Xl-2

[Steve Siegel]

Chuck Meister, in his rumor page (www.dvnews.com), actually
listed this month a Canon XL-2 in a group of 2002 megapixel camcorders. It obviously doesn't exist yet. Anyone know anything about such a product?

[Joe Redifer]

Well you can be sure that it is in the design stage at the very least. I highly doubt Canon is just sitting on their ass thinking that the XL1s will be good enough forever. :) I haven't heard any concrete info, though.

Here's what I'd like it to have:

Low light CCD's with higher resolution.

60i, 30p, or 24p frame per second shooting modes.

True manual focus that bypasses the lousy servo motors.

True manual zoom that bypasses the lousy servo motors.

Option for high speed shooting, plays back at normal NTSC rate for awesome slow motion.

Low price (or free) for me. High price for everyone else. That way I have the advantage all to myself. :)

[Chris Hurd]

Regarding Joe's notes, we have true manual zoom & focus now, with the new 16x manual lens. Some dealers such as ZGC offer the purchase of this lens instead of the standard 16x auto lens.

What I would like to see is the addition of a circuit board that does what FireStore does, and replace the tape drive with a slot that will take a 30, 40 or 60 gigabyte pocket Firewire drive (see my FireStore review at www.dvinfo.net), and bypass tape altogether.

[Bill Ravens]

Hey...NOW we're talking exciting features. Count me in on a CAM like this. Variable frame rate AND hard drive data storage ILO mag tape is a good thing.

Now, if only the DV compression standard can be revised for more vertical rez, I'll be happy.

[Joe Redifer]

Double post. Read post below.

[Joe Redifer]

Greetings from my house!

If you're gonna be capturin' directly to a hard drive, then there ALSO needs to be an option in the camera for either Quicktime or AVI files. Quicktime should be the default. Most Windows programs use AVI, which cannot be used in Final Cut Pro, etc. Quicktime seems to have been made to be compatible across the board, so thats not only why it is 10 times better than AVI, but that's also why it should be the default.

[Ozzie Alfonso]

<<<-- Originally posted by Joe Redifer : Here's what I'd like it to have:
Low light CCD's with higher resolution.
60i, 30p, or 24p frame per second shooting modes.
True manual focus that bypasses the lousy servo motors.
True manual zoom that bypasses the lousy servo motors.
Option for high speed shooting, plays back at normal NTSC rate for awesome slow motion.
Low price (or free) for me. High price for everyone else. That way I have the advantage all to myself. :) -->>>

To your wish list I'd like to add one of mine - NTSC programmable time code. Not to mention a better quality EVF.

[Chris Hurd]

To get programmable SMPTE time code, gotta go to the DVCAM format. Not available with plain vanilla DV.

[Joe Redifer]

NTSC programmable timecode is the ONLY thing that I need to make a TRULY great movie! Without the timecode I might as well not even try. :)

What are the benefits of such a timecode?

[Ozzie Alfonso]

<<<-- Originally posted by Chris Hurd : To get programmable SMPTE time code, gotta go to the DVCAM format. Not available with plain vanilla DV. -->>>

I'm aware that it's only available with DVCAM. They question is -why? As I understand it DVCAM has a faster writing speed than MiniDV, still, I can play either MiniDV or DVCAM on my Sony Watchman. So the differences can't be the problem. The tc is not analog - longitudinal - so the difference in speed should have no bearing in this.

I know this is getting a bit technical. Maybe Palomaki might chime in with hiw always succinct and informative technical explanations.

[Rob Lohman]

I agree with you Ozzie. Theoratically it should be possible
to add true timecode to MiniDV I think. Aren't there MiniDV
tapes out that store timecode on a chip which certain
cameras support? The only difference I found between
consumer TC and professional is:

- the ability to record an external TC signal
- no timecode drops
- no timecode resetting

But I could be wrong ofcourse!

[Ozzie Alfonso]

<<<-- Originally posted by Joe Redifer : NTSC programmable timecode is the ONLY thing that I need to make a TRULY great movie! Without the timecode I might as well not even try. :)
What are the benefits of such a timecode? -->>>

For most users there are no big benefits if any at all. But if you are doing serious production using many different tapes, then having a way to program the time code becomes almost a necessity.

When shooting Beta, or in the studio, we have two choices - time of day or tape time. Time of day is good for seeing where two cameras shot in sync. Tape time allows us to assign a different hour to each tape - e.g. tape 1 begins with 01: tape 2 with 02 and so on. With the MiniDV code NLE becomes a big pain since every reel has the same numbers. When conforming from the camera originals the editor has to keep a very keen eye not to make a mistake. This is assuming the editor jotted down in the EDL were reels change. If not, it's a lost cause.

Our current production will endup using close to 30 or 40 MiniDV tapes from two cameras. I've asked the DP and script supervisor to just ignore the "time code." We're falling back to the film days with very clear slates. The editor will just have to rely on very accurate notes and visually find the correct slates.

With SMPTE code we also use a slate that has the tc readout right on it. It's a shortcut to get the code to everyone involved especially when logging shots off a VHS copy.

[Andrew Hogan]

My wish for addition in the next Canon top of the line camcorder is true 16x9 CCDs and they can be low light 1/2" CCDs too. Or is this too much to ask for?
they wanna keep ahead of the competition right?

[Chris Hurd]

Canon's Broadcast Video Lens division sells an enormous number of their 1/2" video lenses to Sony, JVC and Panasonic camera users. They're not about to impinge on that market. I think 1/3rd inch CCD's are the biggest you'll see in Canon DV camcorders for this reason alone.

[Chris Hurd]

Canon's Broadcast Video Lens division sells an enormous number of their 1/2" video lenses to Sony, JVC and Panasonic camera users. They're not about to impinge on that market. I think 1/3rd inch CCD's are the biggest you'll see in Canon DV camcorders for this reason alone.