Canon's XMI may look a lot like Sony's VX2000 and cost about the same, but what the XMI has over 2000 is 30 frame per second progressive mode.

MiniDV camcorder aficionados will recognise Canon's new XMI immediately. Can you say Sony VX1000? While the XMI is not blood related to the VX1000, it shares many of the same professional features, including three CCDs, zebra stripes, and colour bars. But the good news for the budget conscious is the XMI can be had for about AU$1,200 less. The XMI may look and act a lot like a VX1000, but in reality, it's more like a distant cousin to Canon's XL1, an awesome camera in its own right. Does the XMI measure up to the more expensive XL1? You bet. The main differences between the two are: The XL1 has four audio inputs, while the XMI has only one; the XL1 has a removable lens, while the XMI's is fixed; and the XL1 cannot transcode analog video stream into a digital stream while the XMI can. Aside from that, the cameras are practically identical. If you need a camera with four audio inputs and a removable lens, then you're obviously a professional who doesn't care how much a camera costs and will purchase the XL1 without question. But if you're an independent videographer and would like to make low-budget shorts or even feature films and just need a camera that delivers a really clean picture, save US$2,000 and pick up the XMI instead. With the money you save, you could buy an IEEE-1394 capture board, a whopping 30GB hard drive, and still have money leftover to throw a cast party at the end of your shoot.

Speaking of 1394, one of the major benefits to the XMI is its IEEE-1394 interface (also referred to as FireWire and i-Link). This digital interface lets you hook the camera up to other 1394-compliant video devices, such as 1394-compliant cameras like Sony's VX1000 and Canon's GX1, or video capture boards, such as Radius' MotoDV, DPS' Spark, and Pinnacle Systems' DV200. The 1394 interface sends both the audio and video signal through one cable, as opposed to the old-fashioned analog method that requires three cables, either an S-Video or composite video cable and two RCA audio cables. Of course, the camera supports those old ports as well, so you could technically shoot in digital video, then output an analog stream back to your television or VHS deck. We tested the XMI with Pinnacle Systems' DV200, a 1394 capture board, and it worked great. In fact, all the frame-grabbed pictures you see in this review were snapped with the DV200.

Size Dosen't Matter

The first thing that struck us about the XMI is that it is a well-made camera. While we didn't drop the thing during our testing, we did bang it around a little (accidentally, of course), and it weathered the punishment like a true professional. The VTR control-button protector at the top of the camera's handle got caught on various things and popped up occasionally, but it hardly warrants a mention. The camera is lightweight, weighing in at less than three pounds, has a bright and clear 2.5-inch 122,000-pixel colour LCD display that swivels 180 degrees, and fits snugly in the palm of your hand.

The camera's package includes a wireless remote control, a lithium ion battery with charger, a lens hood, a 30-minute miniDV tape, and analog playback cables. Sorry, folks, no 1394 cable. The remote is feature-laden, letting you operate the camera like a standard VCR, and it can trigger everything on the camera, including the zoom, still-picture capabilities, and the camera's menu options. The battery lasted a surprisingly long time considering its small size. During our real-world tests, which included recording, playback, rewinding, ejecting, and powering up and down, the lithium ion battery lasted an hour and 16 minutes. While some DV cameras we've looked at needed at least a small chunk of battery life left to power up and record, the Canon was able to suck the battery totally dry. The lens hood does more than keep direct sunlight off the lens; it helps balance the camera's form. Without the lens cover, the camera looks uninspired. And while we appreciate that Canon includes one 30-minute miniDV tape in the bag, we'd like to see at least a 60-minute one thrown in there in the future.

The 20X optical zoom is outstanding, and 100X digital zoom will take you so close to an object that you'll have to put the camera on a tripod to see anything, because there's no way any human can hold a camera steady enough to recognise the images at full zoom. But while we appreciated having the ability to zoom in that far if we needed to, we would never actually use it for an important production, because, frankly, the quality at 100X is just awful. At full digital zoom, our images were blurry and pixelated, as though we were looking through translucent snow. This is tolerable for espionage purposes when you just need to make someone out from a distance, but unacceptable to professional videographers who rely heavily on the clarity of their images. The 20X optical zoom, on the other hand, is very good, letting us zoom in and clearly read a license plate off a car more than 200 yards away.

The XMI's picture is among the sharpest we've seen in any miniDV digital video camera. It uses three CCD image sensors (each with 270,000 pixels) that capture the blue, green, and red colours independently. Canon is able to compete with cameras that have 410,000-pixel CCDs by using a proprietary technology called Pixel Shift. How Pixel Shift works is the green component of a video signal contains 60 percent of the picture detail, whereas the red and blue components compose only 40 percent. Canon's technology physically shifts the green CCD the equivalent distance of 1/2 pixel horizontally from the red and blue CCD, then electronically shifts the green signal 1/2 pixel vertically. What this does is increase the sampling points, resulting in a cleaner picture when shooting in low light, a wider dynamic range, and minimal vertical smear. But at the end of the day, the only thing people really want to know is, does it take a good picture? Yes, it does.

Other Odds and Ends

Another nubbin of goodness is the camera's pause control. When you hit the pause button during playback, the camera will freeze with a crystal-clear picture on the screen. No more horizontal scan lines. Even when you use slow frame advance (for slow motion), you won't get a refresh line screwing up your playback. In fact, slow-motion playback worked so well, we used it live while digitizing a clip to a computer here at the office, and it worked better as an effect than anything we could have done in Premiere.

The XMI is going to run into some competition in the still-picture category. The XMI takes a nice still image and records it to tape, but it doesn't hold a candle to the new megapixel capabilities that are built into the new Sony miniDV camcorders. And while Canon is coming out with a floppy disk still-image recorder that attaches to your camera via its 1394 port, it looks klunky next to Sony's ultraslim Memory Stick. Another thing many Sony cameras have that the XMI doesn't is technology to let you film in absolute darkness. The XMI can read in lighting down to six Lux, but it does not measure up to Sony's NightShot. To give you an example of how well the XMI does shoot in darkness, check out this picture that is lit only with a candle.

For those of you curious about the camera's audio, the XMI can record two channels at 16-bit 48kHz, or four channels at 12-bit 32kHz. But to reiterate, there's only one audio input in this model. If you're like us and hate using a camera's built-in mic to record anything, there is a standard mic jack in the side of the camera.

And finally, we decided to save the coolest feature for last. It's the one feature that most wanna-be filmmakers will appreciate. It's called the frame movie mode, and it de-interlaces the video. So instead of capturing 60 fields per second, it does a true 30 fields per second. People have compared the look of this effect to actual film. And most filmmakers we know who are shooting on video are always trying to find new ways to make their videos look like film. Admittedly, the effect does have slight cinematic quality, but you might still have to take the video into Cinelook, or Adobe Premiere, to scratch-grain it up a little bit. The frame movie mode is also good for capturing high-quality video stills.

Overall, we have nothing but praise for the XMI. It is a highly compact camera, which delivers an outstanding picture that holds its own against Sony's vaunted VX1000 and Canon's GX1 and has the professional features low-budget filmmakers need to shoot long-form projects. If you're looking to make the next Blair Witch Project, this is the camera you've been waiting for.

Canon XM1
Company:Canon Australia
Ph:1800 816 001
Price:AU$5,799

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