H1 Review - DV.com

There's a really great review of the Canon H1 camera at DV.com by the venerable Adam Wilt.

"It's big and heavy, but nothing else below $10,000 can touch it for picture quality. The lens is lacking at the wide end and the controls are rubbery, but you can change the lens. There's some loss of vertical resolution in 24f and 30f, but the temporal signature is correct. No other low-cost 1080i camera does 24 fps better. It accepts any and all XL-series accessories. It genlocks. It has HD-SDI. I haven't even discussed Canon's Console software for monitoring, recording, and tweaking settings over FireWire; the monochrome viewfinder; SD cards for stills and camera setup files; or the enhanced remote controls available.

In short, the XL H1 punches above its weight. It may be as fair to compare it to Sony's new XDCAM HD camcorders as well as to its HDV companions and the HVX200. Only f-mode vertical aliasing and squishy lens servos keep the camera from being a perfect 5.0 score. Even if you dislike the XL form factor, check it out—the pictures are worth the wrist pain."