I put my GL2 through its paces over the weekend at a live music show and the results were pretty good. Here are some observations -- and a couple of questions...

1. Most of the time, I like to set recording levels manually. However, it was a real effort to keep adjusting the levels as we moved -- even a difference of a couple of feet would make a huge difference. So, I did something I'd never done before and, in complete frustration, flipped the audio to automatic. To my astonishment, the sound came out great.

2. I was using Bose Noise-Cancellation headphones to monitor the audio, and noticed that I was getting frequent bass-level distortions. However, none of this distortion came through on the recorded audio. Is it possible that the distortion I heard only through the headphones was some kind of electromagnetic interference from the powerful speakers set up on stage that was somehow seeping into the headphones' circuitry?

3. It was a hot day during the show -- about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. After using the GL2 for about 20 minutes, I shut the unit completely off and stowed it in a camera bag. I put the camera bag in a cool location under the stage. When I pulled the GL2 out after about an hour, the entire camera was HOT to the touch, especially the metal quick-release plate that I usually keep screwed in. When I turned the GL2 on, I briefly got some weird error message I'd never seen before about the memory card used for still photo capture. Then, the GL2 abruptly shut off. When I powered it on again, it worked fine, and quickly cooled off. I have no idea what, if anything, went wrong. My GL2 has otherwise behaved flawlessly for the year I've owned it.

Leigh

Noise cancelling headphones don't work uniformly across the audio frequency spectrum. Plus, they're designed to cancel out noise from the outside so you can hear the music they deliver inside, not to cancel from the outside the identical music they're delivering inside. Not surprising that you'd hear a bit of distortion.

The GL2's mic isn't bad if you can get it close enough to the sound source. Placing the mic in a space filled with music is in a sense like having it close to the source. And if the dyanmics of the sound in the room don't vary over a wide range, the AGC doesn't do much damage. I've gotten some results under those conditions that I thought were pretty decent too. Of course, I don't have a track from a better mic to compare it too.

Fred,

Thanks for the info re the noise-cancellation phones. Previously, I'd only used them while recording interviews. This was a first with music.

Also, I should have specified that I wasn't using the GL2's built-in mic, but, rather an Audio Technica stereo mic.

Leigh

Great camera.

1/- I use Manual Audio Control only WHEN I can also control the actual audio environment out there, and I'm on external mics. Otherwise, if I can't control what's out there, I'm on AUTO - plus MIC Attenuation ON. The sound is great. I use front facing or personal mics to get "close" to the source. I now realise how badly and ill-educated audio PA "technicians" can be. Have you had the badly GAINED concert yet? You will! Oh yes . . . .

2/- I too had the CARD warning on my newer XM2. I have recently had the camera into Canon garage for another reason, and it appears that tech has done a cure for this as well.

Grazie