New Owner's First Impressions: Geoff Amthor
posted on rec.video.production 2/24/98
reprinted with permission

"I bought an XL1... I've had it now for 24 hours, and have done several hours of tests, including comparisons with my PC7. These are my first impressions:

"Out of the box, the thing is huge. (Box itself is huge!) The XL1 is bigger than it looks in pictures. It's heavy, too. (Before purchasing it, I tried lugging a laptop computer around, crooked on end in my right hand by my head... this is a useful exercise.)

"Quality oozes from the XL1. As someone remarked once, this is probably the only DV format camcorder that actually looks like it might be as expensive as it costs! This thing easily looks and feels like four grand or better.

"I've summarized my findings below. However, I want to specifically address a few rather subjective issues.

"First, this thing absolutely smokes the PC7 in low-light work. (By low light, I mean any indoor scene lit by average ambient artificial light, or less.) The PC7 image gets filled with gain noise, the colors flatten out... but the XL1 shows absolutely no signs of gain noise, even at 12db gain. If you want to go to extremes, you can use slow shutter -- which actually makes the scene brighter than it is to your naked eye. (Slow shutter also strobes any camera movement or significant subject movement.) I can't emphasize enough the amazing quality of the XL1 in low light.

"The PC7 does a little better in regular (good) light. Compared to the XL1, however, it falls down in wider angle shots (can't render the detail), with complicated colors (oversaturates and confuses them), and doesn't have the exposure latitude of the XL1 (PC7 is more likely to have over and underexposed areas). The PC7 seems to do best with portrait type of images at medium focal length, even lighting. Meanwhile, the XL1 is totally unfazed by anything I throw at it: wide angle, telephoto, high contrast, low contrast, lots of colors, weak colors.

"The XL1 is certainly heavy and front heavy. My right arm was aching within an hour (new form of "memory effect"!). However, oddly enough, the more I used the XL1, the less I noticed the weight. I got used to using my left hand more for weight support, after using it intially just to fiddle with controls. I settled into a default shooting position with the iris stalk buried into my left palm, left thumb on the "push autofocus" one-touch button, left fingers curled under the lens. This left hand support took much of the pressure off my right hand and arm. After several hours, my right arm wasn't sore at all.

"The flip-down shoulder brace is just a brace for stability and doesn't take a significant percentage of the weight. I'm waiting for delivery on the optional shoulder pad that might actually carry some weight. Meanwhile, it has occurred to me that there is a major opportunity for a third-party to design a better brace/support for the XL1 -- perhaps one built on a wearable vest with a quick-release disengagement of the camera.

"Aside from the excellent image quality in all environments, my major positives include a push-button instant autofocus, which gives you the benefits of autofocus without the foibles (nervous hunting). It allows you to adjust the focus using autofocus when YOU want to adjust it (when subject is moving, etc.), while leaving things stable the rest of the time. The optical stabilizer and stereo mike are also excellent.

"The problems I found have been noted by various others. Several are significant, but none are crippling. To me, the biggest failings are the lack of positive focus indicator in the viewfinder (making manual focus much harder) and a less-than-convenient iris knob. But I can live with this stuff.

"The most significant subjective comment I will make is that the XL1 "wants" to be a pro camcorder, so entices the operator (me) in this direction. I feel myself really aspiring to be a better videographer when holding the XL1 -- and it gives me the tools to be one, if I choose. By contrast, the PC7 wants to be a point-and-shoot camcorder, and manages to dumb down my knowledge of videography and make me lazy as an operator. This is the best compliment I can pay the XL1: I can feel it pulling me ahead, making me better.

Best Features:

• Low-light images are amazing - no gain noise
• Beautiful, rich, sharp images in any light
• Push-button autofocus - great feature
• Excellent optical stabilizer
• Excellent stereo microphone
• Superb 16X telephoto zoom range (up to 633mm telephoto in 35mm terms!)
• Optional 3X wide zoom
• Good zoom rocker switch
• Large viewfinder with comfortable eyecup
• Integrated ND filter
• 16-bit, 48KHz audio recording
• Superb layout of controls - intuitive access to a hundred options
• "Standby" off button conserves power while saving settings (white balance, etc.)
• Looks awesome & original
• Quality construction - feels rock solid
• Conveys a seriousness of intent - professional feel - to the operator

Great Extras:

• 16x9 widescreen mode
• Frame movie mode (generates superb stills, interesting "dreamy" video)
• Simultaneous recording of 2 independent stereo tracks
• Separate level controls for 2 independent stereo tracks
• Slow shutter speed options (enables extreme low-light shooting)
• Zebra stripes
• Top-mounted auxiliary controls (for low angle shooting)
• Great, solid carrying handle
• Convenient headphone jack w/volume control

Problems:

• Camera is heavy & front-heavy (you get used to it - it feels worse, then better)
• No positive focus indicator in viewfinder (for manual focus)
• Mike picks up slight motor hum vibration through mount
• Slight audio hiss
• Auto white balance is poor (manual white balance works fine)
• AE shift function doesn't have viewfinder indicator (can be left on accidentally)
• Manual iris knob is inconveniently located and moves in click stops
• Camera shuts off too quickly to conserve power
• Viewfinder can be damaged by sun

Missing Features:

• No fold-out LCD monitor
• Would have preferred DVCAM playback capability
• No analog video input (S-Video or RCA composite)
• Viewfinder has near/far adjustment, but is not continuously variable between extremes

Back to the XL1 Owner's Reports Menu
Written by Geoff Amthor
Thrown together by Chris Hurd