Canon XH A2 (Just wondering what it will be)
 

No, there's no official (nor even a non-official) statement about A2 I spotted. I was just thinking what features are to expect in A2.
I think:
-Full HD sensor, maybe CMOS
-grain buttons added
-Chip change might mean 24f > 24p (true progressive)
-touch screens gain power today, so I think soon we might have touch screen LCDs. Just press on the face of a person on LCD, and it is instantly in focus, so that you dont need to worry about being out of focus, just because the LCD is too small. (though I prefer the ring)
-HDMI out
-maybe other media (Harddisk, P2 ...)
-

Of course, it is in some way senseless to speak about it now, since we heard nothing about A2 yet. But it always seems to be interesting to hear what other people might expect or want to have on A2.

Hopefullly the luck of 2.0 will grace the XH A2.Some things I'd like to see:

Better balance / ergonomics - Unfortunately, the XH A1 actually balances really well when it's turned on it's side. The weight of the tape mechanism on the bottom gives it very nice stability. How silly is that?

Hard disk / solid state recording

Bigger / high res LCD

Automated file/video management - a la the Sony XDCAM. The ability to use metadata on clips as recorded to make sorting, organizing, and searching much easier.

I'd also like to see a simple camcorder dock so I don't have to keep plugging/unplugging all the wires everytime I use the cam.

and of course a larger sensor :D

3.5 inch LCD (or larger)
Replace tape with dual CompactFlash slots,
similar to XDCAM EX but oh so much less expensive...

That should tweak both Panasonics and Sony's expensive noses :-)

With the move to flash memory, there could also be options for
recording with better color sampling & higher bit rates.

The component analog output need NOT outclass the digital output :-)

[QUOTE-grain buttons added[/QUOTE]

John, I sincerely hope you're kidding about the grain button. It was on the XL2 and they had to eliminate it because it such a cheesy, useless feature. Disaster, actually, is probably the best way to describe it.

That being said, I would like to see what an A2 would have to offer. Other than a grain button...

my old Sony PDX10 has that function. I use a PDA pen to touch the screen instead of my big fat finger. It works great for rack focus

60p frame rates for slo mo...

Be good to see a 3CMOS sensor for no image smearing in bright lights, at least 2/3in in size for a nice 16mm depth of field, or even a 1 inch sensor.... dream on....

And yes, a move to solid state recording, or hard disk, with AVCHD instead of the old HDV would be even better.

I thought AVCHD was only for consumer cams? If they make a move to sold state or hdd, I'd still like to see the option of tape...

Yeah, it mostly has only been implemented on consumer cams. Its only a new format, but has arguably better quality and a better implementation than the older HDV format which uses MPEG2 compression and relies on keyframes and God knows what else to reduce the filesize, which makes it a real annoyance to edit without intermediary codecs. Any formats that use an H.264 codec I would say are better for quality and for post production. Of course, completely uncompressed would be nice... but I doubt thats likely anytime soon in a camera of this price range.

Oh, and as for tape, I dont think so. Tape takes as much time to capture to computer as it does to record onto. It's a hassle. The P2 systems and Professional Disc systems, or anything like them, are more likely to increase in popularity I think. Already most consumer cams are HDD or DVD or both. Only the cheapest consumer cams still use tape.

No touch screen please... It's a pain to work with. Just have well placed buttons on the camera that make it simple, easy, and especially fast to get what you want.
Even for focus, please don't...

You make a good point Nic, but I'm pretty reluctent to spend a few thousand dollars on something uncompatible with all my previous work. 3CMOS censors would be nice, but I think if they included that it might take a blow to the lux rating, which is an important factor for many.

Biggest complaint I have is the audio inputs; the XLR's should be independently mic/line switchable, and you should be able to use the onboard mic along with an external mic. It is a great on-board mic that I can't even use half the time.

I would also like better audio controls, the little dials are barely usable. Other than these shortcomings it is an outstanding camera.

Yeah that is true that the CMOS sensors aren't as sensitive to light, but thats why i said it should also be a much bigger sensor, at least 2/3 inch or even 1 inch. I just can't stand the image smear from CCD sensors when i shoot into a bright light source, and instead of getting a beautiful lens flare, its covered by a huge streak down the video. Not a good way to get that filmic look..