Canon XHA1 with Gates Combo review

XHA1 and Gates Housing review:

Firstly Reasons for going the Canon XH A1:

I had been using a Sony HC1 and an Ikelite housing for around two years and although I was happy with the unit there were a few areas that I really wasn’t happy with:

Low light performance, the HC1 is pretty average in low light, picture quality is grainy and there is no option to control the gain on the camera. But lets face it, it has a single CMOS chip that has to work pretty hard.

Wide angle options, I had purchased the Inon UWL 100 wide-angle lens but the softening around the edges makes the footage unusable…. That has sat on my desk as an expensive paperweight for a year or so (if anyone wants to buy it I’m open for offers)

Flip filters / diopters, with the Ikelite housing yes there is a red filter and yes you can screw on a diopter but regarding the diopter it is screwed directly onto the camera. So once it’s on it’s on!

Cameras on the market at the time of purchasing:

Sony FX1 / Z1 – great camera, I’ve used it a fair amount surface shooting but never underwater. Great images as everyone here has shown, the only real drawback was it’s size and also I felt that due to the camera having been out around five years there may be better options around.

Sony V1 - another great camera, love the 24p and slow mo options, liked the size, liked the housing options of either Gates or Amphibico. Only drawback was the lowlight performance, which was one of my big issues with my little HC1. I would still love to see some Z1 / V1 underwater comparisons.

Sony EX series, just released, bigger chips, great images, great reviews, looks stunning. Only drawbacks for me were cost and probably size… the increased extra cost of camera, probably more expensive housing etc and also timescales for release put me off a little and I also wanted to wait to see how tapeless workflows go etc. I reckon it will be awesome when someone gets it in the water.

Panasonic HVX, another great camera but again the cost is slightly higher and I’m not sold on P2 cards.

Red, well what can I say… looks like the mac daddy!!! I want it but it is just way out of my league. Maybe in a few years..

Canon XH A1, I went for this due to high quality images, not bad in lowlight (similar maybe better than Z1) good control over the picture quality, great optics, price and also it still uses tape which I have to say I find a great way to archive footage. I also wanted to use a Gates housing, I was used to manual controls from my Ikelite, they are strong, have great ports and also it had diopter and filter flip arms. After thinking

about this for a year or so in the end all the cameras on the list above are great have positives and negatives but the Canon fitted my needs best.

First Impressions:

I must say thanks to Joe Holly from Marine Visions, always super helpful, extremely knowledgeable, he put me the package together and shipped it from the States to Australia. Great service and super fast it couldn’t have been easier.

The housing:

Awesome were my first words, quality it fantastic super easy to assemble and get the camera onto the base plate and into the housing. Controls align reasonably easily, everything just slides into place. It wasn’t as big as I thought it would be which was good and another factor in the XHA1 decision as excess baggage fees get higher and higher.

I haven’t gone into the fine detail of putting it together as Mark Thorpe aka Cam Diver has done a great job for the Z1 / Gates and most of it is similar

I only went for the standard def monitor due cost, its ok, the resolution good and even in shallow water with sun on my back you could see it easily. The thing that most annoys me is that I can’t get the image to letterbox so the 16:9 frame is squeezed in a 4:3 screen. If anyone knows how to change it give me a shout. Also features like zebra, peaking etc do not show (which I knew anyway). To be honest I don’t mid using a viewfinder so I’m not unhappy and it works for the purpose of framing.

Ports: I have the flat (for macro) and standard at present. I will get the super wide in the next few months but I wanted to get used to the housing etc before sticking a $4.5K port on the front and scratching it. Easy to change and not loose that they could accidentally be turned out of position. Another thing I really like about Gates are the port protectors, very sturdy heaps better than neoprene covers.

In the water

I did a quick dunk test with no camera…, which was fine. Chucked the camera in and off we went. The diving here is Sydney has been awful since I have had the camera, I have only dived with it twice and the visibility has been somewhere between 2-5m and surgy, hence no footage posted. Below is a frame grab:

Auto everything except white balance. Depth is about 12m, vis about 4m. Probably not my finest piece of work but you get an idea of the colours etc. Sorry picture is the thumbnail at the bottom of the post.

In the water the housing feels amazing, super well balanced in fact pretty much neutral, which is big difference compared to my Ikelite with my cheapy / heavy lighting system. It is so much easier getting stable footage. The controls are reasonably easy to find and I’m sure after a few more dives it will become second nature. One really nice touch is the springs on the buttons that makes it easy to use even at depth. Something that gets harder and harder with the Ikelite.

The zoom is smooth, there is access to all camera functions including two white balance presets. So I can set lights on / off, red filter in / out etc and change quickly without having to get the slate out. I had no problems white balancing down to about 15m (didn’t go any deeper so I couldn’t test what it was like regarding light levels) in poor visibility. You can also dial in the white balance with the colour temp of your lights. I haven’t tried this as yet but will do soon.

