New Canon XA25, XA20 and HF G30 camcorders

[David Johns]

Indeed they did - and my free battery has turned up and surprise, surprise it is a BP820 of course!

Cheers
Dave

[Neil Preston]

I've just received my XA20 and after going through the menu settings and shooting a few clips around the garden I'm very happy with it. There is one thing confusing me though. With the camera in Manual mode and recording mode set to TV, there is no indication on the display of what aperture the camera has selected. Isn't this a fairly basic requirement? I must be missing something here. Can someone please put me right here.

My only real grumble so far: No battery charger included. What a pain to have to have the camera unavaiable while batteries are being charged. I would happily have paid the extra to have it included in the box, insted of having to wait for the dealer to have to order one for me.

Also the programmable buttons are very small, but then I did want a small camera. Would it perhaps have helped to have a little raised dot or dots on the buttons so they could easily be found along the smooth body of the camera. Something like the dots used in braille.

[David Johns]

Mine also does not show the f-stop in TV mode; I think that although the camcorder is in manual mode overall, because you have selected an automatic exposure setting, it does not feel the need to tell you what it's doing!

I agree with you about the buttons; nice to have but hard to press.

Regards
Dave

[Jos Svendsen]

The reason why the camera does not show aperature in TV-mode might be the internal ND-filter, that engages in order to keep the aperature at the sweet spot for the lens. On the XA10 I believe that was F4.

If this is the case an aperature reading might not be that usefull.

[Neil Preston]

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Originally Posted by David Johns

Mine also does not show the f-stop in TV mode; I think that although the camcorder is in manual mode overall, because you have selected an automatic exposure setting, it does not feel the need to tell you what it's doing!

Thanks David for the reply. I still think it would be nice to have the f-stop displayed, but maybe that's just because I've always had it that way.

At the risk of sounding a bit challenged, I'm going to ask if anyone is having any problems undestanding the custom dial and button. The explanation of how it should work seems starightforward, but in practice it seems totally inconsistant. It just seems to react differently each time I use it. Is anyone else having any difficulty with it? If it's working for everyone else then obviously the fault is with me and I'm going to have to ask for some help.

[Neil Preston]

Originally Posted by Jos Svendsen

The reason why the camera does not show aperature in TV-mode might be the internal ND-filter, that engages in order to keep the aperature at the sweet spot for the lens. On the XA10 I believe that was F4.

If this is the case an aperature reading might not be that usefull.

Yes it seems the XA20 is the same. The manual says the ND filter engages at f4.

Jos, I'm not the most technically experienced in this game, so I could easily be misunderstanding some of these things, but what happens if the subject matter is still too bright with the max ND filter engaged, will the cam maintain F4 and just increase the shutter speed, or will it first go to max f-stop and then increase SS?

My point is that I would like to see what the camera is doing so I can intervene if I want to, eg I might want to let the aperture go a little wider than f4 and keep the SS lower.

[Bryce Comer]

Hi Neil,
The way I have the custom dial setup is for adjusting the aperture, shutter speed & gain when in manual mode. When I do have it in manual mode, I can adjust the aperture with a turn of the dial, or then press the little button just behind it & the wheel then adjusts the shutter speed. Another push of the button adjusts the gain. Each time one of these things is adjusted, the custom dial remains active for that function. Therefore, you need to press the little button until you have the function highlighted that you want to adjust. I have only had the camera a week or so now, so haven't fully explored what it can do. What I can say though, for anyone considering this camera, it is a huge step up from the XA10 or HF G10. I have just got back from a 4 day hiking trip & used the camera to film it all. I am very excited with how it performs, especially the IS at full zoom! The wider lens is very nice, however, where we were hiking I would have liked something even wider, so may invest in a wide angle adaptor.
Yes it is still a small (consumer camera small) camera, & buttons are small, there are still things that you need to go into the menu to adjust etc, etc, but for what I want this camera for (an ultra light weight hiking set up), so far, I couldn't be happier.
Regards,
Bryce

[Neil Preston]

Hi Bryce

I'm very happy with the camera as well and for much the same reasons you've given, so I'm convinced the problem I'm having must be with me. I've done exactly what you've suggested a number of times, tried TV/ all the diferent options: AV, M, AGC, Exposure. sometimes they work perfectly and other times the wheel or a short press on the button does nothing. Holding the button will open the options. I will try it again in the morning and post a more detailed description.

[Bryce Comer]

Hi Neil,
Well I think I may have found why things are a little weird with your camera. I didn't know that you could hold down the button to change things for the custom dial so tried it myself. What I found though, was that it all worked great going between the different options, but then when I tried going back to manual, I couldn't seem to get it to change from AV mode. Not even sure if I changed it to be honest, but anyway, it all went back to normal when I changed the function to manual via the function menu. It's a little hard to explain exactly, but if you find it is acting a little weird, try checking the settings in the function menu & see if that sorts it out.
Regards,
Bryce

[Byron Jones]

Has anyone used one of these in a dark indoor environment (or more specifically, a wedding reception)? I would love to hear how it performed. I would like something that handles low-light better than a VG30 in about the same price range.

[Ian Skurrie]

I am looking at buying the XA20 as a second camera to my trusty ex3. I notice there are some others who also have an ex3, how close do the colors match? secondly and most importantly, I presume that you can manually change the iris whilst rolling however I can't find anywhere where this is explicitly stated. Could someone please confirm this?

Ian

[Bryce Comer]

Hi Ian,
Yes you can certainly change the iris setting whilst recording. I have only used the camera on a hiking trip so far & haven't been able to put it side by side with my EX-3. There is very little that can be adjusted color wise on the XA20 short of some tweaking in the cinema mode. I haven't played with it too much yet. Hopefully I can set the EX-3 up to match well enough with the XA20. In the coming weeks I hope to spend some time filming the mountain caribou around here & will use the XA20 for the wide shots & EX-3 for close ups, so I will find out soon enough how they play together.
I have to say though, I do like the weight difference!! :)
Regards,
Bryce

[Jos Svendsen]

Hi Niel,

In Tv-mode.the camera will try to stay at F4 as long as possible, then it will lower the aperture value until minimum. After that you get an overexposure warning, I expect.

Cheers

[Neil Preston]

Originally Posted by Bryce Comer

..... but anyway, it all went back to normal when I changed the function to manual via the function menu. It's a little hard to explain exactly, but if you find it is acting a little weird, try checking the settings in the function menu & see if that sorts it out.

Hi Bryce, you're right, changing the settings in the FUNC menu to TV, AV or M and then in the Button menu to correspond was the answer. It's all working perfectly now.

It's a brilliant little camera with fantastic image quality.

[Neil Preston]

Originally Posted by Jos Svendsen

In Tv-mode.the camera will try to stay at F4 as long as possible, then it will lower the aperture value until minimum. After that you get an overexposure warning, I expect.

Jos, that sounds right. I'm sure after some more practise it will all make sense to me. BTW, does anyone have any idea how to set the cam onto Standby/Sleep mode. I have searched the menus but can't see anyting like that option.