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MillimeterShoot Review: Canon XL H1S
Jul 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Reviewer: D. W. Leitner
An impressive refresh for a classic camcorder.
At first glance, the Canon XL H1S is almost identical to its predecessor, the XL H1. Upon closer inspection, however, one can see that the improvements are well thought out and very user-friendly.
When it comes to HD camcorders, Canon is an anomaly. Panasonic, Sony, and JVC have all made broadcast cameras for years, while Canon — which got its start in the 1930s creating a Japanese Leica — has hewn closer to its roots, never straying far from optics and still cameras. Oh yes — and those lucrative scanners, copiers, and printers too.
This puts Canon in the unique position of being the only optics company that also makes HD camcorders. Carl Zeiss, Leica Camera, Schneider Optics, Fujinon — they don't make camcorders on the side like Canon does. On the other hand, Panasonic, Sony, and JVC don't make state-of-the-art broadcast lenses either.
So you'd expect an advanced marriage of optics and camera design from Canon, and that's what Canon gave us with the introduction of the XL H1 in September 2005: lens interchangeability; a 20X optical zoom with optical-image stabilization (which JVC's interchangeable-lens GY-HD100U couldn't provide); the first use of 24p HDV native progressive format recording (newly featured in Sony's HVR-Z7U) for the XL H1's unique 24F mode; HD-SDI, genlock, and timecode in/out (all firsts in a 1/4in. tape HD camcorder); and four channels of audio with independent level controls.
Then there's the XL H1's distinctive “chainsaw” profile, now appearing in other designs such as Sony's PMW-EX3 XDCAM EX — which traces back to Canon's MiniDV XL1 and XL2 series from 1997. (Which, in turn, traces back to Canon's interchangeable-lens L1 and L2 Hi8 camcorders, which were popular among embedded journalists in the first Gulf War.)
The Canon XL H1S adds a third ring—an electronic iris—to the 20X optical zoom. It is an instantly familiar and welcome addition.
Photo by D. W. Leitner
In fact, most of the controls and layout of the original XL H1 are virtually identical to those of the MiniDV XL2. If you sense a pattern in all this, a Canon modus operandi, you're right. Canon is never first in the marketplace with a new-format camcorder — it usually follows the leaders by a year or so — but when the company does introduce a new design, it makes a virtue of sticking to what worked best the last time around. It refines instead of replacing. Improvements are aggressively incremental at best: the L1 becomes the L2; the XL1, the XL2.
Which brings us to the XL H1S. The DNA is so intact, you have to use a magnifying glass at first to spot any differences from the XL H1. But there are indeed a significant number of improvements, and of the most satisfactory type. What do I mean by this?
Looking back at my notes from reviewing the XL H1, I found many positive comments. I liked that, as in the XL series, all major controls and adjustments — even SD and HD formats — were available (checkable by eye) as external buttons and dials, not buried in menus. I thought the color viewfinder's peaking function was especially effective: subtle, with just the right amount of edge enhancement. I liked the 2X magnification (pause mode only), although the placement of the 2X button on the operator's side behind the lens meant fumbling for it by removing my left hand from the lens while handholding. Not ideal.
I especially appreciated the switches for variable and constant zoom-speed control located on the handgrip. In this regard, Canon is unmatched. With the XL H1, I got the smoothest, most glacially slow handheld zooms of any camcorder out there — never any mid-zoom stuttering or pausing.
