Canon XH-A1 good for a wedding videographer?

[Don Greening]

The A1 is a great camera and Canon sells a ton of them. Weddings require a camera that’s good in low light and 1/3″ chip CCD HDV cameras like the A1 are not as good in low light as say, a Sony PD170 which is the king of low light shooting and used by most wedding people. My advice is to borrow an A1 and try it in a wedding situation as a test. If you like the result then you’ll feel better about spending the money on one.

– Don

[Arif Syed]

Sony PD170 is not HD, correct? Will that hurt me in the long run?

[Don Greening]

[Arif Syed] “Sony PD170 is not HD, correct?

Correct. Most people who are buying new cameras and want to future-proof their business are buying HD cameras. If most of your work is destined for the web then I would suspect buying a good camcorder-style SD camera makes sense. There is only one handheld HD camera I know of that comes close to the PD170 in low light performance in the 1/3″ chip class and that’s the new Sony Z7U.

The Sony PMW EX1 is also a handheld HD camera and it actually beats the PD170 in low light tests but the EX is in a different class in that it uses 1/2″ chips. It’s also more money than the Z7U.

– Don

[Miodrag Ristic]

Don,

What do you as an experienced user / troubleshooter think about
this

https://www.sonyhdvinfo.com/showthread.php?t=13265

well reported issue regarding the rolling shutter (in CMOS based cameras like Z7)
and flash used in wedding video situation.

Have you had a chance to experience this problem, or maybe you know
someone who did?

I am seriously looking at buying this camera, but before I spend $200 for hiring it for testing,
I might hear first what do you think about it.

Thanks

Mio