So, I decided it was time to upgrade my camcorder. I use my 5DII for video quite a bit these days but, there are situations where a camcorder is just the right tool for the job. I'd been using a Panasonic HDC-TM90 for the last couple years. It was one of the first to offer 1080p60 and it produced a decent picture but it wasn't without issues, dynamic range and convience of use being the main two.
I ordered the XA20 from B&H on saturday night with next day shipping. It arrived on tuesday before noon as expected. I unceremoniously unboxed it, installed the handle(but not the mic holder), and plugged it in to let it charge. I ordered a spare high-capacity battery...I should have also ordered a external battery charger since the battery will not charge if the camera is turned on.
Once the battery was charged up, I took the camera out for a spin without having read the manual or going through the menus. I started out in auto-everything. The camera performed very well. Exposure was always spot on and very responsive, as was auto-focus, white balance and image stabilization. I moved from bright sunlight to deep shade to mixed light and I thought the camera did extremely well.
I then started digging through the menus to start taking control of functions. First thing I found was that the menu was not as well thought out as Canon DSLRs. There are only three tabs and each contains very long lists of customizable functions. But there is a lot of flexibility in this camera. There are five numbered custom function buttons on the body of the camera and you can assign almost any function to any of them.
I am not going to write a book here but I will say that though I am very happy with this camera so far, there are some things I feel might have been intentionally omited just so they can be given to us later in a firmware upgrade. I'm talking very basic things like having an actual number telling you what zoom power you are on; they just give you a bar with a sliding indicator. The camera also has no reduced power standby mode. It is either on or it is off. This wouldn't be that big a deal but startup is slow and I've already missed several shots due to this. I'm just going to have to carry plenty of extra batteries because turning the camera off is not an option.
All in all, my initial opinion is very favorable and I would highly recommend this camera. The files it produces are far better than those of my old Panasonic. I will be shooting some stuff this weekend using both the 5DII and the XA20 so we will see how these files look next to each other.
Bob
