Canon’s HD Video Camera Recorder XL H1 is the newest addition to the company’s XL-series of digital video camcorders, which have garnered high acclaim in the market since first being introduced in February 1998. While maintaining the outstanding integrated design and innovative features for which the XL-series is renowned, the XL H1 delivers high performance and outstanding digital image quality to meet the needs of professional videographers.

Canon’s newly developed DIGIC DV II image engine and an HD Codec LSI (large-scale integrated circuit) make possible the recording and playback of high-resolution Hi-Vision HDV^*1 1080i images on miniDV-format video tape. Additionally, the new XL H1’s 1/3″ 1.67-megapixel 3-CCD imaging sensor system^*2 achieves outstanding detail and faithful color reproduction.

The Canon XL H1 digital video camcorder comes equipped with the company’s newly developed HD-20x zoom Video Lens XL 5.4-108 mm L IS II. The new lens employs a fluorite lens element, which corrects residual chromatic aberration that optical glass lens elements cannot entirely remove, and incorporates two aspherical lens elements with high-refractive glass to effectively correct for a variety of aberrations throughout the zoom range.

Further contributing to exceptional Hi-Vision imaging performance, the new XL H1 camcorder’s lens system features a newly developed SR Coat that reduces ghosting in addition to fully multi-coated lenses. Moreover, Canon’s SuperRange optical image stabilization system enables the detection and correction of low-frequency vibrations often missed by conventional optical systems, without incurring any degradation in image quality.

The Canon XL H1 features the exclusive XL interchangeable lens-mount system, which enables users to select the most appropriate lens for each individual shooting situation. In addition to exclusive interchangeable video lenses, when outfitted with an optional EF mount adapter XL, the system also permits the use of a range of Canon EF lenses^*3 for the company’s EOS series of SLR cameras.

Canon’s XL H1 is the first^*4 HDV-format video camcorder to incorporate broadcast industry standard HD-SDI (Serial Digital Interface) output connectors, allowing non-compressed output of Hi-Vision image data. In addition, a range of new features and enhancements have been incorporated into the new XL H1 to better respond to the needs of professional users, including a TIME CODE input connector and output connector that enables synchronization of time code data on footage taken by multiple video cameras or recorders, as well as a GENLOCK input connector that prevents image distortion when switching the video feed source.

The Canon XL H1 video camcorder is equipped with several other advanced functions, starting with a “cinema look” 24F (24 frames per second) mode which uses the same frame rate as movie film. The camcorder also offers a wide variety of image quality adjustment functions that enable video images to more closely resemble film, including sharpness adjustment, and gamma and color matrix settings. Moreover, the new XL H1 is the first XL-series camcorder model to feature a still image shooting function using an SD Memory Card or a MultiMediaCard.

*1 Format established by Sharp Electronics Corp., Sony Corporation, Japan Victor Company (JVC), and Canon Inc. in September 2003
*2 Effective pixels: Each CCD sensor utilizes 1.56 megapixels when recording in HDV Mode or 16:9 SD Wide Mode, and 1.17 megapixels in 4:3 Standard (SD) Mode
*3 Except EF-S series lenses
*4 As of September 8, 2005