I'm sorry if this question has been asked a zillion times, but I am new here. I don't know enough about these cameras, but my main concern was with quailty of picture. I know the XL1 have an annoying 15 minute shutdown unlike the XL1S, but anything else in quailty?

"my main concern was with quailty of picture."

The quality of the video is very good with the XL1/XL1S. Horizontal line playback resolution is 460, with rich color (both cams).

Cams shut down in "pause," so that the heads don't over heat.

Difference in picture is virtualy indistinguishable. I say virtualy because I'm sure some Canon techs can tell the difference.

The XL1s has several extra features which many people might find handy though, inlcuding disabling the standby mode, which often seems more like 1 minute than 5 minutes.

One of the features of the XL-1s that I really like a lot is the way you can hide the timecode data and not have it shown when you run a video feed out of the camera to a monitor or projector while taping. You can turn it off using the in-camera menu or with the remote contral unit, with my XL-1, I can only turn it off using the remote control.

I went to shoot and project some video of a friend's band, when I got there, I had forgotten the remote control so I couldn't shoot any video that night, having to carry the remote with me at all times is a small inconvienence.

I've only used my friend's XL-1s once so I don't really know what else it has.

Adam,
Chris has a page on the "Watchdog" (http://www.dvinfo.net/canon/xl1s-skinny.php) section of this DVInfo site that reviews the XL1s' features as compared to the XL1.

Thanks! This site is awesome! One of the best chat and info sites around. I think it has to do with people usinf their real names and not hidden behind a fake id where they can get a bit mouthy. But like I said, this site is very cool! I've learned soo much since I registered here.

So there is no huge difference in image quality? What about audio and how does it film at night compared to the XL1S?

I had a couple comparison questions myself.

Thanks guys,
Ryan Krga

There is no difference in audio. No camcorder does well at night. In low light, however, the XL1S enjoys greater sensitivity than the XL1 due to newer CCD's, plus an extended increase in electronic gain from +12db on the XL1 to +30db on the XL1S. Hope this helps,

and I dont believe that the XL1 can record from another source, I carry a 4 pin to 4 pin fire wire cable in case I want to record camera to camera, an RCA cable for a VCR, etc.

The XL1 can record from any DV source, but not analog. The XL1S can record from any DV and/or analog source.

Chris, thanks for the correction.