Is CANON listening? Top Revision Requests:

[Bill Pryor]

I've always been a proponent of shoulder mount cameras for hand held work, but recently I've become a convert to the "handycam" style, especially for the quick and dirty run and gun type stuff. For example, and I've done this a lot lately, in shooting a hand held interview with a person who's talking and walking...I may start out in a typical interview head and shoulders shot...the guy talks, and after a few comments turns and walks to another area and I'm expected to follow him. With a shoulder mount camera, it's necessary to pull the camera off your shoulder to do a reasonably decent walking shot; but with a handycam camera, it's easy to start walking with no interruption of the shot.

[Ken Diewert]

I just stopped in because I saw this thread title and then read through the posts.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but what a bunch of whiners...

Canon delivers not 1 but 2 (3 if you con't the HV10) awesome, affordable HDV cams loaded with features, for those who don't want to pay the extra for an H1, and you guys want all the features the H1 has....

Sheesh! If you checked it out before you bought it you'd know whether there were menu controls or dials. Accessing menus while shooting is nearly impossible. News Flash... it's cheaper to put items on a menu than a switch.

But then I've even heard HV10 people say... ' Gee I paid $1300, what about XLR inputs?'

OK, I'm finished my rant... I'm going back to the H1 forum....

Have a nice day!

[Bill Pryor]

There's a long internet tradition of people buying cameras and then telling the manufacturer how to redesign them. I believe I've read the same type thread in the H1 forum. This is a phenomenon peculiar to 1/3" chip camcorders only, it seems. Nobody ever redesigns bigger cameras.

"I want a camera with a fisheye-750mm zoom lens, 4 channel XLR audio input, 1/3" chips that have the depth of field and latitude of 35mm film, a battery that lasts 3 days, a flipout LCD the size of my home theater plasma screen, a high res color viewfinder that a person with macular degeneration can use easily, the capability of recording uncompressed 4:4:4:4 HD to a 12 hour chip that costs 35 cents apiece, and the camera needs to fit into an empty Altoids tin and I want the Altoids tin to be made of Moroccan leather with a pouch for my iPod...and I want the whole package for $999 (USD)...oh yeah, and I want it to always be state-of-the art, no matter what changes..."

[Jim Martin]

I second this.....A bunch of old lady talk. These new cameras are amazing and they are probably worth $1000-1500 more than they are priced at.
I'd go on but in the words Aunt Em in the Wizard of Oz....."I'd say more but being a good christian woman, I can't"......(runs out of the room crying)

[Peter Ferling]

LOL. You can't please everyone. You'd better go, the retorts are coming. (I smell smoke, someone better douse this thread before it flames).

[Bill Pryor]

Jim--Shhhhh! They'll raise the price if you talk like that.

[Michael Padilla]

I don't think anyone's whining here.. Incase you didn't notice I started this post with positives, besides IMO it is quite respectable to give constructive criticism; Canon has a whole department dedicated to research/development/marketing.. we give feedback for free.. its appreciated im sure (when delivered correctly) listening to the customer improves their product/future products.

I think this is a great camera.. (and yes most of us never got a hold of it before we purchased); But as good as it is, there can be improvements made, if you don't think so then great.. it fits your mold perfectly. I prefer more switches/buttons to menu selections.. if you don't your in serious denial.

I'm sure Canon could have made more hard buttons but decided to on a cost basis.. but I am one who would have gladly paid a little more for more immediate controls while shooting.

[Jim Martin]

Again, be happy with what you got (its got most everything that IS important) and quit harping about what you don't(anything missing isn't really important).

[Pete Bauer]

Originally Posted by Bill Pryor

...and I want the whole package for $999 (USD)...

You gave me a good laugh, Bill. But it all has to be $899 because I think that's about what I paid about 7 years ago for my first miniDV camcorder, a ZR10. Why should I pay more now? ;-)

But seriously folks, no doubt there's a lot of "I say po-tay-to, you say po-tah-to" in threads like this, but also I believe that when the manufacturers see many customers consistently asking for a change or a new feature, they take notice. They know that they'll sell more of their next camera if they put in the features we want. Some things are a 50/50 matter of opinion or personal style, some are just good ideas waiting to be manufactured.

One feature that I'd like to see more often in HDV cameras is live histograms in the viewfinder. (But then, others probably think that's the most useless idea since the wheel. And others would want it as a menu item, not a button on the cam, and others...).

[Marty Hudzik]

In defense of my own personal comments I completely recognize the value and benefits of the A1. It is great for the money. But there are more than enough holes in it's design to make the H1 more attractive to me and to many others.

For the price it cannot do everything that other cameras do. But for less than half the price of an H1 it does a lot!

Peace!

[Henry Cho]

as bill said, these threads come along every time a new camera is released. you can expect a similar thread for the v1 shortly.

that said, dvinfo has a unique reputation of providing objective information, and the sharing of experiences and knowledge, without bias from a camera manufacturer or other parties with some stake in how well the camera sells. granted, sometimes a little perspective is lost in critiquing a camera, but, agree or disagree, these kinds of threads should have a place IMHO.

[Holly Rognan]

Agreed, these threads are necessary for discerning videographers looking for the next best things, and how well they will fit in to their production goals.

They are also helpful to the manufacturers as well. I know that Panasonic doesn't take a deaf ear to their customers concerns and desires. They actively participate in figuring out solutions for next generations camcorders and take as much users input as possible.

I know that Canon reps are curious of what consumers want, and the purpose of this thread was not to whine and moan, it was to applaud and appreciate the greatness of the A1, but with small reservations of person input that would make the cam better, with minimal to no hardware changes.

Granted not everyone agrees on what what should go were, due to the various shooting styles and personal backgrounds that they come from. However, these were just suggestions. Just as I consider them valid and worthy of possible inclusion for firmware change, many will dismiss them and not find any reason for change.

One of the reasons that makes this camcorder so versatile, is the plethora of options to change the menu and customize, but I believe that they fell short in a few ways, maybe because of lack of planning, but more realistically-product differentiation, so the the H1 still has an edge.

So before this thread goes to complete waste from nitpicking, it was more of constructive criticism, not meaningless moaning.

[Michael Padilla]

Thank you Henry, Marty & Holly.. this was exactly the point of this post..

Lets end the thread there before any more "thread grumblers" return :)