I'm looking to buy second cam but can't afford another A1. How about the Canon HV20 would the footage be a good match?? And a smaller cam I might be able to afford an underwater housing. And suggestion?

How about a Canon T2i?

We used the XHa1 cameras and the HV20's at the newspaper website where I used to work, they were both capable cameras. I can't say that you can (or can't) cut between them, because any two cameras will differ, but when my a1 was in the shop I shot with the hv20 and the results were not at all second-rate. HTH...

The HV20 was discontinued long ago. Today the equivalent camcorder would be the Canon VIXIA HV40.

Don't go with HV20 even if you can find an old one. It only does 60i and 24p wrapped in 60i. Get an HV40 instead.

Thanks to all. I'll look up that 40 and see how much $$$$$$ it cost.

B&H is practically giving them away for $650:

Canon | VIXIA HV40 High Definition Camcorder | 3686B001 | B&H


Price is good through April 30th. Normally it's $950.

I have two HV30's and I have tried and tried to mix footage with my XH-A1's. If the HV30 footage doesn't have to mix with the XH-A1's you should be okay but if you expect a transition from one to the other forget it. Others might have had better luck.

Ya I do plan to mix the footage of the two cams. Right now I'm having trouble mixing two shots from the same preset together, forget two different presets, although I have faith I can ride the learning curve out and come out on the other end OK, especially with this forum.

Settings to match XH-A1 and HV30 Footage | L.A. Color Blog (http://lacolorshop.com/blog/view.asp?id=21)

I also have the Matrox RTX2 card that allows me to color match two footage. Check it out here

Color matching XH-A1 and HV30 | L.A. Color Blog (http://lacolorshop.com/blog/view.asp?id=20)