Gl2 in hand, feels nice

I got the GL2 yesterday after a long wait, and it is quite a machine. i can only compare it to cheaper Camcorders, like the trv-900 and even cheaper sonys, but the GL2 has AMAZING picture clarity. Don't have much more to offer in comparison to other cameras, but I'll check around if people have specific questions before they buy.
Also, I got the GL2 from Zotzdigital.com for a mere $2,600 (S&H included) with excellent customer service and prompt delivery. The company impressed me infinitely more than the other dealers I was talking to who just wanted to rush my order and add more sh*t on. Zotz receives the highest reccomendation in my book.

-Cocobutt

Hi,

Can you make some more specific comments about the resolution and color of the GL2 vs cameras like the TRV-900, TRV-30, TRV-50 ?

My GL2 is coming in this week and I am hungry for comparisons with these cameras.

Thanks

The color is great and the resolution is noticeably a step above the TRV900. I have video that I took with the trv900 and I have looked at it next to the GL2 video I have taken in the past few days and the GL2 is much sharper and has great tones. Also, there is much more creative control as the manual settings are great, much better than the typical "portrait, sports" etc. modes that come on lesser cameras. I would post some still frames but I am having trouble getting the camera to hook up to my computer, gonna call canon today to work on that problem.
The video is easily broadcast quality and even rivals that of betacams if you give it enough light.
-Cocobutt

Actually picked up my GL2 this morning and made some quick comparisons to my Sony PC-101. The GL2 blows it away in resolution and color. I can see an immediate difference on my mid range 32" JVC television using s-video cables. Of course this is to be expected but it is nice to see such a difference. Thanks for your comments.

farsider3000

Just wondering if oyu had a chance to plug your GL2 into a computer firewire port. If so I would like to know if it worked and you were able to capture video, if so, how does the camera appear under device manager and did it your OS do everything automatically or did you have to tell it where to search for drivers. Also, what OS are you using and if possible, what firewire card(s) have you tried it on.
I have been talking to Canon all day and the tech support team doesn't even have their hands on the cameras yet so they are somewhat flabbergasted as am I.
Thanks,
Cocobutt

[Michael Westphal]

Ok Far3K and CB, What's it like? How's the resolution, sound, EVF, manual controls? What we'd really like to know is how does it compare to a GL1.
Michael

[Greg Matty]

I would love any and all comparisons to the original XL-1 and XL-1s.

Many thanks.

Greg Matty

[Don Palomaki]

In some instances in the past the GL1 had to be powerd up in VCR mode before starting/booting the PC to be sure it is recognized. Might be worth trying that.

I fixed my PC so that it now recognizes the GL2 camcorder, but it took a clean install of the OS. For some reason windows wouldn't recognize the camcorder when plugged into the firewire port, and I couldn't trace it down to services or registry settings, so I did a clean install.
I have been known to abuse my computer by installing lots of programs and sometimes uninstalling them incorrectly or incompletely, so I am used to doing a clean install anyways and now my GL2 works just fine.
Finished a fifteen minute video to day with Premiere and After Effects using footage shot on my GL2.
Thanks for your help,
-CoCobuTT

[Jenn Kramer]

I had a chance to play with a GL2 at Frys the other day. It feels like a nice little camera. I couldn't figure out how to get the shutter speed down to 1/8th, but I only spent a few minutes with it. I'll be interested to read what people have to say once they've had some experience with them. It's really light!

I've had a chance to play with the manual mode extensively on the camera and I am quite impressed. While shooting in frame mode I was able to slow down a golf swing to 1 frame/sec and the image was still sharp and only a slight bit blurry.
A couple of notes on what could improve in my novie opinion.. I would like to see the manual focus have definite ends like the composite lenses found on film cameras and on the lenses for the xl1s. Once you reach infinity you can keep going. This makes it hard to tell which way you are out of focus, but I'm sure with some practice it won't hinder too much. The expense would probably be greater and the camera is expensive enough. Also, I am using a black pro mist filter and the autofocus focuses on the filter itself when I have a flat background (like a golf green)... Its great that the camera can focus on such a close object, but requires that I enter manual focus mode perdioically to fix the error. The error is also hard to catch on the LCD, it just looks a little bit muddy. Guess there's nothing to be done for that though.
The camera grows on me every day.
-CoCobutt

[Chris Hurd]

Thanks very much for your feedback so far. I especially appreciate your kind remarks about Zotz Digital. They are indeed a class act, and I'm very proud to have them on board as one of this site's primary sponsors. Thanks again,

[Joshua Wachs]

ever think about getting the VX2000 or PD150? I am curious how you finally chose the GL2 as I am currently ready to buy and just trying to decide btwn the two families.

Thanks!

I chose the GL2 for frame-movie mode, fluorite lenses, 20X optical zoom and it's light weight as well as the reported aesthetic of the picture.. I was told that GL1s couldn't be distinguished with XL1s's if both are given enough light.
Good luck with your purchase!
-Rob

[Joshua Wachs]

I may just pull the trigger this weekend.