/// HD Camcorder Comparison

Picture ?

Manufacturer

Canon

Panasonic

Name

XH G1

HDC-Z10000 (3D-Modus)

European name ?

XH G1

HDC-Z10000 (3D-Modus)

US name ?

XH G1

HDC-Z10000 (3D-Modus)

lowest US price

6995 $

(3499) $

On the market since

November 2006

November 2011

Manufacturers URL

Test preview

slashCAM rating ?

Very good

test picture 1200 Lux

Test image 12 lux auto-mode

Video

Video formats ?

MiniDV
HDV

AVCHD
MVC 3D

Recording Medium

MiniDV/HDV-Cassette

SD Card
SDHC card
SDXC card

video resolutions EU ?

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

AVCHD 1920 x 1080/50i
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/25p
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/24p

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 1920 x 1080/24p
AVCHD 1920 x 1080/30p

Max Bitrate ?

25 Mbit/s

28 Mbit/s

Compression format ?

DV
MPEG2

MPEG4

on-board memory ?

Optics

Optics Manufacturer ?

Canon

Panasonic

Optical Zoom ?

20 x

10 x

Wide Angle 16:9 ?

32,5 mm

29,8 mm

Filter diameter ?

72 mm

- mm

Image Stabilization ?

optical

ND Filter ?

Exchangable optics ?

Image Sensor

Number of sensors ?

Size of image sensor ?

1/3 inch

1/4,1 inch

image sensor effective pixel count 16:9 ?

1560000 Pixel

3050000 Pixel

Image Sensor Type ?

CCD

CMOS

Controls

White Balance ?

auto
manual
presets

auto
manual
presets
WB-Shift

Focus ?

auto
manual

Minimum shutter time ?

1/16.000

1/250

Maximum shutter time ?

1/3

1/24

Apperture control ?

auto
manual

auto
manual
AE-Shift

Infrared recording ?

Expanded Focus ?

Yes

Peaking ?

Yes

Signal Processing

Zebra ?

Off
70-100%

50-105%

Histogram ?

Yes

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

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

XLR

Headphones ?

Mini-jack

Lanc ?

Yes

Time-code interface ?

In
Out

Genlock ?

Accessory shoe ?

Standard

HD-SDI ?

Yes

Misc.

Weight (without battery)

2100 g

1600 g

Weight (with battery)

2200 g

Battery type

Canon BP-950G

Panasonic CGA-D54s

Battery capacity

5200 mAh

5400 mAh

Charger ?

internal
external

external

Remote control

Yes

Size

Height

163 mm

145 mm

Width

189 mm

195 mm

Depth

350 mm

Relative Size ?

107

Viewfinder

Viewfinder available ?

Yes

Color Viewfinder ?

B/W and color

Color

Viewfinder format ?

16:9

Viewfinder pixels ?

269000 Pixel

1226880 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

1152000 Pixel

Touch Screen ?

Yes

External controls

Manual Zoom ?

Rocker
Ring

Manual Focus ?

Ring

Manual Aperture ?

Ring

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.
Dolby AC-3 Digital 2 channel 48 KHz
2 channel PCM

Microphone ?

Stereo internal
Mini-jack external
external XLR

external XLR
5.1 Internal

Audio Control ?

auto
manual

Audio levels ?

Viewfinder
Screen
display

Viewfinder
Screen

Still

Recording Medium ?

SD Card

Medium included ?

Effective pixels ?

1560000 Pixel

Resolutions ?

1920x1080
1440x1080
848x480
640x480

Standard ?

JPEG Exif 2.2

Flash ?

Misc.

Specials

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

Resolution ?

Very good

Excellent

Color performance ?

Very good

subj.Picture impression ?

Very good

Optical Zoom ?

Satisfactory

Sufficient

Wide Angle ?

Very good

Configuration / image ?

Excellent

Very good

Configuration / sound ?

Excellent

Handling ?

Very good

Portability ?

Satisfactory

Photo function ?

Sufficient

Poor

Optics ?

Good

Very good

Dynamics ?

Very good

Conclusion slashCAM

slashCAM rating ?

Very good

Total score ?
(maximal 570)

443

440

Pros

+ Excellent resolution in brightness and color
+ exceptionally well equipped

+ Extreme manual control options
+ Very good image quality
+ Good 3D control

Cons

- chromatic aberrations due to the lens

- No ND filter
- Autostereoscopic display mode

Conclusion

The Canon XHG1 has CCDs with excellent brightness and color resolution.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 G1 is only "good" in low-light situations.

Even as a 2D camcorder the Z10000 is absolutely competitive thanks to the professional features and excellent image quality.The additional 3D capabilities are currently unique in this price range (and even much further) (as of 11/2011).

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