With NAB just days away, Canon has announced not one, not two, but three new camcorders to their prosumer line. The XA20 and XA25 are a followup from their 2011 model the XA10, but with an all new image processor. The Canon HF G30 is an update to the G20, and their new flagship consumer camcorder. The cameras share a lot of features in common, so hit the jump to get the rest of the details below.
Here are the differences of the XA20 and XA25 from the XA10:
- Canon Digic DV IV processor, 1080p at 60fps (AVCHD up to 35Mbps)
- Simultaneous recording of AVCHD and MPEG-4 via dual SD card slots
- 20x Zoom, 8 blade iris
- 3.5" OLED touchscreen
- New battery pack, the BP-A28, with charge display
- Built-in Wifi with FTP transmission, remote control (via iPhone), direct upload to YouTube
What's the difference between the XA20 and XA25, you ask? The $2,700 XA25 has an uncompressed HD-SDI output, making it $500 more expensive than the XA20 (at $2,200).
At 1/2.84-inches, the CMOS sensor on the XA20/25 is a tad larger than the 1/3-inch chip inside the XA10. Canon claims it opted for the larger sensor in order to add more flexibility to the camcorder's updated image stabilization function, which has an option for using both optical and digital stabilization. The stabilization feature now includes seven modes, up from four on the XA10.
The Canon Vixia HF G30 at $1,700 will be the new consumer flagship model, intended as an upgrade over the popular HF G20 and marketed towards non-professionals. Its specs are very much the same as the XA20 and XA25, but without XLR inputs and a microphone holder on a detachable handlebar. Another thing they all have in common is that Canon has done away with the internal memory component, and will rely entirely on SD cards. These should be kicking around at NAB, coming up April 8th-11th. Watch this space for more announcements from the floor.
Link: Three New Cameras -- Canon USA
[via Camcorder Info]
