Still playing around with the xl-2 not as much as i would like, but here's a quick, question.Anyone film moving trains, or cars? I tried manual mode as mentioned on pg 40 of the xl2 manual about using manual focus on fast moving objects and shiny objects. looked ok in distant shot but when zoomed in on moving train the letters looked blurred.Any suggestion as where to start for the trail and error for settings? I used a small apeture and a quick shutter speed any ideas what else to try? Some days the trains are few and far between to try all these different settings. Thanks in advance

Thomas,
I am actually setting up a small shoot like yours at home. Just for the learning experience.

However, I am setting up my sons slot car track and zooming in on the cars. I am not sure how similar this test is to yours but we shall see.

Also I am not panning with the subject, I am just setting up on the tripod and planning to take some still photos.

Are you using 60i, 30p or 24p?

I am planning to use these setting's with several shutter's. (I don't think the iris will be much factor)

Guy, using 60fps. i'm trying tomorrow let me know how you do, Hopefully i'll get a few more , I'll let you know how i do , Also didn't buy it yet but there's a dvd about the canon xl-2 called http://www.filmwareproducts.com/UltimateGuide/UG-XL2.html good luck, Tom

Thomas,
How are you taping these trains? Are you on a tripod with a fixed camera postion and letter the train pass by? Or are you setting up near it and getting shots of the train coming at you with the train waaaaay in the background and also near the camera? What is your main focal point? I am thinking that this will determine you Iris setting. (Assuming you are outside and have all the light you could want)

Try and describe what you are attempting and I will see if I can duplicate it.

I did this trial in a very generic set up this past weekend. In order to get better results I need to improve my lighting.

I did some slow shutter speeds (60 ~ 2xx) and did not get much change. However once I bumped it up to 1000 I really dialed in on these little cars. But to do this I had to crank up the gain and introduced alot of noise.

Basically what I did was set up my camera on a sand bag (used for high powered rifles). the sand bag was great, I just set it on the ground and set my camera on it right next to the track. I was useing the 3x lens so that I get get a broad picture of what was coming. As the car would circle thoughout the track I could see it coming. On the left of my window the car was coming at me and then it took a sudden left turn and came parallel to my lens about 4" away.

As on would expect, on the stills I got alot of motion blur on the slower setting's but on 1000. I got a very visible image on 30p and 60i. On 60i there was a "ghost" image of the front of the car about 1/2" in front of the main object. I assume this is from the Interlace mode. The 60i looked good in as the car circled and 30p gave me a good still photo.

I think the test will be much better if I take it outdoors to be simulate the outside conditions.