Hello there, I'm on the verge on purchasing a miniDV camcorder for short films and other student productions.

I'm torn ultimately between the xm2 (gl2) and the pdx10.

I'm leaning towards the canon.. However, i have a couple of queries..

- Technical problems... i've read horror stories about the gl2's tape transport functions, a certain 'eject tape' message and a major failing in the canon line. Is this a common enough problem for me to stay away?
.. what's more, i used to use a friend's xm1 for a few things and the camera would often turn itself off unexpectably - is this 'feature' carried onto the gl2?

- Audio!! I insist on top quality audio.. I will be buying an xlr adaptor to go with the gl2 if i go with the canon.. probably the beachtek dxa6 (with phantom power) does anybody else use a similar product? And is the audio of high quality??

^ I'm especially keen to quantify this issue as the pdx10 has high quality xlrs built in.. the beachtek adaptor will push the price of the canon above the sony so i really want to be sure that i'll be getting good audio.

edit: now i remember a review on the gl2 that mentioned - the audio volume on the h/phone line out to be virtually inaudiable.. this concerns me :-S .. is this right??

Thankyou kindly

Regards
Casper.

I can't comment on the what is good or bad about a certain
camera, however. Good audio is not achieved with (just) XLR.
It might be nice to have, but you can probably achieve good
audio outside XLR as well (although with a good mic you have
phantom power etc. etc.). The microphone(s) you are going to
get will be more important together with a good audio guy.

i understand the ingredients for good audio, i have a couple of AT4073a mics, and i'll have a competant sound guy..

Therefore the limiting factor WILL be the camcorder itself, afterall; mics can be changed, settings played with, volumes altered at low cost but i can't afford another camera so easily :-) hence my queries.

You needn't worry about the audio.
I've just finished shooting/editing some items for BBC Wales with the camera and the audio was perfect.
Beachtek box, SQN-3 mixer etc.

Robin.

A comment about headphone volume (and why I am now always careful about believing everything I read in user group posts):

When I first got my GL2, I read in a forum somewhere (not here!) that the GL2 did not have a headphone volume control. So . . . I suffered through some practically inaudible shoots with my headphones until one day I decided to check the manual. Well, whaddya know -- the camera DOES have a headphone volume control! Made a big difference, and the headphones are much more useful now ;-)

I can say that I have seen the Eject Tape message on my XM1, but only with one type of Panasonic tape - I think they're called "DVC-Pro". It happens only when I fast-forward or rewind all the way to the start or end of the tape. I have used TDK, Maxell and JVC-branded tapes with no similar problems.

I have never had the XM1 turn off "unexpectedly". However, if you leave it in record/pause mode with a tape in for more than about 5 minutes it will bleep at you, then about 30 seconds later it will shut down to stand-by mode. It does this whether you are running on battery or mains-adaptor. However, it won't do this if there is no tape, so it can be used as a CCTV cam or direct into another recorder, PC, etc. Does the XM2/GL2 behave the same way?

Luckilly you can shut off VCR section on XM2, so no problems if you have tape in cam. If you press rec in VCR stop mode than you'll have to wait few seconds. BTW, I'm having VCR stop function assigned on custom key.

The standby action can be set in the menu for either "Standby" or "Power Off".

The Standby mode means that it stops all motors but stays on.