The switch is there on the XL H1, but it controls both inputs, not two switches for two inputs. However, there are separate phantom-power switches, which is mystifying.

Other nice changes are the return of a wheel for iris and menu controls, and the addition of a new tape-roll button on the front of the iris control pod. The amount of info available in the viewfinder can be dizzying, including crop and center marks, time code, exposure and focus distance from the XL H1’s new lens. (And thankfully, it can all be turned off with the tap of another button.) Unfortunately, the XL H1’s viewfinder has a tendency to smear noticeably when panning, and shares the Achilles heel of all HDV camcorders in being way short of full 1080i resolution. This can make focusing an adventure. Canon has addressed this in a very ingenious way, adding a peaking switch, which over-enhances edges to an almost painful amount, and a 4x in-viewfinder digital zoom. Even with those aids, I sometimes had problems guaranteeing I had my subjects in focus. I’d like to think that I’d get better at it with more practice, and the XL H1’s lens would be a great asset in that journey. Head and shoulders above any of the older XL-series electronic lenses, the XL H1’s lens zooms and focuses smoothly, and holds focus through zooms in a way none of its predecessors ever could. (Hey, if you loved the XL1 or XL2, you learned to live with those things.) In my testing, when I mounted my older 16x manual-focus or 3x wide-angle lenses, I got a big warning in the viewfinder saying "HD INCOMPATIBLE LENS." Warning notwithstanding, the camera let me roll tape, and the older lenses performed well, although the 3x wide-angle gave a noticeably softer image than either of the others.

But how are the pictures? Well, they’re good. Really good. Better than I expected, actually. I shot fast-moving radio-control airplanes in a gymnasium, with limited depth of field, and got lots of great footage. I was especially impressed with how the XL H1 held the whites in ceiling-mounted lights, something its older siblings weren’t all that good at. And heavily saturated colors proved no challenge for the camera— on both a Sony professional monitor via the HD-SDI connection and a Samsung consumer monitor via component, reds were deep and rich, highlights didn’t blow out, and the amount of detail visible was shocking compared to the low-res viewfinder. Shooting close-ups of a Grass Valley video switcher, I kept closing down the iris to read the writing on the buttons. I shouldn’t have bothered; when I played the tape back the text was clearly visible at all of the iris settings.

I also tested the quasi-progressive modes of the XL H1, which Canon calls 30F and 24F. Both of them performed as expected, giving a film-like feel to the high-def images, and imparting the temporal feel of the slower frame rate in a realistic manner. Shooting test examples on a professionally lit news set in 24F, I could easily imagine I was shooting a sequel to Broadcast News. And the XL H1 offers plenty of image control, including three gamma curves, three knee points, three black stretch/press points, setup, sharpness, detail, coring, three color matrix choices and channel-adjustable color gain settings with wide latitude, among others. If you can’t find a look you like with the XL H1, you aren’t trying hard enough.

All of this comes with a price. Listing comfortably below $10,000, the XL H1 is quite a bit more expensive than its 1/3-inch chip competitors, and the present lack of a fully-compatible playback deck is worrisome. But there are many advantages, namely the versatile removable lens system, an HD-SDI output that makes interfacing to non-HDV editing or viewing on an HD monitor a breeze (though it’s video only, so you won’t be able to embed time code or audio in your stream), and impressive image control. I can see the Canon XL H1 finding a happy home in many videographers’ kits, especially if they have pleasant experiences under their belts with the earlier XL-series cameras.

Specs

Weight fully loaded: 8.3 lbs.
Dimensions: 8.9 x 8.7 x 19.5 inches
Video Recording System: HDV 1080i
Image Sensor: 3 1/3-inch 16:9 interlaced CCDs
Frame Rates: 60i, 30F and 24F (Canon’s own synthesized progressive/interlaced format)
Lens: 20x HD video zoom lens with Superior Canon Optics
Input/Output: HD-SDI, Genlock, SMPTE time code