I am an amateur film maker and currently use a XL-H1A for making wildlife documentaries with an emphasis on bird life. I will have completed my current projects by autumn 2012 and may be looking to a non tape-based camera. The documentaries are produced to be shown in conjunction with talks about local wildlife and conservation to clubs and societies. I will be looking for a camera which gives similar benefits in terms of magnification factor, and which can use interchangeable SLR lenses. I do own a Canon 7D but find focussing, iris and shutter controls, exposure (lack of zebra stripes), very difficult to use for wildlife work compared with the XL-H1A.

Am I correct in saying that the XL-H1A cannot be used in conjunction with NanoFlash (as compared with XL-H1 and XL-H1s) ?

Are there any cameras on the market which would fir the bill for a budget of less that $10000.

Many thanks,


Neil

You are correct that the XLh1a does not have the necessary connections to utilize the nanoflash or any other devices requiring SDI or HDM to record to a higher quality codec.

There are many camera that record to higher quality codecs and can output over SDI that are under $10000 but I am not sure which ones will give you the kind of reach you might be looking for. The 20X lens of the XLh1 is pretty good. The XF305 would probably be a good camera but I am not sure of the range on the zoom, and you cannot add SLR lenses. Also....it is not a shoulder mount which can be a downside.

For your application and requirements I am not sure there is any one model that jumps out as a replacement for the XLH1. I mean....most modern camera can beat the specs of the H1....but used in the right combination they cannot necessarily add up to the sum of its parts....from a optics/form factor standpoint.
Fortunately for me I have the XLh1 with the SDI out and find it has extended the life of my camera immensely.


Good Luck.

I wonder would the AF100 do the trick? It is relatively inexpensive compared to other big sensor cameras and can use most brands of SLR lenses with adapters. Because of the sensor size and the crop factor with SLR lenses you effectively increase the magnification of long lenses, so you have a lot of reach with big zooms.
It has zebras, focus assist, ND filters and SDI & HDMI out.

The only issue I can see with the af-100 is that while it accepts SLR glass, it does not have the same crop/magnification factor as the XLh1, which is 1/3" chip. So while a 1.6X magnification on the AF100 will increase the range of SLR glass, it is not even in the same league with the XLh1 that magnifies it by 7.6x.

Now in the world of narrative filmaking this is a travesty to magnify this much....but for nature photographers....I am not so sure this isn't ideal.

I'm in the same boat, & have been waiting for something solid state to come out that i could replace my XH A1 with & at the same time, have a removeable lens. I am looking very closely at the new Black magic camera just announced at NAB. It has a slightly smaller sensor (at least the active area of the sensor) than the AF100 so the magnification is slightly more at around 2.4x that of a FF 35mm sensor. While this still doesn't come close to an XL H1 in terms of reach with the equivalent lens, at least it's better than all these other darn S35 & FF35 sensor cameras that seem to be all the rage at the moment. Why oh why don't Canon just give us a 1/2" sensor version of the XL H1 with the 50mbs codec of the XF 300!! Now i would be all over that like a kid on candy!!
Bryce

What I use is not perfect but is OK for my use. It has its limitations but is the only way that I know of to go out to 3600mm and shoot 1920 @ 50Mbs

Canon XF100, Canon EF 100-400mm zoom and DMF Showtime adaptor on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/channels/281626)

Canon XF100 + Canon EF 400mm f5.6 lens + DMF Showtime adaptor on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/channels/226606)

You might want to sell your 7d if your just using it for video and get the t3i/600d.. It has lossless 3x zoom function that would defintiley help you out since you do wildlife.. The 3x zoom functions turns a 200mm lens to 600! Plus you can install magic lantern which fives you focus peaking and zebras... Good luck..

Thank you for the advice and suggetions. The Canon 600d option looks attractive although I do find a DSLR difficult to use for video purely from the ergonomic viewpoint. The other option I am considering is purchasing a used Canon XL H1 or XL H1s and attaching a Nanoflash or similar unit. It would give the advantage of a familiar set-up and also the option of having one camera set up with the 'standard' (20x) lens for wider shots and one with the tele (100-400) lens and EF adapter. Of course only one camera would be able to record tapelessly but still, it would be a nice set-up.

Well the XLH1A can certainly record tapeless direct to an external firewire recorder. There is no improvement in the image quality, and you have to deal with a non locking firewire cable, but it will definitely record tapeless.

That would be fine for my purposes; it would be ideal to record higher quality to give more flexibility in editing, but not essential. Would recording via firewire effectively be recording at the same quality as I currently have on HDV cassette ? And can you recommend a firewire recorder ?

Firestore recorders by Focus Enhancements (there is a section on them here: Focus Enhancements FireStore Forum at DVinfo.net (http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/focus-enhancements-firestore/))

The quality is identical to the tape when you plug the firewire into your computer and capture - same compression.

