Inside the Canon XHA1 and XHG1, by Donald Berube, Daniel Berube, and Douglas S. Eagle Join Don and Dan Berube, well known digital filmmakers and Canon camcorder specialists, and Douglas Spotted Eagle, HDV Guru and author of the best-selling book, HDV: What You NEED to Know, as they examine the features, capabilities, and challenges of the Canon XH A1 and XH G1 camcorders. Don and Dan take viewers on a tour of the camera, outlining all buttons and features. Douglas exposes the menus, the settings, best uses, and advanced shooting techniques in addition to answering questions or about the origin, the power and the specifications of the HDV format. Together, Don, Dan, and Douglas show you how to get the most from your gear and prepare you to get the most out of your Canon HDV camcorder.
User Ratings and Reviews
1 Star Or just read the manual…..
I did not enjoy this DVD at all. The first two guys explaining the camera, look at the device as if it is the first time they see it (and pointing at the buttons, oh look! this is the on button).
The second guy is much better. Only he does not reveal any “secrets” at all. It is all in the manual you got with the camera. Unless you are a lazy rich kid who bought the camera and has no idea what kind of camera you got, and do not like to read, this can be an interesting DVD. But if you, like me, bought the camera because you love all the features, and have read the manual, the DVD is useless.
4 Stars Useful
Spot is a very easy person to listen to, very smooth, lucid and professional. In the “advanced” chapters Spot goes through the many complex, deep features of the ah x1/g1 camcorder, rather mechanically, occasionally imparting some wisdom, but mostly just demonstrating how to switch on and off various features. (Most of the time they seem to be best just left off or, on auto.) I would have preferred a different, more inspired approach, showing some less obvious and more creative ways to use the camera.
The two brothers who introduce the camera were embarrassing to watch. First time on camera? It was with relief I saw they quickly departed.
4 Stars HYPE def
Hype HD some more, why don’t you?
Guess what, some of us are not entirely sold on HDV. What are we supposed to do? Throw out our perfectly good color TV sets, and our perfectly good combo DVD/VHS players?
I don’t think so.
Some of us don’t even watch tv; in fact, I haven’t watched tv (with the exception of a couple of instances) in the
last 20 years. Why? Why should I? What’s on tv that would interest me?
Why own a tv even? I like to watch movies now and then–and regular DVD is just fine with me. By the way, I’m not about to throw out my DVD library just because the makers of Blue Ray and HD think I should.
So then, why did I buy the tutorial on the A1/G1? Because I’m in the market for a camera and I simply wanted to see what all the fuss was about regarding the Canon A1.
Sure, looks like a pretty nifty camera, only the drawbacks cannot be ignored: small LCD (meaning you would have to go out and spend an additional thirteen hundred on a Marshall monitor); HDV dropouts are no laughing matter; HDV requires lots more light than SD; sound is an issue (even though “Spot” will tell you that it is only mildly challanging; and, on yeah, with AVC solid state/tape-free camcorders on the horizon, not to mention
the new Sony Ex-Cam coming out real soon…why spend all that money on a Canon A1? Besides, HDV is only marginally better than DV–no matter what they tell you and no matter how often they bring up the pixel difference.
Grain? There will always be (some) grain. Well, maybe the RED cam will solve that.
Lastly: shame on Vasst. Lighting is a bit on the dark side (during segment where Spotted Eagle is standing in front of fire engine, etc. Also: Discovered three glitches on their DVD, or rather, sound drop-outs. Spot is out of sync
during one segment, and during the park segment there is absolutely no sound at all. So how are we supposed to know how good the A1 is on sound?
By the way, should have shot more footage with this camera: night footage, day footage; all types of footage (as opposed to only giving us that brief skydiving footage and the guys speeding on motorcycles on the beach.) Why not do it? You charge enough for the DVD.
Want to SELL us this camera? Show us how to deal with dropouts, make the LCD larger so that we don’t have to spend an arm-and-a-leg on a good monitor, etc., make it so that we don’t have to purchase the firestore (in order to work around the dropouts.)
4 Stars Canon XH A1 Vasst Training DVD… Novice or Well Informed?
This DVD doesn’t rate a five because it is not for the novice. Jargon words were mentioned quickly like I’m supposed to know what they mean, however, if you are into photography, and understand, White Balance, F-Stops, and all the basic stuff they blew by, then this information is for you.
It doesn’t rate a 3 star because there is sufficent advanced information for me to learn how to use the in depth camera menu information. This is important if you intend to use this camera as a pro. Should you buy it as instead of to the Elite DVD, YES, if you want more indepth advanced information on this Canon XHA1 and XHG1.
I will need to view the DVD at least a dozen times to grasp the advanced concepts. This is far better than the manual that came with the video camera.
Because I am such a novice, I will also purchase the other Elite DVD, because reviews stated they were to basic, and this may be just what I need.