I really haven’t had a chance to fully test it out yet but I’ve got a few trips coming up over the next few months so I will keep you all posted. I really want to try and perfect my macro stuff and I have the Gates tripod to test out and also the diopter set.

I will keep you posted.

Jon

Jon

Congrats on the new rig. You'll love the XH's version of HDV. I think it's superior to Sony's rendition in terms of compression. Getting the right color setup is key for the XH.

A question. You say that in shallow water, the LCD monitor is easy to view. Just how shallow are you talking about. I ask because my own experience with larger HD LCD monitors have been disappointing when snorkeling and even a few meters down. Obviously the smaller area is better as is the brighter LCD. Did you adjust the brightness?

For the 16:9 to 4:3, do you mean that the picture looks squished? Letterboxing will make the picture smaller even. Anyhow, did you turn on letterbox in the menu SIGNAL/SETUP?

I would also consider using achromatic diopters attached to the camera and the flat or dome port. Check if the dome port affects the image quality.

At 72mm, your choices are the Century Optic and Raynox. I tested both and while the CO is a tad sharper and better built, the Raynox DCR5320 is pretty darn good for the price. Better than any old mono element diopter.

Have fun with the new toy.

Hey congrats on your new setup.

Hope you post some footage soon.

Having the ability to use your WB presets is a bonus, this needs to be on all top end HDV housings I think.

Drew,

The monitor is just the standard EM 253, I haven't adjusted the brightness, the reason why it is so easy to see is the shade that covers the screen does the job pretty well. Regarding the setup I have gone through the display settings, but it is only in the VCR mode that you can adjust the output, which doesn't effect the monitor output while recording.

The colour settings on the XH are pretty mad! You can do so much, which to me at the moment is a steep learning curve, I am going to need a good book to explain half the bloody terms like 'Master Pedestal', 'Coring' and all the different kinds of colour matrix. I have actually dowloaded a whole heap of presets and you can load them through the memory stick, which is fine but would like to understand exactly what they are doing.

Regarding diopters so you reckon maybe putting do you reckon putting a +2 on the camera and then using the +4 on the flip arm or do you think that would be too much. I will probably get a couple and mess around and see what results I get.

The other thing that I have noticed coming from a plastic housing is if I used to leave HC1 running for an hour or so it would generate so much heat it would fog up... this hasn't happened so far with the Gates, fingers crossed.

Cheers

Jon

Aluminum is a much better conductor of heat, and the PU on the ikelite is transparent, so it basically acts like a sun oven if left in the sun.

Yes, having too many settings can be overwhelming. With underwater settings, color is a lot more difficult as you have to deal with distance from subject to adjust the color. It's easier to do it topside as you have more control over scenes.

Most if not all those settings are based on topside shooting. I personally think it's worth 4 dives in a pool for you to get the color and tone curve you like as a look. Get a color chart and go from there.

Unfortunately for you, it seems the EM253 doesn't recognize the 16:9 flag and adjust accordingly.

Re diopters. Once you screw a diopter in, I doubt you can use the flip. I would suggest you check out the difference between those flip diopters and duo element ones.

jonny et al,

Very interesting reading.

I have just purchased an XH-G1, with Equinox housing. Would love to upgrade to the Gates, but frankly out of my price range at this stage.

Questions to follow.

Regarding the setup I have gone through the display settings, but it is only in the VCR mode that you can adjust the output, which doesn't effect the monitor output while recording.

That's true huh. That means the EM 353 doesn't recognize 16:9 flags and auto compensate. Well it is an older design.

The colour settings on the XH are pretty mad! You can do so much, which to me at the moment is a steep learning curve, I am going to need a good book to explain half the bloody terms like 'Master Pedestal', 'Coring' and all the different kinds of colour matrix. I have actually dowloaded a whole heap of presets and you can load them through the memory stick, which is fine but would like to understand exactly what they are doing.

I think the color should be done in post unless you are a daily shooter for a dive boat. Saves a lot of trouble. Most presets are topside stuff and don't correspond to u/w. Depending on how much post you do, Master Pedestal can be set to taste OR leave it at 0. For lighter blacks for maximize dynamic range, set BLACK to STRETCH with KNEE at Middle or High.

I wouldn't mess with CORing as you may lose detail. I'd check out the detail at High Detail Frequency. I liked high but some post guys like middle.

Regarding diopters so you reckon maybe putting do you reckon putting a +2 on the camera and then using the +4 on the flip arm or do you think that would be too much. I will probably get a couple and mess around and see what results I get.

