I'm just about to get my first xl1s and have the opportunity to also get a DV Steadicam.
Whilst it will be an uphill task to familiarise myself with the xl, I am also looking forward to future short film production.

I know the steadicam is a few years old now, but this seems to be too good an opportunity to miss, even though it may not be used immediately. It is certainly something that I had been thinking about and the price is affordable.

Has anyone any experience with the DV Steadicam and would you reccomend it?

See our own report (http://www.dvinfo.net/canon/articles/article40.php) on this site. Are you getting
the vest? I don't have any knowledge of this device myself, but
it looks like it doesn't utilize an arm?

Jean-Luc:

The DV Steadicam was pulled from production due to design problems. The venerable Steadicam JR remains the flagship handheld offering from Tiffen. I have had limited experience myself with the DV Steadicam but most of what I heard was negative, including former employees of the manufacturer.

With the size of the XL1, it is a difficult camera to use with a handheld stabilizer even in its stripped form as described in the article in the Watchdog. Add likely filmmaking accessories like wide-angle adaptors, XLR adaptors/wireless receivers and so on; and you most likely will be, in the words of John Goodman in "The Big Lebowski", "entering a world of pain".

A better choice would be a body mounted rig such as the Steadicam Mini, the Glidecam V series, the Hollywood Lite, or Magiqcam. Obviously these will cost more but they will be more practical in the long run.

Thankyou for the help with this matter.
I had heard that some people didn't like it, but this information has helped me with this decision.
It is certainly something that wouldn't be used immediately and therefore I think I can make better use of the money involved elsewhere.