Canon XL1

[BonOfTheDead]

Is this a good camera? i know my school uses them, and there horrible at it, but is it good enough to be worth so much?

[devin]

I would have to see the price you are thinking about before I give my opinion on if it's worth it or not. Also are you talking about the original XL1 or the XL1s. I have the XL1s and it was an amazing camera for its time and still is pretty good. It can produce very very good quality images once you learn how to use all of the features of the camera.

Thats not to say it can still keep up with the Prosumer market anymore, I prefer my XH-A1 any day now. So depending on what kind of price you were looking at it could be very good, or it could be very bad. Personally I wouldn't pay more then $800-$1000 for a used XL1s at this time.

[Scott]

I would have to see the price you are thinking about before I give my opinion on if it's worth it or not. Also are you talking about the original XL1 or the XL1s. I have the XL1s and it was an amazing camera for its time and still is pretty good. It can produce very very good quality images once you learn how to use all of the features of the camera.

Thats not to say it can still keep up with the Prosumer market anymore, I prefer my XH-A1 any day now. So depending on what kind of price you were looking at it could be very good, or it could be very bad. Personally I wouldn't pay more then $800-$1000 for a used XL1s at this time.



You won't find an XL-1s for that cheap. Unless its onlt the body.

[punkandska66]

one thing. dont set your idea in concrete. there are other cameras out there. what im saying is, look around before you say that you are sure you wanna get an XL-1

[devin]

Your probably right, I am just saying what I would personally pay for one at the moment. I just don't think it would be worth spending much more seeing as the newer cameras are getting cheaper and cheaper with similar quality. Now I know the XL1 has good potential but if you are that serious, usually you are willing to save up for a better camera. Again this is all just my own view on it.

[BonOfTheDead]

its this camera.

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=114&modelid=7471#ModelTechSpecsAct

and im a canon fan, so id like a canon brand camera :D
is there a better canon brand then the XL1 for standard def?
and is high def easy to use? as in, dont you have to do more then just plug it in?

[devin]

Currently for non HD cameras in the Canon line, the XL2 is the best. It's pretty much the same design as the XL1s with a few enhancements.

As for HDV vs DV each has their own benefits and downfalls. HDV cameras have a little worse low light which is fine for videos which you are doing all the setup for because you normally light it anyway. But for event videographers (weddings, anniversaries, live concerts) it might make a (very) small difference.

All of the Canon prosumer HDV cameras will do DV down conversion on the fly, so if you can't edit HDV on your PC, you can still do the down conversion in the camera. This means you CAN just plug it in and go like you do with any MiniDV camera. You can also just plug in and go with HDV, but you need the software to edit it. From my experience the down conversion hasn't caused any noticeable degradation in quality.

[BonOfTheDead]

so, a SD camera is what i need? because i dont have HD editing software. and the XL2 is the same price maybe?

$4000?! christ. i need a job.

[devin]

HDV cameras, at least in the canon line, can still down convert to an SD signal, so you can still edit just fine.

[BonOfTheDead]

but how much is the price? and plus canons sold out right now. but then again i dont have the money yet... hmmm.

[devin]

It is always a trade off. First you really have to think if a new camera will do everything you want. If you don't have the other equipment to fully take advantage of one of these cameras it's not really worth getting.

Check out www.bhphotovideo.com for prices, they are usually pretty good. Getting an XL2 or one of the HDV cameras like the XH-A1 will certainly cost more then an XL1s simply because they would all be newer. The XL1s is no longer in production so you will most likely have to find it used if thats the route you wanted to go. The biggest problem with used gear is that you don't know how much tape has been run through it, and the condition which they kept it. They may have just run tape through it without ever cleaning the heads, or changed lenses in bad environments. If you have some specific questions about the camera, feel free to PM me, I will answer anything I can.

[BonOfTheDead]

i want a camera, thats tv quality, and doesnt require me to be rich as a mother.

