well? as with many electronics there are sometimes news of specific models being defective. you guys know of any 'batches' that have gone bad?

timeframe is probably 6 months (purchase). gonna be getting it from online. i'm thinkin ebay, ya'll know of other cheap places to get it from? i know there's a thread STICKIED but none of them have usable LINKS yet to online stores that are CHEAP. i've seen it on ebay for only $1800+S&H:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2954777816&category=20330

i know it's only the camera but that's all what i need right now. shooting short movies (hobbyist). i wanna build my arsenal piece by piece.

Hate to burst your bubble, there's no way you are getting a new XL1s for $1800, unless it's stolen.

Look at what the seller has for sale:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=kjclev&include=0&since=-1&sort=3&rows=50

Next look at the sellers past items:
http://cgi2.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=kjclev

Do you see the difference? $1.99 cards to a $1800 video camera. There is an issue there. This is probably a hacked/pirated account.

Send money at your own risk. I wouldn't send this seller a dime even with Ken Tanaka's VISA....

This auction does not pass the sniff test to my nose at all. A truly new XL1s kit sells for over twice this price, closer to US$3,500.

Please don't be a sucker with too-good-to-be-true auctions and prices. Take time to read through Dylan Couper's cautionary notes on eBay auctions (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6819).

I would also recommend on not trying to get a "too good to be true" deal off of E-bay or other online auction sites, because it most likely is just that... too good to be true. Someone pretty recently posted a list of warning signs to detect theft and fraud on auction sites, particularly E-bay. Try searching for that thread and checking it out. It would be well worth your time.

"... even with Ken Tanaka's VISA

Haw haw!

Well I guess Ken got his post in just before mine. Definately check out the link provided in his post.

know what's funny? it's already delisted!!!! =D. ahhahahahah!!! yeah i know. i have gotten real good deals however off of ebay =D. a brand new velodyne CHT12 subwoofer for roughly $350 (delivered) or so when it retails for $500-600 =D.

*sigh*. what's a good decent price for JUST THE CAMERA (alone)? $2.8k? 3k?

If by, "just the camera alone" you mean just the body without a lens or viewfinder, it lists for around US$2,700 at B&H Photo (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?BI=155&O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=231684&is=REG). That's a good benchmark. Keep your eye on our "Private Classifieds" section, as XL1's turn up for sale there routinely.

Just be careful about bargain-hunting. You may discover that you're the hunted, not the hunter.

i scored my XL1 (not s) off ebay for $2200 with the canon filter set, tiffen pro mist and FX filters, 2 high capacity batts, 2 standard batts, protabrace bag, MA-100 and other odds and ends. i think i did well with that and the thing works like a charm. I agree with keeping an eye out for the private classefieds here as there's lots of good deals to be had.

Howdy from texas,

i know there's a thread STICKIED but none of them have usable LINKS yet to online stores that are CHEAP.

That's because there is no such thing. "Cheap" prices too low to be true are just sucker-bait, waiting to reel in those looking for "the lowest possible price" only to get yanked so hard they wind up paying more than they would have if they'd gone through an authorized dealer in the first place.

I don't believe in that nonsense, so I post only the *realistic* dealers who sponsor this message board with real-world pricing and honest reputations. These outfits are B&H, EVS, ZGC, Zotz, etc. If you can't afford their fair prices, then you're shopping for the wrong camcorder... choose another model closer to your budget. We've got an entire article on the site about buying from Ebay.

As a service to our sponsors and to protect our readers from potentially bad deals, I will remove references and links to dealers who are not authorized DV Info Net sponsors. Hope this helps,