I am thinking of buying a Canon XLh1 but am not sure about 24f as opposed to 24p. I am editing on a G5 using Final Cut Pro HD

[Graeme Nattress]

The XL1h is a good choice, but FCP cannot currently edit the 24f natively. There might be other solutions, but none as seamless as FCP native support.

Graeme

– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP

[Ed Dooley]

Go to the HDV Forum, you might get more answers.
Ed

[Boyd Mccollum]

I saw a demo of the H1 and I was really impressed. The person giving the demo did discuss the fact that FCP currently does not handle 24f at this time – if I recall, the reason was that FCP was working to get first Sony HDV to run natively, then more recently the Panasonic HVX-200. I’m sure Apple is working to get the H1 to work in 24f with FCP.

[scifiauthor] “want to move into the true 16:9 HD realm”

16:9 is not the same as 24f or 24P – one is the aspect ratio (size of the image), the other how many frames a second you record. You can shoot 16:9 at 30i or 30p (not sure the specs off hand for the H1) without any problems and it will look great. 24P is used to create the “film” look on video. But it is only one element used, you also need to manipulate the gamma settings in the camera, etc, not to mention the importance of lighting, to create that “film” look.

I wouldn’t base my decision on getting the H1 on whether FCP works with 24f unless you absolutely needed to do that immediately. You’ll have any camera you get for the next 3+ years. As Graeme mentioned, there are some workarounds that you can use in the interim.

Your decision on the camera should be based on how you shoot, and what you plan on shooting. The big advantage of the H1, like the XL1 (and 2), are the interchangeable lenses. I believe the H1 takes the XL1 lenses, though they may be just a tad soft for HD (not necessarily a bad thing) and Canon is working on a set of lenses for the H1. Another advantage is when shooting handheld, you can support the camera on your shoulder.

The new HVX-200 looks great as well, currently has native support for 24p in FCP and is true HD (not HDV), and the extra money you save helps to buy a few of those P2 cards. There are some downstream considerations for editing that you’d have to consider as well, including huge file sizes (ie, storage). And depending on the amount of footage you shoot at any given time, and at what resolution you shoot, you may find yourself needing to buy quite a few P2 cards and/or a Firestore(s).

My $.02. Definitely make your choice based on what the camera can do in the field first, what you plan on shooting, then post-production. At the end of the day, based on the camera choices available, you really can’t go that wrong with any of them.

Boyd
“Go slow to go fast”

[Bill Willins]

Canon rep spoke at our Denver FCP Users group about a month ago … he said ” FCP & Canon will play nice in the very near future” … probably around NAB time next month.