Various GL1 / XM1 questions

Ken Tanaka · February 25th, 2003, 08:25 PM

Rick,
I know what you mean. I've not experienced this with my GL2 but I have had such a weird color balance shift with my XL1s. In my case, the color balance began drifting towards daylight balance while shooting a tungsten-lit scene. After a moment of panic I realized I had mistakenly turned WB to Auto. Auto WB has a mind of its own, continuously statistically resampling the center portion of the image.

Color on continuous follow-shots when moving between indoor and outdoor settings is darn hard to control, especially if you've no control over the indoor lighting. The only advice I can offer is to either (a) break the shot to rebalance, or (b) try to set a manual balance that kinda works for both settings, assuming the indoor scene is not extremely warm.

Rick Foxx · February 26th, 2003, 08:55 AM

Thanks Ken. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has seen this kind of problem with a Canon unit. My GL1 is 3 years old, and I'm just waiting for the next major repair on it. It sounds like this white balance problem is just a shortcoming of the camera rather than a malfunction. I'll report back if I have any problems on the manual settings.

Thanks,

Rick

Rob Lohman · February 26th, 2003, 10:48 AM

Or you can put gells on your lights indoor (or screw in different
bulbs) to match the outdoor light temperature.

Alex Cristescu · March 2nd, 2003, 08:12 PM

im tryin to decide what kind of wideangle lens i should get, ive been looking at the century optics .3x, the optex .3 and the raynox .3. The least expensive one is the raynox lens, i've heard rumors that this lens clamps on and breaks easily, i also heard that you get a margins on ur video. I havent heard much about the century otics and the optex lenses. All i know is that the century optics retails for about 700, and the optex goes for 350. Right now im leaning towards the optex lens. If anyone has any info that can help me out i would really appreciate it, and also does anyone know where i can buy the optex lens online?
thanks.

March 3rd, 2003, 04:05 PM

Has anyone compared the in-camera 16:9 capabilities of the Canon GL2 to the GL1. My GL1 does a poor job on anamorphic 16:9; there is a big loss in resolution when filming in this mode. I'm wondering if the GL2 is better since it has more pixels.

Nathan Gifford · March 4th, 2003, 09:45 AM

Using the electronic 16:9 is never going to be great. The best advice is to get on of the screw on anamorphic lens adapters which do a reasonable job.

Stewart McDonald · March 4th, 2003, 09:55 AM

I heard that with the anamorphic lenses, you can't zoom, pan, or move the camera without the image looking weird. Do these lenses only do static anamophic shots?

Ryan Martino · March 5th, 2003, 12:36 PM

hello everyone. i'm a total newbie and this is my first post! these boards seem very well informed and everyone seems to treat each other well. nice job...

my question is how many hours is too many for a used GL1? i found one that seems like it has been VERY well taken care of and it has about 250 hours of use on it. the guy wants about $1200 for it and he said he would throw in a five hour battery.
it seems like a pretty good deal, but even though i am trying to research as much as i can on the internet, i must admit i don't know a whole lot about this gear.
i've been playing, engineering and producing music pretty seriously for more than ten years, so i do have a grasp on sensitive electronic gear, just not cameras. i woke up one day about a month and a half ago and just knew that i wanted to make decent looking low budget movies, so here i am.

sorry for the long post. any thoughts about whether this is a good deal are very appreciated. i'm sure taking the camera to a shop to get checked out is prudent. i'm just wondering whether or not i should worry about this or just go for it and fork it over for a GL2...

thanks everyone!
-ryan

Stewart McDonald · March 5th, 2003, 01:48 PM

Hmm, whenever I ask this question I don't seem to get a reply. Anyone? please?

Thanks

Ryan Martino · March 5th, 2003, 04:43 PM

anybody have an opinion on this? pretty simple question: is 250 hours a lot of use for a GL1 in good shape or is it hardly any use....? how many hours is this camera good for, when taken care of?

i know SOMEBODY has a clue about this.... it would really help me decide what to do with my money.

thanks
-ryan

Ken Tanaka · March 5th, 2003, 05:04 PM

Ryan,
Unlike professional video cameras which track their head hours, there's no reliable measurement of prosumer cameras' usage hours.

Here's a recent thread basically on this topic that you might find informative. The concensus seems to be around 500 hours, but who's counting? <g>

Good luck on your prospective purchase!

Don Donatello · March 5th, 2003, 07:16 PM

with the 16x9 anamorphics lens attachment you can pan , run , move camera , zoom but not full zoom ... you might only be able to use 60-80% of the zoom depending on the F stop ... you loose a little on the close focusing on med/long shots .. say with zoom at 50% ( long) it can focus at 5 ft then with the anamorphic it might be 8ft ...

you have to work with their limitations and the 16x9 image is very good ....

Zach Breton · March 5th, 2003, 08:26 PM

Is $2000 CAN, a good deal for a GL1?

Ryan Martino · March 5th, 2003, 09:08 PM

Ken -

thanks a lot for the reply and the link to the other thread!!
i should have searched the message board first. DUH!
the thread did give me some general info and that's just what i was after. thanks again!

ryan

Don Palomaki · March 6th, 2003, 04:50 AM

Used model? Depends on the condition and amount of use. Check prices on Ebay, especially completed auctions for an idea of what the market is. Also, keep in mind that Ebay prices tend to be a bit on the high side.

