I received my GL2 kit from Zotz this afternoon. Great people to work with! I'm very satisfied with our relationship. In addition to the standard kit I got a WD-58H wide angle lens, Kata bag, BP945 battery, 128 MMC card, three filters (UVP, Circular pol, ND3), and Panasonic tapes. This should get me started.

A bit about myself and what I do: I'm a quasi-retired prof with a Ph.D. in Comparative Culture (Asian Studies) and a penchant for sailing and skiing. We travel a good deal, mostly in Asia and Mexico, sail whenever we can the year 'round, and ski in Whistler, BC. I plan on continuing this lifestyle as long as I can and continue to photograph it with various equipment. I still have my Canon slrs and a couple of Sony videocams, which got me pointed in this particular direction. I also write a column in the English language section of a local Vietnamese newspaper. It all kind of fits together.

I've been lurking here for a while and have learned a ton. I'm a neophyte big time as far as editing is concerned but I have some basic hardware (I'm sure it is not sophisticated enough but it will have to do for now) and I keep reading and listening. Long ways to go but I'm looking forward to the trip.

Keep enlightening me. I appreciate it,
Sandy

Hello Alexander,

Sounds like you are in a beautiful part of the country! You mention skiing,,, do you plan on using your new XL1S to capture footage of riders on the slopes? If so, I envy you - I used to shoot for Resort Sports Networks (www.rsn.com) in the Mt. Washington Valley and loved shooting ski and snowboard footage. Back then, we had a Panasonic SuperCam (S-VHS) which, because of the lens, performed very well. However, it was still considerable big for that application and, had we been able to use the XL1, I am sure we would have preferred shooting in CanonDV.

So, if you have any questions and comments, please do let us know! I'm looking forwrad to hearing more about your adventures. Ever been up in Northern New England?

- don

<<<-- Originally posted by Don Berube : Hello Alexander,

Sounds like you are in a beautiful part of the country! You mention skiing,,, do you plan on using your new XL1S to capture footage of riders on the slopes? If so, I envy you - I used to shoot for Resort Sports Networks (www.rsn.com) in the Mt. Washington Valley and loved shooting ski and snowboard footage. Back then, we had a Panasonic SuperCam (S-VHS) which, because of the lens, performed very well. However, it was still considerable big for that application and, had we been able to use the XL1, I am sure we would have preferred shooting in CanonDV.

So, if you have any questions and comments, please do let us know! I'm looking forwrad to hearing more about your adventures. Ever been up in Northern New England?

- don -->>>

Don, we do indeed like where we live in southern California. My previous attempts to shoot skiers were not terribly successful but I'm hoping my technique has improved. Certainly can't blame the equipment. The circular pol should help but the final result is up to me. Same thing for sailing. My travel shooting has been more successful but my editing really needs work. I'm really looking forward to using my GL2 in all of these areas.

Unfortunately I've never been to northern New England. Someday....

Sandy