Canon Quietly Releases XL H1S and XL H1A

Today Canon has announced updates to their XL H1 1080i Pro HD Camcorder, splitting the line into two offerings: the XL H1S and XL H1A, a more simplistic XL H1A will be offered at a retail price of just $5,999 this July—several thousand less that we saw the original XL H1 priced for. And the H1 classic XL H1S, available this June, will run $8,999.

Updates look to be disappointingly minor, with more studio output options, expanded image control, Speedlite shoe mount, and the ability to record external in XLR mics at the same time. The spec-similar 20X HD zoom lens has also seen an update for improved manual controls/ergonomics. But the biggest component, the three 1/3 inch, 1.67 Megapixel CCD Image Sensors along with Canon’s proprietary DIGIC DVII HD Image Processor—seems to be a complete rehash of the XL H1—a camera that’s now over two years old.

Oh, and the bonus for forking over $3,000 more for the XL H1S?
“The XL H1S model provides expanded connectivity by incorporating HD-SDI (SMPTE 299M)/SD-SDI (SMPTE272M) output with embedded audio and time code, providing a raw, uncompressed 1.485 Gbps signal for demanding live production environments, SMPTE Time Code input and output terminals, and a Genlock output terminal for multi-camera shooting situations.