There was one that was specifically made to work with Canon cameras if I remember correctly, called the FS-C I think.

Also Datavideo, and Sony make some.

Thanks for the information. My main anxiety just now is the risk of a mechanical failure of tape transport so it would be good to have another option for recording footage.

I recently put a Firestore FS-4 Pro HD on my XL H1 with selfmade bracket. Its very easy to use. Clips are simply copied to harddrive.

http://www.bilderspiele.de/pics/IMG_0404s.jpg

Nice setup!

I'm happy to see so many XLH1 users are still out there and doing new things with them to keep them current.

This thread has highlighted the fact the at the moment there is not really anything out there that fully replaces the niche market that the XL series filled I guess?

I'm happy with my XLH1/nanoFlash combo. A focussing monitor is essential though. I would have thought that the only viable "new" alternative would be an EX3 with some Nikon(mount) lenses. 5 and a bit crop factor compared with 7x on a 1/3 chipper and a nice "basic" codec and picture quality even without a nanoFlash.

Even with the long reach provided by a 7x crop factor I'm stating the obvious when saying the closer to the subject you can get the better.


Ron

Nice setup!

I'm happy to see so many XLH1 users are still out there and doing new things with them to keep them current.

This thread has highlighted the fact the at the moment there is not really anything out there that fully replaces the niche market that the XL series filled I guess?

I agree. I love my XLH1S/Nano setup and still use it on a wide range of productions.

Still haven't found a camera that can really fully replace what it does.

I have decided to go for the Firestore option just now; for my purposes the image quality is fine, I'm not doing work for broadcast and it gives the security of an alternative storage medium. But a tapeless XL-H1 with better codec would be my ideal!

Yes I agree with Simon Wood. There is nothing that has filled the place of the XL line of cameras. It went without a word from Canon as to really why. Loyal users and third party manufactures of accessories were left hanging as the XL withered and died.

Sure it had it's short comings. Working in low light probably it's worst. However. What camera has the dual ability to be quickly removed from a tripod then quickly used shoulder mounted? What camera has interchangeable lens, with both manual and automatic lens available plus the EF range via an adapter? What camera is large enough to enable it to have decent size knobs and buttons that can be felt for, audio and picture control manipulated quickly whilst shooting without having to look for the correct control? What camera was able to have it's major control features on the body, not somewhere down in a menu. What other camera was also able to take a thrashing in the field, be dropped, roll around in the back of a car and still work?

Maybe all little simple things no doubt. But for it's price range it took alot of beating and could be used on a day long shoot with effort and ease.

So why did Canon really kill it off? Did they listen to the few wingers who reckoned they could't focus it?
The odd one who said the viewfinder wasn't big enough?

I may be a lone voice crying from the wilderness and living at the ends of the earth. But.... and a big BUT.
For the price it was a darned good all round camera, very easy to use, well designed supporting many features both simple and complex.

I don't know what to replace it with?

I 100% agree. It's interesting as Canon has a large following of XL users.

Perhaps we should think of a laundry list of what we'd like in a future "XL" style HD Camcorder and I can bring it to my Canon rep. I have a pretty strong relationship with some Canon reps as I work with them through my work at NBC.

On another note, I am producing a fun little series at NBC which I am shooting with my Canon XLH1S/Nano. Hopefully I can post when it's done.

Thank you Michael.

Yes! Use all and whatever influence you have to get the message through to Canon. "We want the XL back".

Perhaps we need to start another thread on this and other forums to gauge support for Canon XL series and present it to Canon.

Looking forward to your fun series.

Didn't realise my thread would start this discussion but then I dodn't know my camera was irreplaceable! If a tapeless XL successor were to be produced, the main features I would look for would be:

- better resolution viewfinder screen, to allow more precise focussing
- ability to autofocus with EF lenses
- improved low light performance
- 100 fps option for slow motion wildlife shots

I guess Canon are putting their resources into the DSLR and Cinema series for video just now; unfortunately, even if a pared down cinema camera was affordable I suspect the crop factor would not give the magnification of the XL series.

Neil

An interchangeable lens version of the XF305 . Same lens mount as XLs. Same codec and viewfinder as XF. A new "standard" lens, 20x zoom out to 200mm with a built in 2x TC. Like a mini Canon broadcast lens.

C'mon Canon! You can get the BBC to "approve" your XF305 which is "only" a 1/3inch 3 chipper. Hardly a major step to make one lens interchangeable. Not every punk out here slavers over narrow d.o.f. and DSLR style cameras.


Ron

Same mount as the XLH1 so that you can use the 20x & 6x lenses....

20X lens, at least, has chromatic aberration issues which Canon solved on the XFs via in camera software.

Would need similar on the "XF shoulder mount", certainly for its "standard" lens.


Ron

If we could move all of these requests to the other thread that was started, that would be great to keep everything consolidated. And to not hijack this thread. Thanks!

Why Michael?

Ron