Optura Xi various questions
 

Are xlr adaptors strictly compatible with specific camcorders? On the B&H website, there is an adaptor for the xl1s, one for the gl2, etc. Can any of them be used with any cam? I ask because I'm considering getting the Optura Xi, and want an adaptor for it. Could I use the one seemingly meant for the gl2? Or are there ohms to be considered, that sort of thing (I am many things, an electronics tech isn't one of them, capiche? :-) )?

I assume you can use an XLR adaptor like a Beachtek, on the Xi. But Canon also make mics for their cams---a cheaper solution. I recall one Canon mic for the older Optura PI which was very good.

You mean just a hot shoe clip on mic that plugs into the 1/8" jack, Frank? I'd considered this, but I think the longhaul solution is the better one; I'm in no great hurry, and the cam together with the adaptor come to only $1300 US. I will, however, get a rather inexpensive shotgun to begin with. Total $1500?
Do you know of any write ups or PDFs for the Xi, beyond the Simply DV review, the general Canon blurbs, and the anticipated review by Allan? For a month old release of a cam, I don't expect volumes, of course.
Thanks!
Shawn

Both Beachtek and Studio 1 have XLR adapters that can be used with almost any camcorder.

Beachtek (click here)
- has a few adapters specifically designed for certain camcorders.
- they also have one adapter the DXA-6 which supports Phantom mics.
- adapter are designed to be attached to the bottom of the camcorder

Studio 1 (click here)
- adapters are designed to be clipped to your belt/backpack and can be used with almost any camcorder

Canon
- the DM-50 is the shotgun mic that Canon sells for the Xi - it plugs right into the Advanced Accessory shoe and draws power from the camcorder - no need for an adapter

I went with a Studio 1 adapter instead of a beachtek because a few of my camcorders load tapes from the bottom.
The Optura Pi loads tapes from the back, but you should double-check the Xi.

Shawn, I don't know of any other reviews except some Japanese reviews which Allan is busy re-writing in English. About the mic, yes, the one that slides into the hotshoe was the one I meant.

Optura Xi Video Frame Grabs
 

Here it is: my totally huge single web page of 16/9 video frame grabs. It will most likely take a long time to load on a dial up connection 'cause I was too lazy to break it up into several pages.

On a few of the pictures, mostly at the Marina, you can see the effect of the TV 1/30th shutter setting. Anything in fast motion has a film-like softness to it.

Most of the pictures toward the end of the page, like with Timmy and Simon my cats, were done in very low lighting, some using the night shot mode.

The pictures are all compressed, but look VERY good, on my HDTV

Here's the link:

http://home.wi.rr.com/kevinsturges/opturaxiframegrabs.html

Thanks Kevin. Btw, what type of lens do you have attached to your Xi?

* For comparison, here's some frame grabs from my Xi (click here).

It's a 2X Telephoto, along with two filters: a circular polarizer, and an ND4. I really just put those on all at the same time, because it looked cool in the picture.

The ND4 and polarizer stay on during the day, but I haven't really used the 2x yet. I just got it. With the zoom range on the camera, the telephoto is kind of overkill, unless your doing surveilance work...

Michael, your frame grabs look great. Sometimes overcast days really are the best. Your shots also give me the impression that the Optura Xi almost looks more like a film camera. I think it's because it doesn't "break up" on contrasty, diagonal lines, like most video cams. That's what made me buy it.

With pro quality like this at such a low price point, doesn't it make you wonder what's around the corner?

Yeah it's a nice cam, really fun to use, and for my purposes, the image quality is great, even with indoor lighting.

Xi vs 40 Picture Quality
 

I don't have a local store that stocks both of this cams...

In 16:9, from what I can tell, both will have pretty much identical picture quality, same CCD block, same anamorphic functionality, DIGIC processor, same RGB filter.

I can't see much difference in lens design. I realize there are other differences, but from just pure picture quality, should they be any different?

No real difference, although the Xi has a larger diameter lens than the 40, plus it has OIS. Two big advantages of the Xi are its 3.5" flip-out LCD display, and the nearly bottomless power of a BP-535 batt. A major drawback is that the Xi is a bottom loader (the 40 is a top loader). Also, the 40 shows letterboxed 16:9 in the LCD display, while the Xi shows a spaghetti western. The 40 suffers from tiny batts (even the juiciest is still pretty short lived). Hope this helps,

Thanks Chris. That's what I needed to know.

Looking to buy an external mic for my Xi
 

First, I'd like to say this a fantastic forum! Glad to be apart of it!

