XL-H1

Let’s not beat around the bush, this is a really expensive camcorder. Costing £5,995, it’s double the price of its predecessor and costs twice as much as its closest competitor. But does its performance justify the price tag?

As with previous models, the XL-H1 ships with a detachable 20x HD Video Lens offering 20x zoom with an optical image stabilisation system. The XL-H1 is, in theory, compatible with the entire range of lenses available for the XL range, but Canon doesn’t recommend using a standard definition lens for HD recording.

The big new feature is the native 16:9 ratio CCD system. Canon previously used oversized 4:3 chips with cropped borders for filming in the 16:9 mode; maintaining that to do otherwise would push the price up above the $5,000 mark (which it appears to have done).

Price quibbles aside, there’s no doubting the image quality of the XL-H1. In 1,080i mode the combination of the Canon optical lens and dedicated 16:9 CCD image sensors produces images with spectacular colour and contrast.

However, the XL-H1 lacks a true 24 frames per second progressive (24p) mode. What it has instead is something called 24f, which records interlaced footage at 24fps then converts it to progressive video. Canon says you won’t tell the difference in the editing stage, but in reality, approximately a quarter of the vertical image quality is lost over genuine 24p.

Still, the new XL-H1 is undoubtedly the best HD camcorder on the market. The real question, though, is whether you’re happy to settle for standard definition? If not, go for the XL2, which offers true 24p for half the price.