You can't fit the flip arm if you add a screw-in achromatic diopter. Moreover, the more elements you slap infront of the camera, the lower the image quality. The flip arm uses single element diopters which are lower quality. But many people are happy with it and it's convenient.

Thanks Drew, what do you reckon to shooting in the 'Frame' mode as opposed to interlaced? The frame mode seams to be recognised as progressive by FCP.

From my understanding interlaced is good for faster moving action when you may wish to slow it down.. but at 25fps you can't slow it down huge amounts. 25F supposedly gives a more 'filmy' look... I have actually shot both underwater and to tell you the truth I prefer frame mode as it seams sort of 'smoother'.

Will this make a difference on low light quality?

Cheers

Jon

Drew,

you wrote...."For lighter blacks for maximize dynamic range, set BLACK to STRETCH with KNEE at Middle or High. "

Okay.

I guess I have this backward in my brain- I thought that maybe to "darken" the blacks and loose some highlight would be better? If I lighten blacks would I end up with blacks that show more artifacts?

There is another setting I read about in a Sony V1 manual called "black compress" that decreases shadow and increases contrast (giving appearance of "sharper" image)- seems like a good thing, but if I do loose the "high-end" of the dynamic range with black compress, does that produce a worse result than lightening the blacks?

I also read that bumping up gain with the black compress setting "on" would improve low light situations?

My apologies if I didn't word these questions right- I'm learning here.

thanks,

shep

From my understanding interlaced is good for faster moving action when you may wish to slow it down.. but at 25fps you can't slow it down huge amounts. 25F supposedly gives a more 'filmy' look... I have actually shot both underwater and to tell you the truth I prefer frame mode as it seams sort of 'smoother'.

25F is lower resolution... I think it drops vertical resolution to about 8-900 lines. Image appears 'smoother' but the drop in resolution is the price. 25p is never going to be as good as 50i slowed to 25fps for the reason if you deinterlace the 50i, it becomes 50p (with the pitfalls of deinterlacing obviously) It's cheap 1/2 speed slomo.

I guess I have this backward in my brain- I thought that maybe to "darken" the blacks and loose some highlight would be better? If I lighten blacks would I end up with blacks that show more artifacts?

 

There is another setting I read about in a Sony V1 manual called "black compress" that decreases shadow and increases contrast (giving appearance of "sharper" image)- seems like a good thing, but if I do loose the "high-end" of the dynamic range with black compress, does that produce a worse result than lightening the blacks?

 

I also read that bumping up gain with the black compress setting "on" would improve low light situations?

Shep

I wrote that if one wants maximum dynamic range and the best colors, they should use black stretch, especially if they do a lot of color grading in post. This is especially true for broadcast where the post guys want the broadest range to color match. That way they can make the picture contrasty while preserving some colors etc.

If you don't do that, then shoot to what you see as a look you like. Contrasty pictures are nice for some subjects and not so nice for others imo. It's an esthetic quality that only you can decide if it's nicer.

I'm only giving suggestions for the best post material. In post, you can get any look if you know what you are doing.

I have the XHA1 and the gates housing, squids, and the Sp44. I am having a heck of a time white balancing. I have used a white slate in the past, but just bought the Amphibico slate (which I have not used yet) So far the best I can do below 20 feet. Below that, the WB icon flickers fast while attempting to set, and then the WB Icon flickers slowly after acquiring, meaning that the white balance is OK. Optimal is where the WB icon locks and is fixed.

Anybody else with this problem?

Geoffrey

XHA1 and Gates Housing review:

 

Firstly Reasons for going the Canon XH A1:

 

I had been using a Sony HC1 and an Ikelite housing for around two years and although I was happy with the unit there were a few areas that I really wasn’t happy with:

 

Low light performance, the HC1 is pretty average in low light, picture quality is grainy and there is no option to control the gain on the camera. But lets face it, it has a single CMOS chip that has to work pretty hard.

 

Wide angle options, I had purchased the Inon UWL 100 wide-angle lens but the softening around the edges makes the footage unusable…. That has sat on my desk as an expensive paperweight for a year or so (if anyone wants to buy it I’m open for offers)

 

Flip filters / diopters, with the Ikelite housing yes there is a red filter and yes you can screw on a diopter but regarding the diopter it is screwed directly onto the camera. So once it’s on it’s on!

 

Cameras on the market at the time of purchasing:

 

Sony FX1 / Z1 â€" great camera, I’ve used it a fair amount surface shooting but never underwater. Great images as everyone here has shown, the only real drawback was it’s size and also I felt that due to the camera having been out around five years there may be better options around.

 

Sony V1 - another great camera, love the 24p and slow mo options, liked the size, liked the housing options of either Gates or Amphibico. Only drawback was the lowlight performance, which was one of my big issues with my little HC1. I would still love to see some Z1 / V1 underwater comparisons.

