Hi,

I am using the XL-H1 for some time now but cannot seem to find a way to get sharp images.
the image is fine but i want it to be crisp and sharp as possible, i always get the picture like in old black and white films (except for the colors of course) when they filmed women and you could see the massive softening filters in action.
i did try to change the sharp setting to both -9 and +9 to see the difference but i couldnt see any.
what am i missing ?
btw- i shoot in 60i HDV, sony tapes but also capture the material to FS-4ProHD into M2T files.
Thanks !

You should be able to get very sharp footage with no problem, even with the sharp setting at '0'. It is the lens itself that is most important. Are you using the 20X or 6X lens or both?

Are you working in Manual? What is your iris setting? (It will look soft if you close down the aperture too much). What Preset have you dialled in to the XL-H1? Are you using a tripod (with IS set to "off") or hand-held with IS on? Is your gain set to minus -3? Are you using AF or manual focus?

How are you viewing the footage to ascertain sharpness?

Hi Tony, thanks for your help.

I use the 20x lens, manual, iris is set depending if i shoot out at daylight then i use the 1/1000 ~ 1/8000 or indors at night 1/30~1/250, i play with the custom presets which i set all parameters to 0 and only change the sharoness from -9 to +9, always with tripod no IS, both auto and manual focus, gain is set to 0 if out and higher if indoors but i tried all levels.

i then watch the material an a computer (i copy the files from the FS4 to my computer).

Thanks again.

can you post a picture of your problem?

You may want to also check that you don't have the "Skin Detail" setup too high. This setting tries to soften wrinkles and blemishes. But if set up too high, it may be the cause of what you described as old time movies softening faces.

Yes, I suspect something is "on"...The H1, H1a, and H1s as a group, are the sharpest cameras in the under 10k range. The camera tests that were done when the H1 first came out using HD/SDI live were in 60i, off the charts, in 24F/P, it was around 800 lines (done by Scott Billups). SO check all the "autos"....gain, focus, iris, and the above mentioned settings in the custom presets.

Jim Martin

"I think Utopia is coming soon"

Yes, the Canon XL H series of camcorders are certainly very very sharp. It has to do with one of your settings in camera. Even at sharpness at 0, you should have a very sharp image. +9 should definitely show a difference still...