The XA55 Professional Camcorder offers an outstanding combination of 4K UHD image quality, features and functionality in a compact portable design ideally suited for on-the-go Electronic News Gathering (ENG) and documentary production.
Featuring a 1.0-inch 4K UHD CMOS image sensor and a DiG!C DV 6 Image Processor, the XA55 can record in XF-AVC or MP4 formats to dual SD card slots. The camcorder is capable of recording 4K UHD video at 30p, as well as slow motion recording up to 60fps in Full HD (30 fps in 4K UHD). A 15x optical zoom lens maintains 4K UHD quality throughout the entire zoom range, while the camcorder's Dual Pixel CMOS AF helps facilitate fast and accurate autofocus.
The camcorder includes an HDMI 2.0 terminal with 4K UHD output support, two XLR terminals with independent audio level control and a 3G-SDI terminal that supports camcorder integration into professional workflows. An adjustable 3.0-inch touch panel LCD monitor and a built-in 0.24-inch electronic viewfinder enhance usability, and the detachable handle helps the XA55 to operate in a variety of shooting situations. Designed to meet the needs of professionals, the XA55 offers a wide range of recording possibilities.
High Sensitivity / Low Noise
The XA55 camcorder's 1.0-inch sensor allows for larger photosites compared to smaller-sized sensors, resulting in improved images with less noise in low-light situations. The larger sensor also exhibits a shallower depth of field at large apertures, providing greater depth of field control and creative options. The camcorder's DiG!C DV 6 imaging engine further enhances the high sensitivity and low noise performance of the camcorder.
Wide DR Gamma (800%) Support
For natural and realistic-looking image capture that faithfully represents the scene at hand, Wide DR Gamma achieves a wide dynamic range of 800% to produce almost seamless tone gradations, resulting in smooth detail, accurate color and virtually no blown-out highlights.
The XA55 Professional Camcorder incorporates a Canon 4K video lens that leverages proprietary Canon optical technologies derived from years of experience in developing Cinema, Broadcast and EF series lenses.
Inspired by the same high level of optical precision used in Canon broadcast and photographic lenses, the Canon XA55 camcorder incorporates a Genuine Canon 15x optical zoom lens that maintains 4K UHD quality throughout the entire zoom range, and offers a focal length range of 25.5 to 382.5mm (35mm film equivalent).
5-Axis Optical Image Stabilization
The XA55 camcorder also incorporates a 5-axis Optical Image Stabilization (IS) system.
The camcorder features three modes of image stabilization: Standard, Dynamic and Powered. In Standard IS mode, the stabilizing angle is made constant independent of the zoom magnification. Dynamic IS mode extends the stabilizing range at the wide end of the focal length, allowing for image stabilization when shooting while walking. Powered IS mode helps facilitate stabilization in the low frequency range at the tele end, and should be used exclusively for fixed-point shooting which does not involve panning.
ND Filter
A compact and independent internal 3-density ND filter, using a turret (circular) mechanism, allows the user to select from three densities (ND 1/4, ND 1/16 and ND 1/64) or turn the feature off if needed. Density can be adjusted using the dedicated external buttons.
Optional Wide and Tele Accessories
The optional Wide Attachment WA-U58 and the Tele Converter TL-U58 accessories expand the creative capabilities of the XA55 camcorder.
The Wide Attachment WA-U58 offers a 0.8x wider angle of view that enables users to capture more of a scene, especially when indoors or in tight spaces, to lend better perspective to your video narrative. The Tele Converter TL-U58 provides extended 1.5x longer telephoto range for the XA55 camcorder's fixed lens, allowing distant subjects to be captured with brilliant clarity.
Dual Pixel CMOS AF with Touch Focus
The XA55 camcorder's 3.0-inch touch panel LCD enables smooth, intuitive operation of Dual Pixel CMOS AF. Accurate AF technology can be employed when shooting a scene by tapping a finger on the desired area of the scene you want the lens to focus on. Dual Pixel CMOS AF offers continuous AF within a horizontal and vertical range of the screen of approximately 80%. It also provides highly accurate Face Detection AF, which assists during single-operator shooting. Users can also use the touch panel to move the autofocus target manually.
4K UHD and Full HD Recording to Dual SD Cards Slots with 3G-SDI Output
The XA55 Professional Camcorder can record to dual SD card slots in 4K UHD and Full HD resolutions using the MP4 or XF-AVC recording formats. Multiple recording modes, resolutions and frame rates make the XA55 Professional Camcorder creatively flexible and adaptable to a wide range of fields from broadcasting to cinema.
Dual SD Card Slots
The XA55 features dual SD card slots to allow for Simultaneous or Relay Recording in either the MP4 or XF-AVC format. Simultaneous recording allows you to record on both SD cards at the same time, so that you can use one as a backup.
Relay recording allows uninterrupted recording from one card to the other when the first memory card becomes full.
3G-SDI Terminal
A 3G-SDI terminal allows for output that supports camcorder integration into professional workflows, making it particularly useful for on-the-go Electronic News Gathering (ENG) applications. The 3G-SDI output provides an uncompressed signal at a 1920x1080 resolution with 4:2:2 color sampling and 10-bit color depth, as well as embedded audio and time code. Stream directly to a broadcast van or connecting to a recorder to make high-quality video recordings for archiving purposes.
HDMI 2.0 Terminal
An HDMI 2.0 terminal supports 4K UHD 60p output, which can be connected to a standard external SSD/HDD recorder, enabling conversion to ProRes and DNx formats for efficient editing and storage.
