What is the XL1S?

The Canon XL1S replaces the XL1, which is now out of production. Outwardly, the XL1S is almost identical to the XL1 except for the function and labeling of a few buttons on the camera body. Inside, however, it's an entirely new camcorder with all new circuits and components. Canon has changed or added many features in order to meet market demand and to incorporate technolgy which was not previously available. The XL1S may be considered as an "improvement" or an "upgrade" to the succesful XL1 design of late 1997.

Canon elected to retain the previous XL1 body design, and this is highly beneficial to both end-users and third-party accessory manufacturers. For end-users who are already invested in the wide range of XL1 accessories, the XL1S is completely backward-compatible with them (plus, the older XL1 is forward-compatible with the new XL lenses and other XL1S accessories). Third-party accessory manufacturers will take comfort in the fact that their XL1 add-on products do not have to be altered or re-engineered to fit the XL1S.

Exploration of New Features

At the time of this writing, I have not seen or used the XL1S for myself and user reports will not become available until the camera is released to the market. However, recently I got to spend some time on the phone with Joe Bogacz, Senior Product Development Manager for Canon USA's Video Division, and we discussed most of the new features of the XL1S in a little greater detail than what you'll find in the press release.

• Higher Resolution and Better Low Light Performance -- the CCD block in the XL1 is new. The 1/3^rd inch chips have 270,000 pixels (with Frame Movie mode and Pixel Shift process) to match the look of the XL1, but these new CCD's in the XL1S have a signal-to-noise ratio improved by 4db over the XL1. I haven't seen it, but the increase in image quality over the XL1 is said to be noticeable immediately.
  
• Interval Recording -- The XL1S sports a new tape transport chassis which supports interval recording. The intervalometer is said to be a vast improvement over the old Canon Hi-8 A1, L1 and L2 cameras. There are four recording intervals (30 sec., 60 sec., 5 min. and 10 min.) and four recording times (15 frames, 30 frames, 45 frames and 60 frames) for a total of 16 different interval recording combinations.
  
• Clear Scan -- For shooting computer monitor screens; from a range of 61.9Hz to 201.5 Hz in over 100 separate steps.
  
• SMPTE Color Bars -- the real thing this time; no secret trick required to turn them on, either.
  
• VCR Stop -- Defeats the 5 minute automatic shut-down.
  
• Preset Zoom Speeds -- on both zoom rockers at the side hand grip and the top handle. The hand grip rocker can be set to variable, low, medium and high; while the top handle rocker can be set to slow, medium and fast, as on the GL1. This is a very good idea for handheld shooting, but in my opinion you're still better off with a remote lens controller mounted on the tripod pan handle.
  
• CHAR REC -- this option burns the EVF counter data year, (month, day, hour, minute and second) into the video image, useful for some applications such as legal depositions.
  
• INDEX REC -- flags a shot as good for fast reference later; the wireless remote has a "find good shot" button which searches for this mark and forwards the tape to that spot, similar to the way it finds the next still image when pressing the "photo search" button. You can also search for video by the date it was recorded.
  
• Variable Zebra -- the optional zebra pattern which tells you which areas of your image are overexposed can now be adjusted to one of five IRE levels (choose from 80, 85, 90, 95 or 100% IRE).
  
• EVF Display Modes -- you now have the option of turning off all display information in the EVF. I have not yet determined whether or not this includes the "no tape" or "no lens" warnings... pretty sure it does.
  
• EVF Color/Black and White -- according to the XL1S instruction manual, you now have the option of turning off the color information in the EVF, converting it into a black and white LCD display. This is not as good as the more expensive B&W CRT viewfinder, but some shooters may prefer B&W in the LCD display instead of full color.
  
• EVF 16:9 Electronic Guides -- when selected, these appear in the viewfinder when shooting in normal 4:3 mode so that you may properly crop for 16:9 later in post. These guides are not recorded to tape. 16:9 mode itself has not changed, and the 16:9 image is still "squished" in the viewfinder.
  
• Image Adjustments -- similar to the GL1, you can now adjust certain image settings to your precise shooting requirements; such as Color Shift (toward red or toward green), Picture Sharpness, Color Gain (no color to full color), and Black Level (for shadow details). All settings are adjustable through a range of plus or minus 6 steps.
  
• Electronic Gain -- two additional gain settings, +18dB and +30dB, are now available. I'm told that thanks to the improved S/N ratio of the new CCD block, the +18db setting is just as clean as the +12db setting on the XL1. The +30db setting does introduce some noticeable noise, but is useful for shooting in almost totally dark environments.
  
• White Balance -- there are now three manual settings which can be stored in memory and recalled when desired.
  
• Audio Dub and AV Insert -- audio dubbing is available in 12-bit audio recording mode. Video insert is available in the SP recording speed.
  
• Analog Video Input -- through both the S-video and RCA composite video jacks, a feature which was missing on the XL1 due to the political climate of the recording industry back in 1997 when that camera was designed.
  
• Custom Keys and Presets -- Certain camera and VCR mode functions can be programmed into these two buttons for immediate access when desired. A little confusing, but a fascinating feature which I'm looking forward to exploring in greater detail someday.
  
• Three Picture Memories -- If I understand this properly, you can configure three separate combinations of custom image settings (such as a black and white image, for example) and hold these settings in memory for later recall.
  
• Low Power Consumption -- with the installation of entirely new, more efficient internal components, the XL1S has a significantly lower power requirement than the XL1, which comparably improves battery life. Expect almost two hours from the standard BP-930 and almost three hours from the BP-945.
  
• Easy menu system -- the iris wheel now doubles as the internal menu item selector and can be pushed to choose an item, which is a vast improvement over the old four-button menu system. The menu itself is accessed by a new botton on the camera body below the red sliding door.
  
• DV Control -- sends REC and REC PAUSE signals through the DV cable to an external IEEE1394 device. This can be another DV camcorder (such as an inexpensive Canon ZR10), a DV deck, or an external field-portable FireWire hardrive. Pausing and recording on the XL1S is duplicated on the other DV device, producing an exact copy on the spot, with identical timecode. Keeping one copy pristine, and using the other for logging purposes, is one application for this feature.

Frame Movie mode is not changed from the previous XL1. 16:9 recording mode is not changed. The microphone and EVF assembly is not changed (except for the new EVF features mentioned above); however I've been told there is a very slight but important physical difference: the EVF and mic cables are supposed to be slightly longer to better accomodate the LightWave Systems audio accessories without strain. Let's hope this is true!

Last update: 06:26 PM Saturday, October 28, 2006