I have been using a GL2 for three years mostly to shoot soccer games (four games last weekend). I am thinking the A1 is the perfect upgrade for the price and the quick auto focus a plus. My only dissapointment was I was hoping for a longer lens than the GL2, but I can understand why Canon went a little shorter one.

Am I on the right track with the A1 or is there a better HD solution out there in this price range for this application?

Hi Robert, I think the XHA1 would probably work very well for your application. Canon's excellent stabilization, long zoom (certainly compared to other HD cams anyway) and pretty robust implementation of HDV are all pluses for something like shooting sporting events.

www.philipwilliams.com

Philip,

Thank you for the comments. I think I am on the right track with the A1. I know this is a Canon thread but I figured Sony, JVC, etc. people also take a look once in awhile and would tell me how much better those HD cameras would be for sports, but nothing yet. Yes, most of the cameras in this price have shorter lens. I thought I might hear from people that own 720p cameras.

<snip>I know this is a Canon thread but I figured Sony, JVC, etc. people also take a look once in awhile and would tell me how much better those HD cameras would be for sports, but nothing yet. Yes, most of the cameras in this price have shorter lens. I thought I might hear from people that own 720p cameras.

Well, you could try posting in the other forums for general input on using those cameras for sports.

A quick overall breakdown if I was looking for a sports HD cam:

HVX200 - My favorite cam, but you'd want a firestore or cineporter to record long form sporting events. That puts you at about 7.5K price wise. I prefer DVCPRO over HDV, but I'm not sure I prefer it THAT much... not for sports recordings anyway.

Z1 - Would probably work pretty well for soccer games. But it costs about $700 more than the Canon and has a shorter zoom. Sorry Sony.

HD100 - Nice cam for narrative film projects, but with a 100% manual lens, I don't know how much fun it would be to tape soccer games... And its 30P which might look a bit "stroby" on sports footage. I think the new HD250 (might be off on that) has 60P, but now you're into some high priced territory. Even the HD100 is over a grand more than the Canon.

Any way you slice it or dice it, I think the XH A1 is going to be the best bet for your type of work - certainly when factoring the low price point. Canon's got a winner here, at least until the other manufacturers revamp some products and/or introduce new cameras.

www.philipwilliams.com

Philip thank you for your confirmation, I am hoping to be using the A1 before a year ending tournament on November 18-19th.

Philip thank you for your confirmation, I am hoping to be using the A1 before a year ending tournament on November 18-19th.

Hey Robert, you might want to check out that new Sony FX7 as well. For me the 24F and XLR audio inputs more than justify the $500 price difference for the XH A1, but if you only plan to shoot 1080/60i and don't need XLR, the Sony might be a good bet. Might be easier to find than the Canon too, I suspect its going to sell very briskly.

Robert if you need a longer zoom you can always add a teleconverter lens attachment, such as the Schneider / Century Optics 1.6x.

Philip,

Thank you for the suggestion. I plan to use 1080/60i and don't do much with the sound. Most of my highligh clips I add music. I was interested to see the FX7 has a slightly longer lens - almost the same as my GL2 and HDMI. I don't even have anything with HDMI, but that does seem to be the future. I have heard some where that CMOS does not handle motion as well as the CCD's. I see the filter size is 10mm less on the Sony.

Chris,

I thought the Instant AF would be handy for my application and would be disabled with a teleconverter.

Yes that's true, but even so you still have "normal" AF which should suffice for what you're doing.