/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Canon

Sony

Name

XH A1

HDR-CX550V

European name ?

XH A1

HDR-CX550VE

US name ?

XH A1

HDR-CX550V

lowest US price

2799 $

1899 $

On the market since

November 2006

March 2010

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Very good

Good

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

MiniDV
HDV

AVCHD
SD MPEG2

Recording Medium

MiniDV/HDV-Cassette

SDHC card
Memory Stick PRO Duo
built-in flash memory

video resolutions EU ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/50i
MiniDV 720 x 576/25F
HDV 1440 x 1080/25F

AVCHD 1440 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
SD MPEG2 720 x 576

video resolutions US ?

HDV 1440 x 1080/60i
HDV 1440 x 1080/24p
HDV 1440 x 1080/30p
MiniDV 720 x 480/60i
720 MiniDV x480/24p
MiniDV 720 x 480/30p

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/60i
AVCHD 1440 x 1080/60i
SD MPEG2 720 x 480

Max Bitrate ?

25 Mbit/s

24 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

DV
MPEG2

MPEG2
MPEG4

on-board memory ?

64 GB

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Canon

Sony

Optical Zoom ?

20 x

10 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

32,5 mm

29,8 mm

Filter diameter ?

72 mm

37 mm

Image Stabilization ?

optical

optically and electronically

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/3 inch

1/2,9 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

1560000 Pixel

4150000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CCD

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/16.000

1/10.000

Maximum shutter time ?

1/3

1/6

Apperture control ?

auto
manual

Infrared recording ?

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Yes

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

Off
70-100%

Histogram ?

adjustable sharpness ?

Yes

Adjustable color ?

Yes

Cinegamma ?

Yes

Black Strech ?

Yes

Knee ?

Yes

Colorbars ?

Yes

Misc.

Shot Transition ?

Yes

Custom Presets ?

Yes

Set Time Code ?

Yes

Configuration

Connections

FBAS ?
synonymous: RCA, composite

In
Out

Out

YC ?
synonymous: S-Video

About Special Equipment

YUV ?
synonymous: Component Signal

Out

HDMI ?

Out

DV / HDV (FireWire) ?
synonymous: ILink / IEEE-1394

In
Out

USB ?

USB 2.0

Microphone / Audio input ?

XLR
Mini-jack

Mini-jack

Headphones ?

Mini-jack

3.5 mm mini-jack

Lanc ?

Yes

Time-code interface ?

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

2100 g

440 g

Weight (with battery)

2200 g

490 g

Battery type

Canon BP-950G

Sony NP-FV50

Battery capacity

5200 mAh

Charger ?

external

internal

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

163 mm

66 mm

Width

189 mm

74 mm

Depth

350 mm

143 mm

Relative Size ?

107

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

B/W and color

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

269000 Pixel

201600 Pixel

Display

Display available ?

Yes

Color display ?

B/W and color

Color

Display size

2,8 Inch

3,5 Inch

Display format ?

16:9

Display pixels ?

207000 Pixel

921000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker
Ring

Rocker
Zoom ring multi-assigned

Manual Focus ?

Ring

Wheel
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Manual Aperture ?

Ring

Wheel
bi-functional focus or aperture wheel

Focus switcher ?

Yes

ND Filter ?

Yes

Exp Lock ?

Yes

Gain ?

Yes

White balance ?

Yes

Push AF ?

Yes

Audio Levels ?

Yes

Custom Keys ?
synonymous: User buttons

Audio

Audio Formats ?

MiniDV: 2x48kHz 16bit PCM
MiniDV: 4x32kHz 12bit PCM
HDV: 2x48kHz 16bit MPEG 1

AC-3 Dolby Digital 5.1 640 kbit max.

Microphone ?

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external
external XLR

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external

Audio Control ?

auto
manual

auto

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen
display

Still

Recording Medium ?

SD Card

Memory Stick Duo
hard drive
SDHC card

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

1560000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

1920x1080
1440x1080
848x480
640x480

4000 x 3000 - Max

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Yes

Misc.

Specials

GPS with geo-tagging functionality

Product Shots

View 1

View 2

Test results

Test pictures

luminance resolution

chrominance resolution

lens distortion

test small ISO image

noise / internal microphone

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode ?

Test image 12 lux optimized ?

slashCAM rating

Lowlight ?

Good

Very good

Resolution ?

Very good

Color performance ?

Very good

Good

subj.Picture impression ?

Very good

Optical Zoom ?

Satisfactory

Sufficient

Wide Angle ?

Very good

Excellent

Configuration / image ?

Very good

Satisfactory

Configuration / sound ?

Excellent

Poor

Handling ?

Very good

Good

Portability ?

Satisfactory

Very good

Photo function ?

Sufficient

Satisfactory

Optics ?

Good

Dynamics ?

Very good

Good

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Very good

Good

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

433

390

Pros

+ Excellent resolution in brightness and color
+ Exceptionally well equipped

+ multi functional ring
+ focus and exposure control via touchscreen works well
+ good lowlight sensibility
+ wide angle
+ Display with high resoultion

Cons

- Occasional image errors due to the lens

- image characteristics cannot be modified
- no focus or exposure assist

Conclusion

The XHA1 Canon has CCDs with excellent resolution of both brightness as well as color.The dynamic behavior can be changed to outstanding values with knee, noise suppression and -3dB gain, which combined with the sober colors ensures a very clean image impression.Only the lens with its 20x zoom shows occasional distortion and chromatic aberrations.Partly due to much noise, the XH A1 is only "good" in low-light situations.

The wide angle (which shrinks a little with active image stabilization) as well as the low light performance is better than on all competing modells.But in terms of sharpness, manual control options and color reproduction the Sony is not quite on par with the class winners.The automatics work solidly in a Sony-typical way.Remarkably good is the high-resolving display, but a focus assist option is nevertheless missed when setting the focus manually.

More information

Reviews and Forums

slashCAM Review

external reviews/tests

www.dv.com

www.camcorderinfo.com

Forum posts