A good condition USED XA20 would have good value to a hobbyist shooting casual video. Completely compatible with VegasPro workflow.

Maybe you could tell us what his needs are. I had the Canon HF G30 which is exactly the same camera as the XA20 without the XLR feature. I sold it off pretty fast as the small sensor just didn't do very well in low light and the dynamic range wasn't good either. A CX900 will be much better and if he needs the pro features, the X70 will have it all plus the option of a 4K upgrade. I personally wouldn't buy a XA20 or its successor which still has a small sensor.

Requirements are good low light performance and it needs to have balanced audio inputs. Some degree of easy to use manual control would be a plus. Budget is AUD 2,000. Use case is mainly talking heads in average home lighting.

The X70 looks good but it's over the budget and the large sensor with its shallow DOF is a negative. All the affordable UHD cameras from Sony in the price range are a bust from what I've seen. We have the AXP35 but it's very noisy and the XLR audio bridge option has unresolved issues. The Sony NX30 would have been ideal but Sony has discontinued it.

Now that OldSmoke has reminded me, yes the Canon XA20 looks OK physically but fails to deliver sadly. Back to square one.

Bob.

Wouldn't the XA20 be over budget too? It still sells quite high on B&H. How about a CX900 with a Beachtek preamp like the DXA-HDV?

The "CX900 with a Beachtek preamp" sounds a good option.

G

Canon XA20 sells for AUD 1,788 from Camerapro.
The CX900 does look good but I'd never convince this gent to use a Beachtech. That said as it does have manual audio gain control it potentially isn't needed.

Thanks All, I think I'll recommend the CX900 to him.

Bob.

Bob, it has manual Zoom and Focus rings too!? Please check, and if so this could be a great lil cammie.

Yeah, read that it has audio in and cans out - neat - the Beachtek was for the XLR micing was my recog on that.

G

Dang, that's one helluva option. Canon need to get real.

G

Yes, Canon has some catching up to do right across the range. The price they're asking for the C300 MkII is absurd, I think it's more expensive than Sony's F5.

Back to the CX900:

Only one ring. There's a real trap with that ring.
Out of the box or after a reset, switch the ring to manual iris and it doesn't seem to do much. Reason is Auto Gain is On. The obvious has happened to one of our clients.

Bob.

Not sure if I follow. The ring on my AX100 is either Zoom or Focus and the Dial controls Iris, Gain and Shutter. Those three stay wherever l left them even after I cycle the power. My biggest issue with the Canon was that there was no control over that variable ND filter, the CX900 has 3 controllable ND filters, a big plus in my book.

Are the NDs glass?

Sounds like you've gone ahead with the CX900 Bob? But just to answer your OP; I've used 2 x XA20 cams for quite a while now. Mostly weddings, but also school plays, and small promotional videos. It's an excellent cam for run n gun shooting. The handle is an absolute must for me, it gives great stability. I've shot in some very dark Anglo Saxon churches, and haven't found the low light capability to be that bad. (Certainly compared to my previous XH-A1 cams) I've also used them at many wedding receptions for the dancing without using lights - most of the time anyways. The OLED touch screen is a joy to use once you get used to it. It's far and away the most configurable camera I've ever owned. Cons: No manual ND filter. It's either OFF or AUTO. Have never liked that.
No problem ingesting into Vegas at all using Device Explorer.

I'm sure you've been Googling, but here's a pretty thorough review:
http://videoandfilmmaker.com/wp/index.php/reviews/cameras/canon-xa20/

Grazie

The ND filters are build in and they way the feel when you engage it, it is a piece of glass the moves over the sensor. Pretty much the same as on a bigger HXR-NX3.

My biggest issue with the XA20 is that there aren't enough buttons whereas the AX100/CX900 has already all the buttons for iris, gain and shutter. There are additional three buttons on the touch screen that are assignable.
There is however one drawback that could be an issue for some; I learned to live with it. The AX100/CX900 has no timecode menu, every clip starts from 00:00:00. In that matter, XA20 is much better. If you need timecode on a Sony, then it has to be the X70 which honestly isn't much more expensive then the XA20 if you stick to HD.

Thanks O'Smokie!

Canon seriously needs to extract their collective digits!

G

[I]"Sounds like you've gone ahead with the CX900 Bob?"[/I]

No, I'm only making suggestions to someone.
I agree with what you're saying about the handle. There's a second order consideration here though. The elderly gent in question lives in a small town in the country so access to service is also an issue. It's not a huge show stopper but there's a Sony and Panasonic certified tech in the building I work in. I'm not far from Canon either however a while ago they changed their whole repair process. We used to be able to talk to their technicians to describe exactly the problem etc, etc. That's all gone now.

Bob.

[I]" Not sure if I follow. The ring on my AX100 is either Zoom or Focus and the Dial controls Iris, Gain and Shutter."[/I]

If you've got a ring and dial then I doubt you'll have the issue I'm describing.

On some Sony cameras that have only the ring if you simply assign the ring to iris the automatic gain control is still active. As you close the iris the camera increases gain to compensate. You have to go into the menu and turn the automatic gain Off if you want to adjust exposure using the ring to control the iris. You will eventually get control of exposure if you turn the ring far enough but only because the auto gain has reached its limit and the image is very noisy by then.

Bob.

Bob.

Got it and no, that doesn't happen with the CX900. You actually can't sign anything to the ring, it only has a switch that will allow you to select Focus or Zoom and a Manual/Auto Focus button next to it. If the timecode issue is not an issue, the CX900 is a great choice.

I used the have this rig but I recently sold off the Beatchtek and got the XLR-K2M from Sony.