startup business question(s).

Yes, I want into this business. Even after reading alot of your posts. lol
I have been heavily involved in "tech" for many years now. I have been a sound engineer for 13 years and currently own a custom electronics installation business. I have(over the last couple of years) been involved in video production at our church. I truly love it. We have a GL2 for portable use and I edit on Vegas 6. I have shot a few weddings for friends and family using consumer gear and they turned out "ok". I have been watching all of the demo vids I see linked to from these forums and have been very impressed. Many of you are my inspiration.

I don't have a ton of money to start with. My goal for a permenent system is a couple of FX1's, a varizoom stabilizer of some flavor, and top-notch sound. Having been in sound work for this long, audio quaility is of utmost importance to me, and easy for me to attain. Obviously there will be other items, such as tripods, batteries, and lights. But, to start, I plan to follow the tried and true method of doing a couple for free and then begin by undercutting the competition(the ones with decent quality) and then work up from there.
As far as my personal feelings go, I will not allow even the first videos to be of substandard quality. I realize I will make some mistakes, but I will not purposefully choose to take the low road.

Anyway.....here's the questions: I want to have at least a 3 ccd cam to start with. What is the practical difference between a GL2 and GL1? As I mentioned, I have shot with the GL2 quite a bit and really like it. But I intend to replace my initial purchase with HDV as soon as budget allows, and keep the original cam for home use. So, should I look for a used GL1 or go for the GL2? Or do you have another cam you would recommend from the used market?

Sorry this is so long.....and thanks to those that have read it all.

an xl1s. used is around the same price as a gl2.. i just upgraded from a gl1 to an xl1s and am in love with it

For weddings I'd skip the Canon line and look to the Sony pd-150 or 170. You can pick up a used 150 for about $1500 and it will get you low light material that's worlds above the canon. Use it for the next year, maybe two and then look to hd. SD is still a solid investment if it's a used piece of equipment.

Ben Lynn

The VX2000 would be the comparable cam in sony's line to the GL2 and they can be add for around 13-1400 if you keep your eye open. If quality is important, you need low light ability, grab the sony. To answer your question, in most cases there will be a noticeable difference in quality from the GL1 and 2.

I'm a fan of the Panasonic DVX 100's. You can get the DVX 100a (if you find it) for a nice price since they recently released the 100b. Its gonna cost a bit more than the Sony VX series but I really love the (video, audio, construction) quality of those cameras + the level of manual control they offer. Cant forget about 24p mode too !!! :)

Stick with Canon. The Xl1-S is a great camera for what you are wanting to do.

Bryon <><

If you are familiar with and like the GL2 I'd get one of those over a GL1 or even an XL1s at this point. You can pick up a relatively cheap GL2 (used or new) and move along to HDV later. I like the image that the GL2 produces, nice detail and warm coloring. If you go with HDV I'd go with the FX1's that you have in mind. Good camera for HD without breaking the bank (as the Canon XL-H1 would).

Albert mentioned the Panasonic DVX100A. The A version is cheaper because they just released the B version, but as he said it will be more expensive than a GL2 or a Sony VX series cam. I shoot with the DVX100A and I LOVE it. But it's not for everyone. I would recommend researching it if nothing more than to familiarize with the options available to you.

Overall, I'd weigh what features you think are most important to your particular market and get a camera that meets those needs.

You won't go wrong with Sony VX's or PDs. PD have been used by BBC for news broadcast. Give best low light performance of any 1/3" chip camera, have a great image, and are solid well made machines.

Buying used, of course, is a problem for any camera. You just don't know what problem you are inheriting.

If you want to have HDV option, FX1 is also great too, though low light is more of a problem, though workable.

I second the PD150 and PD170's THey are an industry standard