[devin]

Don't we all :) In all seriousness it's often not the camera that gives the "quality" we see on TV. Sure these DV / HDV cameras can't produce the same depth of field that we see on TV or in Film, but from my experience the actual Quality people talk about is more camera technique, framing, lighting, audio quality and content. If all of those are perfect, you could be using any prosumer camera and it will still turn out amazing. If you can get your hands on an XL1, it will certainly provide good visuals as long as you have everything else on par with it.

To give you an example of what I mean by the camera doesn't make the shot you can check out some of the stuff my friends and I have done on my website:
Click here (http://www.redmattersite.com/html/modules.php?name=Video_Stream&page=watch&id=2&d=1) to see a sample of the XL1s in the first episode of our show Chemical Reality

Then see the latest episode by Clicking Here (http://www.redmattersite.com/html/modules.php?name=Video_Stream&page=watch&id=27&d=1). The latest episode was shot on a XH-A1, but what helped the quality the most was the fact that it was lit decently, the sound was much better, and (from my view) the camera work was better.

Feel free to check out all 6 episodes, episodes 1-3 were shot with the XL1s, 4-6 were XH-A1.

So finally to answer your question, the XL1s should provide you with almost TV quality if you get everything else perfect. Obviously it won't be as good as hit shows like 24 or Lost but it should come damn close.

I hope this helped.

[BonOfTheDead]

indeed it did.

[Scott]

Your probably right, I am just saying what I would personally pay for one at the moment. I just don't think it would be worth spending much more seeing as the newer cameras are getting cheaper and cheaper with similar quality. Now I know the XL1 has good potential but if you are that serious, usually you are willing to save up for a better camera. Again this is all just my own view on it.


The XL-1s is a great camera to get. It has all sorts of manual controls, unlike the cheaper cameras with close to the same quality. If you want to be a serious filmmaker, get something like an XL-1 so you can learn the manual controls.

[devin]

I apologize Scott, I probably should have made that a little more clear. I am not talking about the smaller cameras like the HV20, I mean more along the lines of the PD170, XL2, GL2, VX2100. They are all dropping in price quite quickly. These range from $2000-$3000 new.
Now I know that the difference in price there is 2x-3x, but for me I just don't like buying used equipment. Even if the external camera looks perfect, you have no idea how they actually treated the internals like the heads and the sensor. I completely agree with you that the XL1s is an amazing camera, I still love mine to this day and wouldn't trade it. If they could get one new, my opinion would certainly change!

[KMProductions]

What's the difference between an XL 1S and an XL 2?

[BonOfTheDead]

so, the XL1 is good then. but one last thing... does it have a port to put in a microphone? so its not just the cameras microphone?

[devin]

What's the difference between an XL 1S and an XL 2?

- The XL2 has a better sensor, I forget the actual pixels but you can search for that info if you want.
- Higher Quality lens
- 24p/30p modes
- Better image in low light
- Improved viewfinder (2.0" LCD I think)
- True 16x9 mode (the XL1s just has guide and squeeze mode not true 16x9)

I am sure there are other differences as well, but these are the main ones that are useful for indy film makers.


As for the Mic port, yes it has a standard 1/8" Microphone input as well as RCA plugs for a second mic. You can actually record 4 Audio tracks at once if you have software that can capture 4 channels. This will allow you to plug an external mic in and still use your on camera mic in case you need it. Or plug in a second external mic as well.

Just a note, it does not have XLR adapters by default, you need to buy an adapter to allow XLR support.

[BonOfTheDead]

and as of frame rate, can it slowmo clips? like, higher frame rate then 25?

[Scott]

I apologize Scott, I probably should have made that a little more clear. I am not talking about the smaller cameras like the HV20, I mean more along the lines of the PD170, XL2, GL2, VX2100. They are all dropping in price quite quickly. These range from $2000-$3000 new.
Now I know that the difference in price there is 2x-3x, but for me I just don't like buying used equipment. Even if the external camera looks perfect, you have no idea how they actually treated the internals like the heads and the sensor. I completely agree with you that the XL1s is an amazing camera, I still love mine to this day and wouldn't trade it. If they could get one new, my opinion would certainly change!



Yeah, I understand. I bought my XL-1s used on eBay. It works wonderfully and hasn't failed me yet. But I'm somewhat of a risk-taker.