Hey, I was wondering if any of you had, or have used the Canon gl2? If you have, what's your opinion of it?

Great camera. Step down from XL1 obviously. Don't have one personally but others at the TV station I used to work for used it.

Gl2's are great camera there not too big but not too small. A lot of reality tv shows are filmed on these or very similar cameras. I think they give a good "being there" vibe.

The GL2 can be a good camera. However, it depends for what you plan on using the camera. All cameras that are sold today have various advantages and disadvantages.

For example, the three CCD chips inside are only 1/4" chips, much smaller than the more common 1/3" chip cameras. This means it needs much more light and if there isn't enough light, the picture gets noisy.

The larger 1/3" chip cameras require less light (for say, a stage in a dark room).

Also, the GL2 has a much more "plasticy" feel than its bigger brother the XL-1 and the XL-H1. This can have an effect if you will be shooting "street magic" where a more rugged camera is more important.

So, first ask yourself for what you need the camera. Then find the camera that best suits your needs. I'd hate to see someone buy a camera like the GL-2 only to find it isn't the best camera for the job.

Plus, keep in mind, the GL-2 is Standard Def ONLY. In a world where you can buy an HD camera for under a thousand dollars, do you want to be stuck with a camera that came out in 2002? Would you buy a computer that is almost 6 years old?

Scott

Thanks for the advice Scott. As of right now Id like to stay away from HD.

Thanks Scott for the precisions...

I too will soon buy a hd, so in your opinion, what would be the best purchase given the fact that I want to film myself doing coin magic mainly ?

There're tons of models and I'm quite lost with all the choice !!

I use a GL-2 and several of my crew members and friends have one as well. I've owned mine for a few years now and absolutely love it. Are there better cameras out there? Of course. There will be pros and cons to any camera you get. Eventually I'll venture over to Hi-Def, but for now my needs are met by my trusty GL-2. What is your budget? My thoughts are that there is the $1000 and below category of camera, $1000-2500, and above $2500. Of course there are pro cams in the $10K+ - $100K+ range as well.

The image resolution is very nice with rich colors, but it tends to shoot a little warm. White balance should assist with that. When showing non scripted home video to friends and family, unsolicitedly, they all comment on how great the image looks. Again, are there better cameras? yes. will you pay more? yes. For a standard def, 3 CCD camera, I LOVE my Canon. I love ALL Canon products as well. No, I've got no vested interest in Canon, just a happy customer.

The on board audio is surprisingly good. External mikes are recomended for all cameras for particular jobs, however. Image stabilizer is clean.

Camera technology will rapidly improve over time, but camera operation technique won't evolve as quickly. Is the GL-2 the best cam for you? That's totally subjective. Just like automobiles, every car and maker is different. If you want the performance of a Ferrari, you'll obviously pay for it. For my money a Vette is the best performance to value. Go to your brick and mortar video shop and kick the tires of the video cams. See what works best for you given your budget.

If you're getting a cam just for internet clips, a sub $500 may be fine. If you're shooting inde films a Panasonic HVX may be good. As for a 'plasticy' feel, that is partially true, but not distractingly so. I enjoy the solid feel of it.

A VERY important factor that precludes any camera is using proper and adequate lighting. It doesn't have to be expensive. You can achieve decent lighting under $20 for general purposes. Lighting makes ALL the difference, from the cheapest of the cheap to the $20K+ cameras.

Whatever you decide, learn that unit inside and out. Know HOW to work the camera to achieve optimal results.

And please, for the sake of humanity, use a tri-pod.

-rk

Thanks for the infos!
cheers,

Thanks for the info. I've been searching around a bit, and this seems to best fit my budget and my needs.

Well, I thought I would resurrect this thread. I ended purchasing a Canon XL1 about two months ago. Its a great cam. I'll be shooting footage with it all this summer. One thing I HIGHLY recommend is buying a nice shotgun mic. I bought an Azden SGM-1X and just made a boom pole for it.

