I guess that whole thing about the possibility of firmware upgrades was just a marketing ploy.
Or they'll just use this info for the A2 or whatever.

I guess that whole thing about the possibility of firmware upgrades was just a marketing ploy.

this will make a lot of users disappointed. i for one won't be buying an A2 if there will be one, but will get something non-Canon for sure

"OIS On / Off mappable to Custom Key"
please please please please please please!!!!!
p.s. PLEASE!!!

Buying or not buying a camera because of the possibility of upgrades isn't a good reason, in my opinion. I've been shooting with professional video cameras since the '80s and have never seen any sort of retroactive upgrade. It would be nice if it happened, but when you buy a camera, what you buy is what you get. Expecting more is misplaced optimism. I don't know any other manufacturer who's come out with a retroactive fix or addition you could stick on an older model, though I'm not saying it hasn't happened.

I would like to go into the menus during recording, some times I have to change audio sources or even enable/disable OSI. Not sure why you cannot go into the menus once you are recording.

record to sd card

custom keys able to record / pause - there is no easy record /pause for the left hand when the right is on the tripod

custom keys able to turn on/off image stabilization

i have a few other little bugs but they are the main ones

A button on the remote to bring power back on to camera when it goes into sleep mode after the 8 mins or whatever the default is.

custom keys able to record / pause - there is no easy record /pause for the left hand when the right is on the tripod

There's a rec/pause button on the top handle

A button on the remote to bring power back on to camera when it goes into sleep mode after the 8 mins or whatever the default is.

You can de-activate this in the menu.

So did anyone bug the Canon folks at NAB 2008? I know updating cameras isn't common (yet), but camcorders have become so ITcentric these days I don't think it would be that earth shattering anymore. My HD DVD players, Blu-Ray players, PS3 and iPod were/are all updatable through either direct download, CD images or SD card files. I think its safe to say we've reached the point where we know how to copy some files onto an SD card and then not turn off the power of the device during an update ;)

Come on Canon, its 2008, not 1988.

You can de-activate this in the menu.

Hey Bill... do you think it's okay to deactive the sleep mode altogether? I'm assuming there is a sleep mode for a reason. I think I've read it is so the tape drum doesn't wear out. I certainly don't want to do any damage to my camera... but this sleep mode is VERY ANNOYING for me since I shoot myself, by myself.. A LOT!

I'm surprised no one asked for spot focus, or for the ability to choose the size/position of the focus area.

I need that for the wildlife video I like to shoot. I wrote to Canon about it and I was told my idea would get passed on to the firmware folks.

Jay

Hey Bill... do you think it's okay to deactive the sleep mode altogether? I'm assuming there is a sleep mode for a reason. I think I've read it is so the tape drum doesn't wear out. I certainly don't want to do any damage to my camera... but this sleep mode is VERY ANNOYING for me since I shoot myself, by myself.. A LOT!

Deke, I must have missed this when posted. Refer to page 28 in the manual (at least in the pdf manual), if you haven't discovered this already. You can deactivate the Power Save function and assign the VCR Stop function to a custom key.

Jay, nice idea, but I can't imagine that being able to be done only through a firmware update. I would think the hardware would have to be re-tooled for something like that.

It -appears- pretty easy to do spot focus in firmware actually. Right now they use a pretty large rectangle of the captured area to determine focus, all they have to do is first allow it to have more than one size and then allow it to have a different position and move the lens accordingly.

They currently have a rectangular region defined for auto focus. For my purposes I need it smaller and to work like the regions in my Nikon D200. If my understanding is correct embedded firmware (somewhere in the system) is deciding when the camera is in focus.

Sorry if this has been posted, but the ability to output raw, uncompressed video to hard disk would be sweet.

Sorry if this has been posted, but the ability to output raw, uncompressed video to hard disk would be sweet.

Um... could you clarify that? The camcorder already outputs 4:2:2 uncompressed video over component output. Firewire is limited by hardware and/or standards to pump out HDV only (even *if* someone could output uncompressed output over Firewire there'd be no receiving hardware that would know what to do with that signal). Not sure what else can be done beyond that...

...the ability to output raw, uncompressed video to hard disk would be sweet.Already a feature in the XH G1 via SDI.

Originally Posted by Robert Hruska
...the ability to output raw, uncompressed video to hard disk would be sweet.
Already a feature in the XH G1 via SDI.
Also possible with XH-A1 via Componant cable, with a suitable A/D capture card?

My camera operator complains about the very sensitive focus ring. It makes it tricky to focus accurately on tracking and panning shots. It would be nice if they address this in any firmware upgrades and give you a very slow and extremely slow option for focus control speed.

Stuart, there already is one... in the Custom Functions in the menu (Normal, Slow)

Already changed that, but my cameraman says it's still too sensitive.

And?

What happen?

It's too difficult to control the focus. As you turn the focus ring it seems to increase in speed too quickly even with the slowest focus preset. My cameraman and I both find it frustrating, we don't have a focus puller controller thingy though, has anyone tried that?

Eventhough Canon did a lot of effort to include several of the items on the wish list in their updates xh-a1s series I was just wondering if anyone has an idea if Canon ever will make some firmware that could update some of the most wanted features on the older A1?
I don't even know if the A1 can be upgraded through firmware but that would be a very welcome addition. (in my case a mappable OIS button)

I was just wondering... if Canon ever will make some firmware that could update some of the most wanted features on the older A1?The answer is no, that will not be an option. If you want those features, the upgrade path is to sell off your A1 and buy into the A1S.

Thanks chris for the answer, first I thought the title of this thread; "Firmware Upgrade Wishlist" was something that could be applied to the older versions. Anyway, now I know this I can start to live with the shortcomings of the older model. :)

2 years later. It's interesting to see the features Canon did include from this poll and compare this with the XF300.

Cheers.