 

Sony EX series, just released, bigger chips, great images, great reviews, looks stunning. Only drawbacks for me were cost and probably size… the increased extra cost of camera, probably more expensive housing etc and also timescales for release put me off a little and I also wanted to wait to see how tapeless workflows go etc. I reckon it will be awesome when someone gets it in the water.

 

Panasonic HVX, another great camera but again the cost is slightly higher and I’m not sold on P2 cards.

 

Red, well what can I say… looks like the mac daddy!!! I want it but it is just way out of my league. Maybe in a few years..

 

Canon XH A1, I went for this due to high quality images, not bad in lowlight (similar maybe better than Z1) good control over the picture quality, great optics, price and also it still uses tape which I have to say I find a great way to archive footage. I also wanted to use a Gates housing, I was used to manual controls from my Ikelite, they are strong, have great ports and also it had diopter and filter flip arms. After thinking

about this for a year or so in the end all the cameras on the list above are great have positives and negatives but the Canon fitted my needs best.

 

First Impressions:

I must say thanks to Joe Holly from Marine Visions, always super helpful, extremely knowledgeable, he put me the package together and shipped it from the States to Australia. Great service and super fast it couldn’t have been easier.

 

The housing:

Awesome were my first words, quality it fantastic super easy to assemble and get the camera onto the base plate and into the housing. Controls align reasonably easily, everything just slides into place. It wasn’t as big as I thought it would be which was good and another factor in the XHA1 decision as excess baggage fees get higher and higher.

 

I haven’t gone into the fine detail of putting it together as Mark Thorpe aka Cam Diver has done a great job for the Z1 / Gates and most of it is similar

 

I only went for the standard def monitor due cost, its ok, the resolution good and even in shallow water with sun on my back you could see it easily. The thing that most annoys me is that I can’t get the image to letterbox so the 16:9 frame is squeezed in a 4:3 screen. If anyone knows how to change it give me a shout. Also features like zebra, peaking etc do not show (which I knew anyway). To be honest I don’t mid using a viewfinder so I’m not unhappy and it works for the purpose of framing.

 

Ports: I have the flat (for macro) and standard at present. I will get the super wide in the next few months but I wanted to get used to the housing etc before sticking a $4.5K port on the front and scratching it. Easy to change and not loose that they could accidentally be turned out of position. Another thing I really like about Gates are the port protectors, very sturdy heaps better than neoprene covers.

 

In the water

I did a quick dunk test with no camera…, which was fine. Chucked the camera in and off we went. The diving here is Sydney has been awful since I have had the camera, I have only dived with it twice and the visibility has been somewhere between 2-5m and surgy, hence no footage posted. Below is a frame grab:

 

 

 

 

Auto everything except white balance. Depth is about 12m, vis about 4m. Probably not my finest piece of work but you get an idea of the colours etc. Sorry picture is the thumbnail at the bottom of the post.

 

 

In the water the housing feels amazing, super well balanced in fact pretty much neutral, which is big difference compared to my Ikelite with my cheapy / heavy lighting system. It is so much easier getting stable footage. The controls are reasonably easy to find and I’m sure after a few more dives it will become second nature. One really nice touch is the springs on the buttons that makes it easy to use even at depth. Something that gets harder and harder with the Ikelite.

The zoom is smooth, there is access to all camera functions including two white balance presets. So I can set lights on / off, red filter in / out etc and change quickly without having to get the slate out. I had no problems white balancing down to about 15m (didn’t go any deeper so I couldn’t test what it was like regarding light levels) in poor visibility. You can also dial in the white balance with the colour temp of your lights. I haven’t tried this as yet but will do soon.

 

I really haven’t had a chance to fully test it out yet but I’ve got a few trips coming up over the next few months so I will keep you all posted. I really want to try and perfect my macro stuff and I have the Gates tripod to test out and also the diopter set.

 

 

I will keep you posted.

 

Jon

Geoff,

I find that if you don't do a white balance in the first 3-4m then it won't balance a deeper depths... it seams to work better in incremental steps. I generally jump in and set one preset for shallow water no filter, drop down and keep balancing until I can't any more... depth depending on conditions and set that as the second preset, and I have the third preset at 6000k which is the colour temp of my lights. Now between those three presets you can flip the filter to put it into the ball park and then tweak it in post.

Tips for getting it to WB at depth, lock exposure and open the aperture face it at the sun and WB it works ok but the colours are generally a little cyan. I've actually had that work down at around late 30m's water was crystal clear but an over cast day...

Oh and I use a grey slate to WB,

The good thing is if you are diving in similar conditions on a livaboard for example I have done this on day one and then as sloppy as it is, kept the presets and not bothered with WB for the rest of the trip and just dealt with it in post.

Jon