[Michael Galvan]

Hey,

I just put up a P+S Technik mini35 400 for sale for the Canon XL for a fantastic price ($700). It is in very new condition as well. Let me know if this is something you would be interested in.

Thanks.

[Michael Galvan]

I had the original H1 as well, and I thought it had this feature…

If you love the original H1, I think you’ll really love the ‘S’ version. Canon did so many little refinements to polish the camera. Really is an underrated upgrade. Everything from variable peaking to gain increments to the audio subsection to the HD-SDI with embedded audio and timecode (which is perfect for my Nanoflash!).

[Michael Galvan]

You can totally do this with the cam.

In the menu section, under display section, just turn the “TV Screen” option to off.

This will remove all viewfinder information from all the outputs. You can still see it all in your viewfinder, but your outputs will be clean.

I have the XLH1S and yes, it really has every option available. Love the cam!

Hope this helps.

[Michael Galvan]

Hi Bob,

Yes, certainly the images from tape are very good indeed!

But if you are looking at how the pixel shift technology in the XH/XL cameras affects the image, you really won’t see it from the tape as the sensors resolution are a 1:1 match to what is recorded to tape.

You can only take advantage of the increased resolution from the pixel shift from the Canon XLH1(s) or XHG1(s) by recording from the HD-SDI to a full raster codec.

It is explained more in detail in this whitepaper from Alan Roberts, who does these assessments for the BBC.

https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/whp/whp-pdf-files/WHP034_ADD25-Canon-XHG1.pdf

He measured full resolution 1920×1080 from the HD-SDI port from the XHG1 and about 1000 lines.

I see the same thing with my XLH1s/Nano combo. Hope this helps!

[Michael Galvan]

Well one thing to keep in mind too is although the XHA1 sensor system uses pixel shift, what is recorded to tape doesn’t take advantage of it. The resolution of the sensors natively is already whats recorded to tape. 1:1.

It is only the XH G1(s) or the XL H1(s) that can take advantage of the pixel shift because they have HD-SDI ports that can record the live signal precompression. And in this case, the pixel shift is increasing the resolution and such is recorded, as long as its being recorded to a proper codec that retains it (like using a Nanoflash).

I currently have the XLH1s/Nanoflash combination and can easily see the resolution increase from the Nanoflash recorded files vs. what is recorded to tape.

Hope this helps!

[Michael Galvan]

I’d like to see an example of what you are seeing though. You are not in the NYC area by chance, are you?

[Michael Galvan]

I find this hard to believe. If the data stream is taking up the full 25mb, where would this 4:2:2 information be stored on tape?

And even if this was true, Canon probably would’ve touted this as an advantage over other systems.

[Michael Galvan]

Hey Todd,

Yeah, I’ve used the 400 series quite a bit with my XL H1S. I’m particurlarly interested in the compact version because of the lighter weight, size, and the less light loss of course.

I currently have the Canon XL H1S w/Nanoflash (a combination that I love!). I would love to add the mini35 compact as well for future narrative projects.

Do you know of anyone here that owns it/has used it? Seems like a rarity…

[Michael Galvan]

What is recorded on HDV tape will always be 25mb 4:2:0 LONG-GOP.

What Canon is saying is that it is possible to bypass this quality by recording from the HD-SDI port, which outputs a fully uncompressed 1.485Gb 4:2:2 HD signal. I do it all the time with my XL H1s, recording to a Nanoflash. Image Quality is a great deal better!

Hope this helps.