XF300 vs. XH-A1 Low Light/Gain/Noise

[Noa Put]

Must say, though, and this might be an unpopular view:

That's not a unpopulair view, it's just facts. I would expect that the xf300 outperfomes the much older xh-a1 in any way, it's different and new technology and it's twice the price. (I bhought my xh-a1 for 3000 euro, the xf300 costs 7000 euro here)

Unfortunately I was not able to open the mov file, gave me an error. That the xf300 seems to loose a full stop when in 1080p though is something you would not expect in a camera this class, 1080p is a format that's used a lot.

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Tim Bakland

The full res video (thanks for linking that, too) only confirmed my feeling when I saw the Vimeo version. I actually find that the XF300, though a stop darker, is giving the superior image in all cases here. Yes, the A1 is brighter and, at quick glance and in the smaller vimeo window, is superficially the one that jumps out. But, when blown up and seen in the full res version, it is confirmed to me that the A1 is far grainier and far inferior in terms of detail and color quality.

This is what I would expect to see as the XH-A1 is after all an HDV camcorder & thus only 1440x1080 resolution versus the 1920x180 of the XF300.

The video evidently has had no colour grading applied but it would be interesting to compare the footage if the exposure were lifted in post rather than boosting gain in the camera.

[Kyle Prohaska]

I agree with what's being said here. The fact the XF300 is 422, full 1920x1080, etc. really gives it an advantage even with the slight difference in low-light. It's also important to note that for anyone actually lighting a scene will have varying levels of light/dark in their image with different amount of noise...this test is a basically flat image in the shadow-mid range...so it's one of the worst shots you'll really see these cameras giving you. (both of them, I own the A1).

I found these tests to be similar to the ones that put this camera against the EX1r (the XF Im talking). The EX1 seemed cleaner and more sensitive, but the detail in the image was much better on the XF. A little cleaner isn't always better.

I look forward to possibly going with the XF300 on my next feature. It'll be a nice step up from the limitations of my A1.

[Bill Weaver]

Hmmm.

I shot along side an older EX1, and also found that the EX was considerably sharper.

[John Sterk]

Differences between the Canon XF300 and XH-A1 after gamma correction of the XH-A1 clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMoAswVWqZ0

John