Compatibility or Quirks with Canon XH-G1

[Michael Gissing]

That camera shoots HDV to tape, which is MPEG2 not JPEG. I have seen posts here from users of older version of FCP that have had problems connecting to the Canon HDV cameras but if you are up to date with Version 6 you should be fine.

I do see a problem with a dual G5 however as you will not be able to upgrade beyond Leopard and FCP6. If you are happy to capture as HDV via firewire and edit in a ProRes timeline, your hardware should be OK. If you have a capture card with SDI input, you could use the SDI output of the Canon and capture to ProRes 422 but using firewire basic for machine control. I used to do this with the Canon cameras back in the version 5 days (although not capturing ProRes but 10 bit uncompressed).

Make sure you have a largish fast drive for ProRes.

[Dennis Dean]

Michael – Thanks. I am aware of the limitations of the G5, which is the next item for replacement – with your idea for capture in mind:

“If you have a capture card with SDI input, you could use the SDI output of the Canon and capture to ProRes 422 but using firewire basic for machine control.”

Any other thoughts from other CCers appreciated-

DD

Dennis Dean
The Dean Group
-It’s about results-
http://www.deangroup.com

[Miodrag Ristic]

Yes, Canon models use to have (I’m not sure about Xh-G1) temperamental firewire connection, very picky, they wouldn’t like other firewire drives being connected to your G5 (constant beachball in FCP,
unable to ingest).

After many years with Canon, switched to Panasonic last year. Head enough of constant servicing,
fuse on XL2 (twice), tape transmition on GL2 (both of them), zoom on GL2.

Why would you go to tape today? I was only content because I was using Firestore hard drive for simultaneous recording, but that’s an extra cost, plus they are unpredictable sometimes.
But it did serve me well in 90 % of situations. Imagine only ingesting 5 hrs of tapes, with Firestore – 50 minutes maximum, just copy to your media drive.

Now I’m back to ingesting with my P2 cards… I don’t know… maybe we are going backwards sometimes 🙂
But that’ FCP problem probably, re-wrapping into QT.

Is it different in Premiere… sorry… that should be different topic… oops, different forum maybe…

http://www.digitalvideovault.com.au

[Dennis Dean]

Michael – Sounds like Sony would work better? I’m looking at a couple of those, as well. I just like the Canon glass.

DD

Dennis Dean
The Dean Group
-It’s about results-
http://www.deangroup.com

[Miodrag Ristic]

Dean, have I gone crazy, or one of you posts have gone missing (your direct response to my post above)?
Big Brother? Big CC Brother 🙂

Anyway, when you mentioned Sony… I was just watching a TV show an hour ago, “Undercover Boss”,
here in Australia and in the middle of the show (major TV channel!) a “jello effect” (an effect caused by rolling shutter used in cameras with CMOS).
They were showing a guy moving a lawn, a lawn mover where you can sit and drive around, and for one shot (3 sec) they attached to the roof of the lawn mover and because of the vibrations, it caused a jello effect.

That issue was a deal breaker when I was shopping for my new camera, I was looking at Sony’s Z7
and Panasonic’s HPX 170.

Again, are we going backwards, to have a camera that can be good but don’t use it in high vibration environment, not against a photo flash, don’t shoot horizontal lines… At this day and age, I don’t get it.

http://www.digitalvideovault.com.au

[Dennis Dean]

It might have gotten lost – BUT – on a budget -which Sony would you recommend?

Maybe I should ask
Whether I should stick with CCDs – over CMOS
What format output should I be looking for that is most compatible with FCP

I wouldn’t mind a camera that recorded both mini-DV and onto memory cards, allowing me to keep the tape on the shelf as an archive/backup.

My new name should be lost in HD. I’m a content guy – not a technical guy (read – I can write, shoot and edit but I’m not that technically inclined… trying to learn.)

Thanks!

Dennis Dean
The Dean Group
-It’s about results-
http://www.deangroup.com