Help a rookie who doesn't have the camera in front of him:

Does the XL1 support outputing video through the DV/firewire port real-time? By real-time I mean not playing back a tape but turn the camera on and output whatever it views.

We hope to use it as a webcam.

Yes it will. Don't put a tape in the camera, and insure that you have constant power, and it'll stay on indefinitely. Perfect for webcam use.

Welcome to DV Info Net,

Expensive webcam I must say, :)

Expensive webcam I must say, :)

It's better than 35mm ;-)