hello i am a newbie at this so bear with me. i just recently got a hold of the body of a XL1. i dont have much of a budget. i figured i could buy one piece at a time. i assume i will need the lens first. but i am gonna need to see what i am looking at. is it possible to use a 7" LCD monitor and work with that till i can afford a viewfinder?

hmm if so i suspect i would have to find a way to mount it. do they sell mounting kits for that kind of thing?

Sure you could do that, but a replacement viewfinder is only $250, making it less expensive than a decent LCD monitor. Plus, you'll have to figure out a way to get power to that monitor whenever you're outdoors and away from an AC outlet.

An even better solution would be to ditch the idea of buying XL1 parts one at a time. It's a ten-year-old camcorder, and for less money than the cost of buying and assembling its separate pieces, you can have a much, much better image from a much newer camcorder, such as a Canon HV20.

on ebay all of the viewfinders i saw were more than $250. i will keep my eyes peeled tho. the hd20 is nice but i wanted something a little more "prosumer".

plus i want to learn the craft of a manual lens. next camera i buy will probably be the XHA1. but that i would imagine would be years down the road.

Forget Ebay, contact Canon USA at 1-800-OK-CANON and drill down until you get to parts and service. They should have a replacement color EVF for the XL1 or XL1S for about $250.

The white 16x lens that came with your XL1 body is not what you'd call a manual lens. It's actually automatic in nature, even though the focus and zoom control rings around the lens are manipulated by hand. A used GL2 in decent shape will give you pretty much the same thing for about the same money, but a better looking image since it's a couple of generations newer than the XL1.

thanks i will give em a call and see what they say. i already have the body of the xl1 so i am kinda committed to that right now.

oh and its just the body. i dont have a lens as of yet. i was looking into getting one of those 14x manual lenses.

Eric
wait till you start shooting, then you will need a bigger budget. I started with the pd170, went to the xl2 and now have a jvc5100 with fujinon along with 2 still cameras and tooooooo many lens to list. IT IS ADDICTING.

3 video and 2 still cameras. no wonder the wife divorced me. just got a 30 inch monitor. 2 x23 inch apples were not enough. and this started out 2 years ago as a hobby.

lol. yea i can see how this can get expensive fast. i am just trying to get some of the basics. Camera Body, lens, monitor, tripod. whatever i need to shoot something. we have Avid express DV and final cut(the cheapy version), a ton of hard drive space, and all the time in the world. One of my other hobbies is music, so i have a ton of sound equipment laying around. Another friend is a photographer, so he has a lot of lighting equipment.

A group of friends and i are pitching around ideas for simple short films. something like "12 angry men", "breakfast club", "dial "m" for murder". A little film that only takes place in one or two locations and concentrates on dialog.

Hey Eric
check out my thread "anything worth saving". I have a 16x lens, veiwfinder, etc etc all working great and I want to get rid quickly at a very good price......way better than e bay or canon. Goto raise cash for my new A1
See what you think

i suspect i am gonna have to wait till christmas before i purchase anything else. if you can email me the prices tho and i can see if i can swing anything now.

Eric,

I suspect Martins' viewfinder from his Camera is PAL and will not work with your NTSC Xl1. The lens, batteries and anything else are good to go though.

oh yea. hmm, question. the viewfinder's cable that connects to the XL1 body, what kind of connection is that? can anything else fit that or is it proprietary to canon?

It's definitely proprietary to Canon.

go figure. they couldnt use anything normal could they.

Eric,

I'm not sure what your cash flow situation is, or what your intended production goals are... but as others have mentioned, going back to 'reconstruct' a Pal XL1 might not be 'cost effective'. It's POSSIBLE I suppose, but you're going to be subject to the whims of auctions.

You might just consider the xl1 body you have as a good 'deck'. (Yes, you can playback tapes with it, and feed your computer's NLE without having a lens or viewfinder attached to it.)

Save up your money, and go for 'newer' model on sale, complete.

Just a thought.

its a NTSC version. yea i was thinking of that too. but all i need to get filming is some batteries and a lens. i have a small monitor that i can use instead of the viewfinder for now.

i know what you mean tho. it would have been nice to get a total solution. but i dont have that kind of bank.

and small odds and ends i can get for christmas.

in fact i think that i wont even bother with the viewfinder, or the mic. i have all of my pro audio gear so sound is covered. and i should be able to make due with the monitors i have laying around. sure it will be a pain in the ass draging power cables around for all of that stuff, but if all it does is slow me down thats fine. that way all i have to do is buy a lens. i can put the rest of the money towards the XHA1 (which my company sells, so i get a discount).

i havent looked yet but is there a lens that is compatable with both the XL1 body and the XHA1?

and i suppose i could also make sure the odds and ends for christmas can fit both cameras.

all hypothetical tho....
does that sound like a realistic plan?

is there a lens that is compatable with both the XL1 body and the XHA1?The lens on the XH A1 is built-in and therefore non-removeable, which is entirely different from an XL camera, in which the lens is completely separate from the body... so hopefully you can see how there can be no such thing as a lens that works on both camcorders.

looks like i need another plan.

No problem Eric
I am away from home just now working but I will be back in 2 weeks, I will send you photo of lens and all the other bits and a price. It will be cheap, I just want to get some cash together to buy my new cam before xmas, got to record the little man opening his pressies!! Unfortunetly, the camera is PAL so the view finder wont work with a NTSC body but everything else should. I will contact you soon on this thread with my contact details to get yours.