Camera review

[Scott Dan]

I just go the XL2 and have been an owner of the XL1s for a couple of years now. While I may not have as much experience or knowledge as many of you out there, I have to say I like the XL2. It's lens is great, allowing me to get really close to the action. While the view finder may at times be a little bit grainy in low light, it is ten times better than what was on the XL1s. I haven't made up my mind on the 24p yet...it seems to create quite a motion blur in the view finder but not so much when then put onto the computer. I have to do more experimenting to see if this holds up on longer shots. The clarity of the overall camera is great. I shot a spider web from about 20 or so feet back (one that I couldn't see with my eyes alone) and captured it beautifully. You really do need a great tripod though becuase it's really hard to hold that camera still zoomed all the way in (more so than the xL1s). It is heavier too by about 2 pounds. You can feel it too! Anyway, in short....good camera.

[Matthew Nayman]

I was a little iffy on the 24p too but then i figured it out. use a 2:3 pulldown, and then export toa dvd. Have a look at it. It mimics 24 fps perfectly.

Also, play with the presets. Make blacks on press, knee high, matrix Cine, bump up the staurtaion a tad. Looks amazing.

[Rob Lohman]

Originally Posted by Matthew Nayman

It mimics 24 fps perfectly.

That's because it IS 24 fps... (as long as you record at 24p)

[Matthew Nayman]

Oh yeah...

DOH!

[Greg Boston]

Matthew,

Congrats on the XL2. One thing you need to be aware of when shooting 24p. You have alter your camera operation to more like that of a film camera. You can't do fast pans or tilts at 24p. If you want to get a good film type motion cadence, set the shutter to 1/48. This mimics the double shutter on a film camera running at 24fps.

To get really good DVD output, try shooting at 24p with 2:3:3:2 pulldown. This method allows for a true 24 frame extraction. Enjoy the new camera and be sure to search the forum for answers because many questions have already been discussed at length.

regards,

=gb=

[Patrick King]

Originally Posted by Greg Boston

To get really good DVD output, try shooting at 24p with 2:3:3:2 pulldown. This method allows for a true 24 frame extraction.

Greg or others,

Wouldn't the only difference between 2:3 and 2:3:3:2 be noticeable during 'high motion' sequences? What I'm asking is, if a coffee shop discussion was filmed in both modes, could anyone tell the difference?

I understand why you might want to use the 2:3:3:2 pulldown to smooth motion, does it do anything else that 2:3 doesn't?

[Rob Lohman]

The choice between 2:3 and 2:3:3:2 has everything to do with how fast and
easy you want to edit the footage (in 24p), not with how smooth the motion
looks (this is only import if you watch the footage at 30 fps later, instead of
24 [outside of a 24p DVD!!]).

2:3:3:2 is FAR EASIER (and thus faster) to edit than 2:3. Besides that, it makes
no real difference. Good editing software can re-produce the true original
24 fps signal from both methods (without any loss, contrary to what Greg
was getting at in his post).

So if your output is 24p (DVD output should be in 24p in that case as well,
so then the answer to that question is YES) or you are going to edit the
footage in 24p then shoot in 2:3:3:2. If your output is 30p/60i (I'm not
sure why you would shoot 24p in that case, but okay) then you may want
to shoot in 2:3 instead (edit in 30 fps as well in this case).