February 25th, 2003, 08:25 PM	#241
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Rick, I know what you mean. I've not experienced this with my GL2 but I have had such a weird color balance shift with my XL1s. In my case, the color balance began drifting towards daylight balance while shooting a tungsten-lit scene. After a moment of panic I realized I had mistakenly turned WB to Auto. Auto WB has a mind of its own, continuously statistically resampling the center portion of the image. Color on continuous follow-shots when moving between indoor and outdoor settings is darn hard to control, especially if you've no control over the indoor lighting. The only advice I can offer is to either (a) break the shot to rebalance, or (b) try to set a manual balance that kinda works for both settings, assuming the indoor scene is not extremely warm. __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

February 26th, 2003, 08:55 AM	#242
Rick Foxx Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Tooele, UT Posts: 78	Thanks Ken. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has seen this kind of problem with a Canon unit. My GL1 is 3 years old, and I'm just waiting for the next major repair on it. It sounds like this white balance problem is just a shortcoming of the camera rather than a malfunction. I'll report back if I have any problems on the manual settings. Thanks, Rick __________________ There is no problem so large that can't be solved with a suitable application of high explosives.

February 26th, 2003, 10:48 AM	#243
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Or you can put gells on your lights indoor (or screw in different bulbs) to match the outdoor light temperature. __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

March 2nd, 2003, 08:12 PM	#244
Alex Cristescu Tourist Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Sacramento CA Posts: 2	wideangle for gl1 im tryin to decide what kind of wideangle lens i should get, ive been looking at the century optics .3x, the optex .3 and the raynox .3. The least expensive one is the raynox lens, i've heard rumors that this lens clamps on and breaks easily, i also heard that you get a margins on ur video. I havent heard much about the century otics and the optex lenses. All i know is that the century optics retails for about 700, and the optex goes for 350. Right now im leaning towards the optex lens. If anyone has any info that can help me out i would really appreciate it, and also does anyone know where i can buy the optex lens online? thanks.

March 3rd, 2003, 04:05 PM	#245
Bob Petersen Posts: n/a	GL2 vs. GL1 16:9 Has anyone compared the in-camera 16:9 capabilities of the Canon GL2 to the GL1. My GL1 does a poor job on anamorphic 16:9; there is a big loss in resolution when filming in this mode. I'm wondering if the GL2 is better since it has more pixels.

March 4th, 2003, 09:45 AM	#246
Nathan Gifford Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Tickfaw, LA Posts: 1,217	Using the electronic 16:9 is never going to be great. The best advice is to get on of the screw on anamorphic lens adapters which do a reasonable job. __________________ Nathan Gifford Southern Cyclist Magazine & Productions For quick answers try our Search! To see me and Rob Lohman click here

March 4th, 2003, 09:55 AM	#247
Stewart McDonald Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: UK Posts: 130	I heard that with the anamorphic lenses, you can't zoom, pan, or move the camera without the image looking weird. Do these lenses only do static anamophic shots?

March 5th, 2003, 12:36 PM	#248
Ryan Martino Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico Posts: 48	how many hours is too many for a used GL1 ? hello everyone. i'm a total newbie and this is my first post! these boards seem very well informed and everyone seems to treat each other well. nice job... my question is how many hours is too many for a used GL1? i found one that seems like it has been VERY well taken care of and it has about 250 hours of use on it. the guy wants about $1200 for it and he said he would throw in a five hour battery. it seems like a pretty good deal, but even though i am trying to research as much as i can on the internet, i must admit i don't know a whole lot about this gear. i've been playing, engineering and producing music pretty seriously for more than ten years, so i do have a grasp on sensitive electronic gear, just not cameras. i woke up one day about a month and a half ago and just knew that i wanted to make decent looking low budget movies, so here i am. sorry for the long post. any thoughts about whether this is a good deal are very appreciated. i'm sure taking the camera to a shop to get checked out is prudent. i'm just wondering whether or not i should worry about this or just go for it and fork it over for a GL2... thanks everyone! -ryan

March 5th, 2003, 01:48 PM	#249
Stewart McDonald Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: UK Posts: 130	Hmm, whenever I ask this question I don't seem to get a reply. Anyone? please? Thanks

March 5th, 2003, 04:43 PM	#250
Ryan Martino Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico Posts: 48	anybody have an opinion on this? pretty simple question: is 250 hours a lot of use for a GL1 in good shape or is it hardly any use....? how many hours is this camera good for, when taken care of? i know SOMEBODY has a clue about this.... it would really help me decide what to do with my money. thanks -ryan

March 5th, 2003, 05:04 PM	#251
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Ryan, Unlike professional video cameras which track their head hours, there's no reliable measurement of prosumer cameras' usage hours. Here's a recent thread basically on this topic that you might find informative. The concensus seems to be around 500 hours, but who's counting? <g> Good luck on your prospective purchase! __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

March 5th, 2003, 07:16 PM	#252
Don Donatello Hawaiian Shirt Mogul Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: northern cailfornia Posts: 1,261	with the 16x9 anamorphics lens attachment you can pan , run , move camera , zoom but not full zoom ... you might only be able to use 60-80% of the zoom depending on the F stop ... you loose a little on the close focusing on med/long shots .. say with zoom at 50% ( long) it can focus at 5 ft then with the anamorphic it might be 8ft ... you have to work with their limitations and the 16x9 image is very good ....

March 5th, 2003, 08:26 PM	#253
Zach Breton New Boot Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 10	Price fo GL1? Is $2000 CAN, a good deal for a GL1?

March 5th, 2003, 09:08 PM	#254
Ryan Martino Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico Posts: 48	Ken - thanks a lot for the reply and the link to the other thread!! i should have searched the message board first. DUH! the thread did give me some general info and that's just what i was after. thanks again! ryan

March 6th, 2003, 04:50 AM	#255
Don Palomaki Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,488	Used model? Depends on the condition and amount of use. Check prices on Ebay, especially completed auctions for an idea of what the market is. Also, keep in mind that Ebay prices tend to be a bit on the high side.