You cannot buy a HD camera for under 1000 dollars. A true HD will start you at 20,000.00. Sony and other manufacturers make a lesser version that is nice for around 7000.00, but is NOT true hd. As it records the video, it automatically reduces the quality to a mpg format resulting in resolution loss. It does film in hd size and structure, but not near the quality.

If youve seen hd cameras advertised under 1000, please post a link. Im interested in what they are really selling.

The gl2 is ok... a high end consumer camera in my opinion. You really need to step up to the 3ccd cameras (pd150, xl1 or xl2, vx2100). But more expensive but broadcast quality. Like they said, depends what you want it for. Web videos, home videos, or projection use is fine for gl2. For broadcasting or promovideos, I suggest stepping upward. We have two sony pd170's, one cannon xl2, and one panasonic 24fps cam. All are a step above the gl2 and step below hd.

Videoguy, I think you might be getting worked up over nothing.

What do you mean by 'true HD'? Technically, anything higher than 480p frame size is HD.

I think you might be confusing compression with frame resolution.

There are many cameras that shoot 1080p, for example, all with different compression. Even BluRay is compressed 1080p and I can't help but wince when I see the macroblocking in the shadows of BluRay footage.

But regardless, there are many cameras that are in the sub-thousand range that shoot HD.

For example, the HV30, an HD camera that sells for around $570 (Amazon link), records in 1080. You might complain about the quality, as it is compressed to HDV.

I agree a hundred percent. However, it has an HDMI output, which allows to you get a 'raw feed' before the footage is compressed. Send this into your computer using a Blackmagic card and you've got raw 1080 input for under a thousand bucks (includes the Blackmagic card, which is a round $200, I think).

It won't compare with an HPX500 or a Red One when it comes to color space, sensor size and manual control. That's for certain.

But for what 95% of the magicians on this forum need, I would be willing to bet that an HV30 is more than plenty for what will most likely be turned into a youtube video or a promo video that is compressed down to a standard def, 480p DVD.


Ethan,
I'm thrilled you got a camera! Any camera is better than no camera and you'll get some great pics from the GL2. I would recommend using its progressive shooting mode for pretty much everything, since you'll most likely be going to DVD or web video.

So congrats, Ethan! We all look forward to seeing what you do with it!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not getting worked up at all. Just wanted to make it clear that there is a true HD (uncompressed) and there is compressed HD of lower quality. Your hd channels on tv are true hd, and the cameras are very expensive.

You are right though, magicians don't need the highest quality. I personally still would rather have dvcam or mini dv 3ccd chipped over compressed hd.

So that there is NO confusion, I'll repeat... anything over 480p frame size (which is an average DVD quality) is HD.

HD describes the SIZE of the frame, not the quality. Compression has nothing to do with whether it is HD or not.

There is no such thing as "true" HD in the sense you are describing. Either it is above 480p or it isn't.



HD channels on tv actually have MORE compression than DVCProHD (a popular COMPRESSED HD format) and I can see the compression artifacts plain as day on Comcast's "HD". Just look at the macroblocking in the shadows or in explosions in any of Comcast's "HD" footage.

Discovery and History Channel have aired HD programming shot on the HVX-200, a PROSUMER, inexpensive, $6,000 camera, that shoots 720p using DVCProHD, a codec I use everyday.

DVCProHD shoots at 100 Mbps (think of it like a pipe of water that can pump through a hundred gallons a second).

HDV and miniDV both do 25 Mbps.

DVD, which I still think looks GREAT, is usually around 7 and is limited to 9 Mbps.

Again, this all affects the quality of the frame, but does nothing to affect the SIZE of the frame.

And please, none of this is directed at you personally! I just wanted to expand on a few facts.

Thanks for your contributions!
Scott

You can also pick up a factory refurb canon HV20 HDV handycam for $400 US...this little thing is hard to beat for the bucks