Canon XH-A1 and clear pictures

I took some footages of my friends, co-workers, and my nephew with my XH-A1. They are shot in different light settings, and all in auto-focus mode. One thing I noticed about all three videos is that I don't really have a very clear picture. What I want is a crystal clear picture. The videos that I took are a little fuzzy as if there is constant mist between the people and the camera. Is there anyway I can shoot crystal clear videos with what I have?
 
Don't know, do you have a sample screen shot of the problem you're having so we can give you the right answer. There are a few reasons off the top of my head:
not enough light - add light
auto focus with person not centered in frame - turn auto focus off
gain cranking up to account for lack of light - turn off auto gain
motion blur due to slow shutter (another add light thing) - turn off auto

Basically, camera capture light, give it to them. Electronics are dumber than a box of silicon (rocks), don't trust your camera to make decisions for you, turn it to manual and take the time to learn the controls, you'll be much happier with the results.

But again, without seeing the image, I can't tell you which is wrong... but auto is a dirty word!
 
Clean the lens?
smiley_pac.gif


Yah, auto-focus ain't to be relied upon that much.

Zoom in close.
Focus manually.
Zoom out to your frame.

Post a snap of a sample frame :)
 
ive been told by many... personal friends and on forums, that the out of the box settings for the xh a1 are terrible..... i saw a bunch of manual settings people posted on different forums for that specific camera to get a really clear picture and i know that camera is capable of it...

i havent personally used it so i cant help much... all i know is that you need to tweek the xh a1 a lot to get the most out of it
 
Hey. I have an xh-a1. Sounds to me that you have "Auto Gain" turned on. IT is a switch on the XH-A1 camera, turn it off. The switch is called AGC. It automatically tuns up your light gain in your camera in low light situations, giving you that not so clear, misty look, as soon as you turn it off you will have clear pictures.

CanonXHA1Detail.jpg
 
All of a sudden, I have the same fuzzy XH A1 image problem. I shoot M for everything. The enclosed XH A1 screenshot was taken with shutter speed of 100 to compensate for the blur of the game action.

Blurry.png


I have AGC switch set to OFF. I do AWB with a card. I've shot in many gyms before without a focus problem, but this was fuzzy. However, when I zoomed into the scoreboard it was sharp. Then as soon as I pulled back, all elements in the image became fuzzy, almost as if there was not enough light to handle depth of field.

My Vixia HV30 does much better in this gym; every image is crisp and focused, probably due to its being a shorter lens. This sequence was shot with HV30. I shoot HDV 30, Shutter 100 with both cameras. Now, for some reason the XH A1 is fuzzy. I need to solve this problem.

Thanks...
 
Back
Top