Canon XF

[Ian Thomas]

Well my first thoughts on this camera were not very good in fact i was begining to think that i had made a big mistake selling my panasonic SD900, Reading alot of the information on here some which was not very favourable i thought i had wasted £2.5 (+ big battery) the picture was flat i tried A. Roberts BBC profile and it still looked lifeless< the rear finder is poor well i don't think is as good as the 900 the knob near the lens seemed slow to catch up when adjusting the iris and this compared to the £600 Panasonic is supposed to be a pro camera so Canon say!!!!!

Anyway after a few more days i have added a bit more saturation to the pic still use the knob but also use the switch on the lens and tried to understand how the functions work and now iam starting to see what it can do the pic's are now virbrant today i shot some insects and did some wide shots very impressed its not a sony 320 but its so light and handy and with its 50mbs is now looking to be a great buy, Sorry its the Canon XF100

[Al Bergstein]

Ian, I own both a 105 and 305. I too came from the world of Panny (HMC150) with it's crisp contrasty vivid AVCHD picture right out of the box. Panny does a great job of getting great video without much fuss. The Canon world has been much different, but ultimately more satisfying IMHO. It's been my recommendation to folks with the complaints about the xf10x that they should spend 3 to 4 months with the camera before really judging it. Lots of positives, yes, also a few negatives.

The 105 has a lot that can be tweaked in those menus. Without taking anything away from this forum, there is a large list of CP files that were talked about at the Vimeo MXF forum. You might want to spend a little time reading and working through the discussion over there.
https://vimeo.com/groups/canonxf/forum/topic:230636

Locally, here's a link to view:
dvinfo.net/forum/canon-xf-series-hd-camcorders/499650-custom-picture-profiles-xf-300-305-a.html

While the out of the box experience with the 10x/30x can be quite 'flat' it's really made, from what I can see, for a world where post is king. For working outside that world, say run and gun etc, you might want to mess around with some of the CP settings while plugged into an HDMI monitor. I've found that some well known CP types don't work well here in the Pacific NW low/blue light. I highly recommend working with a white & grey card. It improves things on this camera, a lot. I'm growing to really love both these cameras, especially the 305. I'm trying hard to bring the 105 up to the same ease of use, but it's been a bit harder than I thought.

You owe it to yourself to view these videos, recently released. While on the XF300 series, it is just about the same for the XF100.

Canon DLC: Gallery: XF Professional Camcorder Tutorials

Enjoy

[Ian Thomas]

Thanks Al

I will take a look, the XF100 has it qurks but i think aim going to be really pleased once i get things worked out. Its easyier than hugging my Sony 320 around

[Matt Katz]

Al, Thanks for the link to the Canon XF tutorials. I tried to watch them but nothing happens when I hit the play button. Any suggestions? PS I sent the website a message already

[Ian Thomas]

Today a girl was filming a football match on a little sony camcorder don't know if it was Hd or not (looked newish) she was recording to hard drive and to a dvd burner so she could give it to the manager at half time

Could this be done with the XF100 and what burner would she be using

[Eric Olson]

Originally Posted by Ian Thomas

she was recording to hard drive and to a dvd burner so she could give it to the manager at half time

For a DVD recorder she was probably using the Sony VRD-MC6

Buy.com - Sony VRD-MC6 DVD Player/Recorder

which can be powered in the field by 12V. Any DVD recorder will work with any camera through the composite analog feeds, however, the zoom range on the XF100 may not be optimal for football coverage.

[Mark Koha]

If it is for a coach/manager, she was probably just shooting the whole thing wide anyways. They wouldn't be looking for close faces or color.

[Eric Olson]

Originally Posted by Mark Koha

If it is for a coach/manager, she was probably just shooting the whole thing wide anyways. They wouldn't be looking for close faces or color.

Good point!

[Ian Thomas]

I think that it will be fine for shooting football and will give it a go this saturday ans see then