I'm looking to purchase an external mic... In doing some research, I submitted a question to Canon:
There response:
I would think somebody at Canon knows the answer. ;)


Anyhow, I would like a mic that will possibly reach lower frequency response than the Xi's built-in mic.

Here are a few models I'm considering:
-Azden SGM-X
-Canon DM-50
-Sennheiser MKE 300
-Audio Technica ATR-55

Also looking into NRG brand as well. http://www.nrgresearch.com

I really don't want to spen any more than $150 USD.

Any comments / suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks inadvance!

Nate

Nate,

I've used the ATR-55 before and it is very noisy. I don't know about the others.

What I use is the ATR-25. It's a stereo mic and not a shotgun. A clip with it in use can be found at http://www.indecisionthemovie.com/me..._check_2.shtml.

It's mounted on a hand held boom, not the camera. Pictures of it camera mounted can be seen at http://www.daveperry.net/xi.

Has anyone tried an audio plugin like Antares Microphone Modeler, while editing their footage? I used the Antares program inside of Vegas Video, and got some pretty impressive results from it.

I wonder if modeling a $4'000 microphone after the fact on the internal mics is as good as adding a better $150. microphone externally? (irony intended ;) )

Question about Xi's image sensor...
 

I have a question about the Xi's image sensor spec:

Does the 1,230,000 effective pixels-tape apply to the video that is being recorded or still images?

Thanks inadvance.

Applies to video. The DSP then downconverts this to 720x480 to create "legal" DV. So in other words the video is sampled from the CCD at 1.3mp but is written to tape as plain vanilla 720x480 DV. Hope this helps,

Is the XI the only sub GL2 model with Optical Image Stabilization?
 

anyone?

Yes it's the only one. All the other Canon models use electronic image stabilization.

OIS
 

Thanks...i assume it's the same technology of the GL2 and XL1S/XL2

How does XI display 16x9 in LCD and Viewfinder
 

squeezed in both?

Yes.

Capturing Tapes Shot On Optura (xi I think)
 

This problem may apply to more than Optura, and may have nothing to do with the Optura at all, but I'm getting timecode breaks about every second. I'm capturing footage shot on an Optura, some of the tapes run fine and capture fine (in a SONY DSR20 DVCAM deck to G4 dual 867MHz, 1.5GB RAM, FCP HD, OSX 10.3.6), while some of them jerk and retain pixels from second to second (looks like something compressed with keyframes set every 500 frames), and the audio gets choppy.

To me, it looks like dirty heads on the camera the tapes were shot on (I don't have the camera though, it is a client's), because the problem is NOT occurring with the tapes shot on Day 1, but IS occurring on the tapes shot on Day 2.

Obviously I can't log or capture the footage using in and out points, so if I did want the useless video footage or the possibly salvagable (sp?) audio I'd Capture Now with Abort Capture During Time Code Breaks turned off.

Guess I just want to see if there are other possible explanations.

Thank you.

It's hard to say where the problem lies, but it indeed sounds like
an issue with this camera. Time for some headcleaning and such.

In theory it could also be the tape, the deck or some other thing.
Only testing the tape in different equipment will help you nail down
where the problem is (try it another brand deck or in the original
camera etc.). But before you do so I would capture as much of the
tape as I can to make sure I have at least some footage before it
stops reading it alltogether.

SONY v. Canon, consumer is only casualty
 

An update.

As so often seems to happen, when I played the tape in the camera it was shot on, it played fine. I was able to capture, no timecode breaks, no pixelization, no nothing.

Why is this?

The only explanation I've ever heard is that it is a proprietary thing between SONY and Canon.

That happens a lot between Sony and Canon camera's indeed.
Not much you can do about that I guess. This probably happens
due to different head alignments etc.

Optura XI good compliment to GL2??
 

I have a Canon GL2 right now and I am looking for a cheaper camera to use with it as a 'B' Roll Camera at weddings.

Right now my Sony TRV38 just isn't close at all to the GL2.

Is the Optura XI reasonably close to the GL2?

What size chip does it use?

Thanks

Yes, the Optura XI's image quality is quite comparable to the GL2's. If you're really picky about image quality (like me) the only real difference you'll see is that the GL2's colors are 'slighty' (ever so 'slightly') more saturated. To a casual viewer, it's not noticable.

