Lake Success, N.Y. — Canon will ship a pair of high-end HD camcorders to dealers in December.
The XH A1S and G1S are replacements for the A1 and G1 models introduced earlier this year. They are geared toward professional videographers.
The HDV tape-based models feature a 20x optical zoom HD video lens with manual zoom and focus. The lens’
manual adjustment rings have been redesigned. Among the enhancements is the addition of three sensitivity settings to the manual focus ring and selectable rotational angles between the tele and wide ends of the lens zoom.
Canon also refined the models’ audio recording capabilities, adding a new metal headphone jack, separate audio-input sensitivity settings for two built-in XLR terminals and the ability to simultaneously record sound from internal and external microphones, among other improvements.
Both camcorders can record and output video at 60i, 30f, 24f and 50i/25f via factory upgrade. They feature 23 customizable settings, a 2.8-inch LCD, color electronic viewfinder, Canon’s Instant AF system and the DIGIC DV II processing engine.
The A1S will retail for $3,999.
The G1S, for $6,999, adds three industry-standard terminals (HD-SDI/SD-SDI Output, SMPTE Timecode Input/Output and Genlock Input).