Does anyone have any insight into the Canon XA 20 camcorder? we are attempting to select the appropriate recording equipment for new video production. We will be recording SMEs discussing various topics and recording times will range from 1/2 hour to as many as 3 hours. Venues will vary as well from smaller locations to larger auditoriums.
My IT team has selected the Canon XA20 and lav mics but we are new to this process so we are looking for any input the group can provide.
Your IT team did you a solid... that Canon is a great camera. You should be thrilled with it for most any training-type videos or corporate talking head videos you need to create.
The Canon controls are more intuitive and easy to use than Sony for example, they traditionally have good lenses, and tend to be reliable. All cameras have pros and cons of course, two things to think about with Canon:
1) Used to be they were a bit loud when use powered zoom, focus, etc. But wanting to do things correctly, you would only use manual control anyways... right? ;-)
2) Again in the past the Canons could sometimes need a touch more light than others. Amazing image quality, but remember to have good studio lighting.... especially if you are going to be doing chroma key (green screen) stuff which is so great for training videos.
All in all, awesome camera. Go for it!
As for mics.... my standard recommendation is not to skimp there. One of the most cost effective upgrades you can make is to spring for good mics. If you must have wireless Lavs, the Sennheisers are the industry standard workhorses.... hard to go wrong. If you don't need wireless, you can get same/better sound for less with Lav mics from Sanken, Tram, Countryman, etc. For our coroporate studio set up, we used wired mics exclusively, saving the Sennheisers for the rare location shoots.
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Hi Debra,
Your IT team did you a solid... that Canon is a great camera. You should be thrilled with it for most any training-type videos or corporate talking head videos you need to create.
The Canon controls are more intuitive and easy to use than Sony for example, they traditionally have good lenses, and tend to be reliable. All cameras have pros and cons of course, two things to think about with Canon:
1) Used to be they were a bit loud when use powered zoom, focus, etc. But wanting to do things correctly, you would only use manual control anyways... right? ;-)
2) Again in the past the Canons could sometimes need a touch more light than others. Amazing image quality, but remember to have good studio lighting.... especially if you are going to be doing chroma key (green screen) stuff which is so great for training videos.
All in all, awesome camera. Go for it!
As for mics.... my standard recommendation is not to skimp there. One of the most cost effective upgrades you can make is to spring for good mics. If you must have wireless Lavs, the Sennheisers are the industry standard workhorses.... hard to go wrong. If you don't need wireless, you can get same/better sound for less with Lav mics from Sanken, Tram, Countryman, etc. For our coroporate studio set up, we used wired mics exclusively, saving the Sennheisers for the rare location shoots.
Hope this helps and good luck!
Thanks Bob for your comments. I appreciate your input
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