XL2 Owners - What's your biggest complaint with XL2?

[Darren Kelly]

Having owned mine for a few weeks now, and shooting with it every day, I really don't have any complaints with the XL2. It seems to perform just as well as my DSR300, even the resolution in 4:3 seems as good if not better.

I don't think I have any complaints, but I was wondering if any other users had one.

Cheers

DBK

[Nico van Tonder]

If you carry it around all day it's a bit heavy with the 20x lens - otherwise no complaints.

[Richard Alvarez]

Only had it for a day... but the bracket that holds the dual battery pack, is held on SECURELY by three screws. Which makes it a bit of a pain to take it off. When it was part of the MA100 mount, it came and went when you took off the MA100. (On the Xl1)

Not a big beef, I think if I can find three thumb screws to replace the three phillips heads that hold it on, then I could remove it by hand when I want to pack it away.

Just a thought that occured to me as I messed with it today. I'll take it out and about in San Francisco tomorrow... maybe something else will occur to me. So far... looking good!

[Nico van Tonder]

If you use a lighter lens you can remove the bracket and clip the battery brick on your belt. Otherwise the battery brick tends to balance the camcorder with a heavy lens.

[Rick Pavlidis]

Got my XL2 last Friday... the only litte thing to complain about up to now is if you touch the eject slider slightly (likely happening because of mounted among the handle...), the drive will try to eject the tape without releasing the storage flap which results in a "no tape" message...

but anyway... what a great camera...

rick

[Richard Alvarez]

Nico,

I like the batteries being on the back, they do balance the 16xmanual lens perfectly. It puts the center of gravity just about in the middle of the handle.

What I want is thumbscrews to enable faster removal of the adapter for packing and stowing is all.

[Jay Gladwell]

No complaints here. I'm just tickled to have such a camera to work with. As has been said elsewhere, no camera is perfect, but this one, for me, comes pretty darn close!

Jay

[Bill Ravens]

My ADSTech DV Disk no longer turns on and off when I press the "RECORD" button on the camera. I have to manually press the record button on the DV Disk. The switch for selecting external device control doesn't seem to work in this case.

[Nico van Tonder]

Richard,

Sorry - I agree - that would be perfect.

Regards

[Darren Kelly]

OK, so I'm guessing we think this is just about the best camcorder going.

Out of interest....or a follow up to my last question, what were you using before?

DBK

[Nico van Tonder]

Darren,

My previous camcorder was the XM2 (PAL version of the GL2 and before that a Sony.

[Josh Bass]

Hey guys. . .does it have the same, er, "characteristics" as the DVX100/A ? I worked with that camera for awhile, and I gotta say, IF you knew what you were doing, you could get some pretty spectacular results in really mundate conditions (overcast day, boring lighting, etc.) I'm not saying you can make crap into gold, but you can at least make it very artsy crap. I think I've heard on here that despite the 24p and cine-this and -that, that the XL2 somehow has a more "video-y" feel than the DVX. What are your opinions?

I don't mean "is it awesome out of the box", just "can it be made awesome?"

[David Lach]

I thought the flimsy discreet iris dial would bother me a lot, but it doesn't. The fact you can increase the F-stops in 1/4th steps helps greatly to dissimulate the changes live. Of course, if those changes are needed, I still like the 14x with full manual iris control better.

My 2 biggest disapointments are things that can be overcomed by shelling a few extra bucks.

1) I don't like the EVF. It's big, it's handy in some situations, but it is still a relatively low res LCD viewfinder with contrast shifting and not enough pixels to precisely focus when shooting wide. I'm really not a fan. I didn't get to see the previous one on the XL1s, and hear it's a big improvement, but it's still not up to my standards for being satisfied. The FU-1000 is therefore needed for me.

2) Less of a problem, especially for my use, but this thing is very front heavy and on top of that, not well balanced at all from left to right either. When holding it from the side, it tends to tilt sideways (to the left). I didn't try it with the FU-1000 yet, but it will likely get much worse. I cannot imagine myself shooting handheld with the XL2 for extended periods of time. I will need to buy a steady stick or a similar kind of product.

Other than that, I must say it is all I ever dreamed it would be and then some.

[Raymond Schlogel]

Man, my complaints are few and far between and the couple that I do have are probably more of a personal wish list than anything. With that said let me stress that I FRIGGING LOVE this camera !!!

1) I'd like the same speed control options for zoom on the top handle that it has on the side. The internal just don't offer enough control and are impossible to navigate to while your shooting.

2) I love the auto on zoom/focus, but again the speeds are not of a great enough variety. The slowest just aint slowest enough.

3) The images that I'm getting with this thing are just way to good and I am beginning to resent the work I did previous. My god how much better it would have all looked.

4) It should have come with a fee xl2 t-shirt, coffee cup, key chain .... ANYTHING.

I've had a good deal of time with the camera and can tell you that every shoot I've done since has been a pleasure. I'll post the one finished demo here on another thread.

Best;

- Ray

[Jay Gladwell]

Ray--

I understand what you're saying, but don't look back. Your videos are excellent. You did the best you could at that time, and it shows!

Look ahead--always ahead!

Jay