topic Re: Canon XA40 OR XA50? in Camcorders

Canon XA40 OR XA50?

ozzie63 — Fri, 07 May 2021 01:42:57 GMT

Am looking at buying either the XA40 or XA50, Should I be be concerned with the smaller sensor in the XA40? Its for general documentary work, holidays, wlidlife and skiing stuff. Any owners of either camcorder please advise.

Re: Canon XA40 OR XA50?

rs-eos — Fri, 07 May 2021 10:53:35 GMT

I would personally go for the XA50. I own the consumer line Vixia HF G50 which is quite similar to the XA40 in terms of basic specs (e.g. same smaller sensor).

At the time, I should have saved up a bit more for the G60 (which is similar to the XA50). Along with the larger sensor, you're getting Dual Pixel AF.

Also, with a recent firmware update, the XA50 gains Canon Log 3. While the XA40 will gain some things with the firmware update, it won't gain Canon Log 3.

About the only con I see with the 1-inch type* sensor camcorders is that the variable aperture lens is f/2.8 to f/4.5. Whereas the XA40 line (with smaller sensor) has an f/1.8 to f/2.8 variable aperture lens. I'm assuming the larger sensor should make enough of a difference to compensate for the less bright apertures and perhaps go a bit beyond. Still, a bummer for those that want to keep the aperture fixed across the entire zoom range (e.g. I use f/2.8 on the G50). But if wanting to do the same on these larger sensor units, you'd be using f/4.5

* I really wish there never existed the nomenclature of "1-inch type" as that seems to imply a 1-inch diagonal sensor. Truth be told, these sensors are approx 5/8-inch diagonal. Pretty close to Super 16.

Re: Canon XA40 OR XA50?

ozzie63 — Fri, 07 May 2021 15:21:55 GMT

Hello, thanks for that, as I had replied to an earlier comment, I am in the mindset for the XA50, even though it costs quite a bit more here in the UK. I had seen the Vixia HF G60, but think I would rather go for the XA50 instead. Thanks for the info on the sensor and firmware update too.

Steve.

Canon EOS 90D, 7D MK2, Sigma 150-600mm C, 24-105MM, 10-18MM, 50MM, 17-85MM, Lumix TZ95.