The XI's chip size is 1/3.4" which is right between 1/4" (GL2) and 1/3" (XL1s). Coupled with the most awesome lens in the universe and an RGB primary filter, the XI has the best image quality of any one-chip camera out there (IMHO)... ;^)

Jeff,

I think the Xi is probably better than the GL2 in some respects. First of all it shoots native 16:9. That was the main reason I bought mine. I've never used a GL2 but have used a Sony TRV 950 and the Xi iamges are comparable to the 950.

I'm very pleased with my Xi and agree with Xander about it being the best single chipper on the market.

What is the low-light capabilities like? I have read that it does not have manual gain control. That concerns me abit.

The GL2 is far from superior in low-light, but at least I can manage the gain.

I have both a GL2 and an Xi for back-up/deck use. So far I've used them together for two outdoor weddings and one in a church with a fair amount of stained glass. I'm satisfied with the results.

The original idea was to set-up the Xi wide at the back for B-roll and back-up. Then I liked the images so well I created a low-end package featuring the Xi (www.wonderfulweddingvideos.com).

Since the GL2 is no real performer in low light, I wasn't concerned that the Xi was no better.

One major difference is the batteries on the GL2 last longer. A separate charger for the Xi would be helpful, but have not pursued it yet. The package I bought came with a cheap wide angle lense, which I've found works well.

Scott

Optura Xi Question
 

I just bought a brand new Optura Xi, and I have to say I'm quite pleased with the picture quality. The question I have is about the low light performance. My outdoor footage looks great but when I'm indoors the video appears to smudge. It almost looks like video you'll see on a webcam. Even though there is enough light in the room there's still a slight blur.

I had to buy the clip-on light for my camera because without it my indoor video is almost worthless. I'm just wondering if my camera is defective, and if not, does anyone else see this as a problem. I am no newbie when it comes to video I just think the picture should be better. I'd rather see more grain in my video then a change in the shudder speed. I always have my camera setting on AV Mode because the others make the picture even worse.

With all that aside it's still a pretty good camera.

As far as Canon is concerned, high quality video and low light shooting are mutually exclusive terms. You can have one but not the other. Canon places a higher priority on the image quality and not so much on low light performance.

Try using the TV shooting mode. This way you can force the shutter speed you want, which will probably be 1/60. Then you can press the Exp. button to force exposure lock, and adjust the exposure level manually to suit your taste. I don't have an Xi handy to test myself, but this should work. Try it and see.

Vegas Auto-Levels and the Optura Xi
 

Thanks to Kevin Sturges I managed to use up a whole day playing with the Vegas auto-levels plug-in and my Optura Xi. Click here to see some of the results.

Hey Michael,

Thanks for posting those. Very good stuff! Yeah, I wish I had more days to "waste" playing with all these options :)

Have you tried the "Smart Smoother" yet? It slows the rendering down pretty much, and it may not make a huge difference if you are seeing your video on an SD monitor, but, boy oh boy, on my HDTV, does it ever make the Xi's video look clean...

Michael,
Great work with thge XI and Vegas. Very scientific presentation too.

Earon

Wow, Michael,
thanks for the work. Very Helpful.

I overdrove Smart Smoother to get a sort of cartoon look, which I liked, but after crashing the first time, it did not render out as the preview showed.

Have a current project where I have to color balance between an Xi and a Sony. Maybe Auto Level will be a good tool. We'll soon see.

Kevin,
I've been debating between getting a calibrated NTSC monitor vs a 17-20" LCD HDTV/PC screen. Had some trouble with accurate coloring lately. What is your HDTV, have you calibrated it at all, and how is it connected to your PC, if at all?

Scott

Yes, I have my HDTV calibrated. There are DVD’s you can get that help with that. Otherwise, if you can control all the levels in a menu, just make sure everything is zeroed out. I have a 38” RCA CRT HDTV. It works great as a monitor for seeing my timeline in real-time. I use Vegas Video which allows me to send the video preview out through firewire. So, my computer is connected via the DV cable to my camcorder, and the camcorder is connected via SVideo to the HDTV. I would say this setup has made a 90 percent improvement in the quality of my work. It’s amazing what a difference a good monitor makes. I even shoot better now because of it, because I have gotten very sensitive to all the settings in the camera.

I think the auto level plugin would be perfect to help match shots between the two cameras - -especially if you can use it to balance out all the footage. Just be careful of that flickering effect when it sometimes gets tripped up on footage with changing light levels.

Xi-firewire hit or miss?
 

Anyone else experiencing trouble connecting to a computer using firewire. i would say 40% of the time I can't get WinXP to recognize the camera. "DV IN" shows up on the LCD, solid not flashing, but neither XP or Vegas 5 recognize it.

Scott