3x 1/3" 800.000 pixel CCDs and 50i & 25p frame rate

http://www.canon-europe.com/For_Home/Product_Finder/Camcorders/Digital/XL2/index.asp?ComponentID=207214&SourcePageID=26346#1

Looking good !

Thank you for this notice Steven. I will put this up in the specs
list which can be found:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28853

wow, 800,000 pixels from 1/3" progressive 3CCDs, that's pretty mean. This will probably be the King of Prosumer SD cameras.

Thanks for the info, Steven-Marc. I agree, Glenn, those are impressive CCD specs.

Of course you guys are aware that the PAL version will have frame rates of 50i and 25p (there is no 24p mode on the PAL version in case any of you curious Americans were wondering).

Hi All,

I have just returned from a 2 day shoot at Pinewood Studios where we shot a promo for Canon UK completely on PAL XL2's, this was shown at the press launch here in the UK today.

I will post the video on www.xl2.co.uk once I have it for all to see.

Enjoy!

Simon.

Simon, do you have info on pricing and availability of the PAL version ?

Thanks Simon -- good to hear from you again -- by the way I need to contact you by email. Keep an eye out for it please.

Hi Chris, Hi Steven,

Availability is expected around September.

If you want to get "hands on and dirty" we have a unit at our offices in New Barnet.

Cheers!

Simon.

Hi simon,

What company do you work for? Is it Optex UK? Just wondering since you don't mention it.

Why do they not have 24P on the PAL XL12? surely you would still need this for Film work etc?

Cheers,

PAL film is 25 fps if I'm not mistaken Ed.

Err... PAL film doesn't exist, Rob ! ;-)

Film is sometimes shot at 25 fps in Europe when the distribution is going to be limited to television.

Well that's what I meant. Not to say PAL film exists in deed. I
think I've heard multiple times that film in PAL is shot at 25 fps
instead of 24. Perhaps to ease transition to a TV indeed.

Sorry for the confusion!

Hi Ed,

Yes I do work for OpTex and would like to point out on a personal level I am also an XL1 owner.

Having the opportunity to shoot with the XL2 the last two days was brilliant.

We shot 25p 16:9 and the quality is stunning. We also had the XL2 rigged to the Mini35 and had a set of ultraprimes at our disposal, at the current time the Mini35 won't fit as standard and our machine shop had to knock up a spacer plate.

The Canon UK promo video was only shot with XL2 + 20x +3x lenses. We also used the brand new Steadicam Flyer for some great shots.

The real thing for me about the new XL2 is the viewfinder and the quality. The footage didn't look dv'ish (can't explain - you'll have to see for yourself), the viewfinder is simply massive when compared to the XL1.

Canon are going in the right direction with more switches (16:9 / 25p / bars) rescued from the menu, the switches don't work once you're recording so you can also save on gaffer tape! In my opinion a real plus - I hate menus.

Cheers!

Simon.

Funny you should mention that, Simon. I was looking over the
pictures and was wondering why they didn't make the aspect
and framerate selection knobs sunken like the others. I'm glad
it won't matter what you do to them when recording. However
I assume they change the setting as soon as you stop recording.
Would've liked them sunken though. Strange they should
change such a winning knob design!

Do you happen to have a chance to see if it can do straight
analog to digital conversion without recording on tape first?

<<<-- Originally posted by Simon Beer : Hi Chris, Hi Steven,

Availability is expected around September.

If you want to get "hands on and dirty" we have a unit at our offices in New Barnet.

Cheers!

Simon. -->>>

Simon,

Have you tried setting the white balance manually? My XL-1 always ended with very cool/blue images when doing so. I needed an assortment of colored gels to get it close. Hopefully this new camera is spot on.

Greg

Simon, I assume you've also had the opportunity to shoot with the DVX100A. Would you say that there is a distinctive increase in picture quality with the XL2 when shooting in 16:9 ?

Hi Rob / Greg,

The 16:9 / 25p knobs are very positive. Will they loosen with wear? Who knows.

I haven'y had a chance to try a-d. But will give it a go tommorow (hopefully).

As for the white balance I had no troubles, we were in a controlled environment shooting tungsten. All shots were manually whitebalanced and the editor (who stayed up till 3am last night) didn't shout at me today. We were checking shots on 9" and 20" Sony monitors and all looked great.

I know what you mean about the XL1, I'll try the XL2 at work in a room light by sodium - even DVW700's used to have problems with that!

Cheers!

Simon.

Hi Simon,

Glad to have a representative from Optex. I've passed your stands a couple of times at the Video Forum and Production Show.
Can't wait for the video...

Rob, I was thinking about theratrical release with 24FPS.

Hi Steven,

I have "fiddled" with the DVX100, haven't shot in anger with it and wouldn't like to make any comparisons as I don't think I am qualified.

I will say Canon have taken the XL2 to a new level, the quality compared to other DV is something else.

Cheers!

Simon.

Hi Ed,

You may well have seen me at shows, I'm the young good looking member of the team ;o)

I do work for OpTex but I also own and operate myself, I currently have an XL1, a dirt cheap Samsung upright handheld type DV camera and edit on FCP HD laptop and desktop.

I really don't want anyone to get the impression that I'm here peddling my wares, that annoys me and is not something I want to do. Hence I'm not shouting OpTex all the time.

Its a terrible thing working somewhere that your interests lay, so much great kit that I can't afford!

As for the video this will come shortly after some paperwork has been completed with the pr company. I have some other test footage that I will stick online this week, this was shot on a NTSC XL2 and converted to PAL - stills looks great.

Cheers!

Simon.

Too bad the PAL version won't support 24p. If it did all the filmmakers would jump on it.

<<<-- Originally posted by Peter Moore : Too bad the PAL version won't support 24p. If it did all the filmmakers would jump on it. -->>>

24p and 25p are practically the same visually, and transferring it to 35mm is a non-issue.

What exactly were you shooting, Simon?

Simon,
I dont know if its just me being stupid, but how do I play your 50mb .txt file? :S

change .txt to .mov

Thnx :D

"24p and 25p are practically the same visually, "

Visually yes, but not aurally. You have to speed up all sound by 4% which is quite noticeable to a good ear. Or you have to use pitch shifting with time duration preserved which generates other nasty noise effects.

Anyway more resolution, even for DVD, is always better. I would shoot at the 576 lines and downrez to 480 and guaranteed would get a better picture.

24p doesn't fit in the PAL DV specs. PAL uses a lower framerate than NTSC (25p/50i vs 30p/60i), so it can have a higher resolution in the same bitrate. 24p in DV uses pulldown, wich is actually bad usage of the bitrate, since it has the same (NTSC) resolution but a lower framerate. It writes some fields double to tape.

If you want 24p on a PAL camera, you would need a pulldown system that doubles every 24th frame. This would be total different from the NTSC system, wich doubles every 2nd or 3rd frame. You need special software to edit the footage, wich costs a great amount of money to develop, and since people in PAL countries (like me) are happy with 25p, almost nobody will buy it.

Anyway, I agree, more resolution is always better, and 24p PAL pulldown (if it existed) would throw away less information than 24p NTSC pulldown. I guess the market isn't big enough...