Last night, Ríchard Izarra of PRODU quite unexpectedly materialized in Miami to cover my dual book launch (The Castilian Conspiracy and La conspiración del castellano) with his Canon XA20 camera, which he received recently. Ahead you’ll see a 1:53 (under 2-minute) video package which he edited and published with FCP X early this morning, before leaving for México, together with his continuing commentary about the camera.

Key details of the book launch

There were 52 attendees at the Books & Books bookstore in Coral Gables, Florida, US. María Kowalski acted as bilingual master of ceremonies. In addition to Richard Izarra of PRODU.com who shot with his new Canon XA20 camcorder, Francisco Javier Arbolí also covered the event with his Panasonic AG-HPX170. In addition to locals, there were also attendees from far away places like the Dominican Republic (where they speak Castilian) and Wales (where they speak both Welsh and English).

What Ríchard likes and (so far) doesn’t like about his Canon XA20

As stated previously in my September 30th article:

Ríchard is very happy with the XA20, although he still hasn’t had time to take advantage of some of the new features, like the WiFi monitoring and remote on smartphones and tablets. He says that the XA20 has a better lens, image and a better build quality than the predecessor, the XA10. He also likes the fact that (at least in the .mp4 mode he uses), it solves the Malignant PsF issue that the XA10 records in the so-called “PF30” mode, which I covered back in my PsF missing workflow series, together with workarounds. Fortunately, those workarounds are not required when recording 1080/29.97p in .mp4 mode with the XA20. Ríchard says that the only thing that surprised him (and that he missed) from the XA10 and NX30 was the internal memory. The XA20 has no internal memory and only records on SDXC or SDHC cards.

Yesterday, Ríchard added that he has not yet been able to put the XA20 into AGC (Automatic Gain Control) mode for audio, which he misses from prior cameras, especially for video journalism. Last night, I was in a presenter role, and therefore was not able to help Ríchard to try to activate the AGC in the camera’s menu, and (as stated earlier), he left early this morning for México. In the meantime, Ríchard has been having to adjust his audio levels manually with the XA20. However, he does plan to return to Miami next week, so hopefully I’ll meet with him at that point to get to the bottom of it. In any case, his video which you’ll see above was shot with his XA20, together with his Electro-Voice RE50N/D-B microphone, which is the high-end version with Neodymium for higher sensitivity.

Upcoming articles, reviews, and books

Stand by for upcoming articles, reviews, and books. Sign up to my free mailing list by clicking here.

Si deseas suscribirte a mi lista en castellano, visita aquí. Si prefieres, puedes suscribirte a ambas listas (castellano e inglés).

My latest book (paperback + ebook)

My most recent book is available in two languages, and in paperback as well as an ebook. The ebook format is Kindle, but even if you don’t have a Kindle device, you can read Kindle books on many other devices using a free Kindle app. That includes iPad, Android tablets, Mac computers, and Windows computers. Although generally speaking, Kindle books are readable on smartphones like Androids and iPhones, I don’t recommend it for this particular book since it contains both color photos and color comparison charts. The ebook is also DRM-free.

In English:

In English, it is currently available in the following Amazon stores, depending upon your region:

• Amazon.com, for the US and other countries in the Americas, or anywhere if you simply prefer itthat don’t currently have their own Amazon store
• Amazon.br for Brazil
• Amazon.ca for Canada
• Amazon.de for Germany
• Amazon.es for Spain pero a lo mejor lo preferirás en castellano, a continuación)
• Amazon.fr for France
• Amazon.in for India
• Amazon.it for Italy
• Amazon.co.jp for Japan
• Amazon.com.mx for México
• Amazon.co.uk for the United Kingdom

Or in your favorite bookstore by requesting ISBN–10: 1456310232 or ISBN–13: 978–1456310233.

En castellano:

En castellano, está disponible actualmente en las siguientes tiendas Amazon, según tu región:

• Amazon.com para EE.UU. y todas las Américas donde no existe un tienda particular… o en cualquier parte si simplemente lo prefieres
• Amazon.com.br para Brasil
• Amazon.co.jp para Japón
• Amazon.de para Alemania
• Amazon.es para España
• Amazon.fr (Francia)
• Amazon.in para India
• Amazon.it para Italia
• Amazon.com.mx para México
• Amazon.co.uk para el Reino Unido

o en tu librería preferida al solicitar el ISBN–10: 1492783390 ó el ISBN–13: 978–1492783398.

Allan Tépper’s other books, consulting, articles, seminars & audio programs

Contact Allan Tépper for consulting, or find a full listing of his books, articles and upcoming seminars and webinars at AllanTepper.com. Listen to his TecnoTur program, which is now available both in Castilian (aka “Spanish”) and in English, free of charge. Search for TecnoTur in iTunes or visit TecnoTur.us for more information.

FTC disclosure

No manufacturer is specifically paying Allan Tépper or TecnoTur LLC to write this article or the mentioned books. Some of the other manufacturers listed above have contracted Tépper and/or TecnoTur LLC to carry out consulting and/or translations/localizations/transcreations. Many of the manufacturers listed above have sent Allan Tépper review units. So far, none of the manufacturers listed above is/are sponsors of the TecnoTur programs, although they are welcome to do so, and some are, may be (or may have been) sponsors of ProVideo Coalition magazine. Some links to third parties listed in this article and/or on this web page may indirectly benefit TecnoTur LLC via affiliate programs.

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The articles contained in the TecnoTur channel in ProVideo Coalition magazine are copyright Allan Tépper/TecnoTur LLC, except where otherwise attributed. Unauthorized use is prohibited without prior approval, except for short quotes which link back to this page, which are encouraged!