White Paper 034 Addendum 25: Canon XH G1 (and XH A1)

Alan Roberts

Abstract

Data for this addendum is taken from a short examination of oneproduction model of the Canon XH G1 HDV camcorder. It has 3 16:9 1/3ccd sensors of 1440x1080 pixel dimensions (4.5mm diagonal). It recordsinterlaced HDTV using the HDV algorithm onto standard mini DV tapes(1080i) and progressive HDTV using a Canon proprietary format onto thesame tape and at the same data rate, and SDTV using normal DV format.The A1 (not tested here) is a slightly simplified version of the G1.

The camera is relatively light (about 2.1kg excluding battery) and hasan integral lens and viewfinder, with side lcd panel, and seems aimedat the middle to high-end consumer/low-end professional market ratherthan full broadcast, which would normally demand interchangeable lensesand better control.

It has internal menus for setting the performance, not as complex as ina full broadcast camera, but enough to control some of the importantfeatures, albeit only in on/off states. It is possibly suited tomulti-camera operation because it has an HDSDI connector for videooutput (not in the A1). This potentially makes it useful in thebroadcast and other high-end markets. It has analogue video outputs(3.5mm jacks and BNC on the G1) and digits via IEEE1394 Firewire.

The same assessment procedure was used as for other HD cameras, partlyattempting to get a good filmlook, and the settings reflect that.However, because of the lack of internal test signals, and as a resultof some of the initial measurements, that approach was quicklyabandoned and efforts were directed at getting a decent colorimetricperformance from the camera. Assuming that a grading operation will beused in postproduction, the settings attempt to give the colourist areasonable exposure range, but this is inevitably wellshort of what afilm stock could be expected to deliver.

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