XL1 / XL1S Matching
 

All,

I am going to be shooting an relatively dark bar scene with my XL1. Since time is short, I am considering renting a second camera to speed the process.

My question is can I rent an XL1S? Will they match enough in a lower-light situation? Or should I try to find an XL1?

Thanks in advance.

Input into XL1 from Sennheiser 100
 

You can call Sennheiser and get the adapter you are looking for. It is a 1/8 inch female to two RCA plugs. It will cost you $2.80 plus $3.50 in priority shipping. Don't talk to their sales department, they are absolutely clueless! Go straight to technical support and ask for Jason. Phone - 860-434-9190.

The cord is about 5 inches long.

In my experience (I own both cameras) the XL1s performs better in low light. You can match the color and exposure, but the XL1 will always show more noise (grain). If they need to match exactly, get another XL1.

Anamorphic lens not compatible with Xl1?
 

hello-

I'm fairly new to the game, but i'm gaining interest fast. I thought I might upgrade to a better camera than my sony handycam, the choices were pretty clear; Xl1 or maybe dvx100. Originally the Xl1 was my first choice, but then I heard somewhere that there are no 16:9 anamorphic lenses campatible with the xl1, just the 16:9 mode. (which simply crops?) Is this statement true?

Thanks

-Alex

Or You Can To Radio Shack.
 

I got my adapters at Radio Shack. However, the Sennheiser unit is well priced.

it isn't true. the xl-1 is able to be used with anamorphic adapters. optex has something like that or you can theoretically add any lense to it that has anamorphic attachment or is native anamorphic, that has nothing to do with the xl-1 (you could theoreticallly use a anamorphic adapter and the internal 16/9 to get ~2.35:1 image

I believe you will find some caveats WRT anamorphic adaptors on the XL-1. There's a fair amount of vignetting as you are adapating a smaller lens. Century said they were working on another model for the XL-1(s) but not sure if it was ever released, and it was VERY expensive. Of course anamorphic adaptors have lots of limitations even under the best circumstances.

However, read the article in American Cinematographer about "28 Days Later". They shot with the XL-1s and printed to 35mm film. They cropped the footage in post and didn't use anamorphic adaptors. I saw this film in a theatre and was very impressed with the quality. They used PAL cameras however which offer somewhat higher resolution.

shutter speed
 

what is an ideal sutter speed to be shooting at for typical shots. And do people/networks preffer a specific f stop.

shooting with:

16X
3X
EOS 35-350

thanks

The usual shutter speed for NTSC video is 1/60 of a second, it coincides with the number of fields per second. The aperture used will be determined by the amount of light in the scene. Use the zebra bars and adjust the aperture until the bars are almost gone. View the video and look for highlights with no detail. If the video is unsatisfactory, repeat the exercise, adjusting the aperture to suit you taste.

Buying XL1S at WEVA??
 

We will be purchasing a Canon XL1S within the next 2 weeks. Does anyone know if there will be a significant discount at the WEVA Convention (Wedding Event & Videographers Association) in Las Vegas at the end of the month vs. buying online (probably B & H.....currently $3539 +s/h)?

What about accessories? lighting? audio? at WEVA.

You might save $100 or so, but not much more.

Using ~1/60 will probably give the most video-like look.

Ideal shutter is what gives you the image effect/look/feel you want. The shutter spped is a compromise with aperture, gain, and the control you have over scene lighting.

Single Pixel Artifact
 

When I play back footage recorded from my XL1 there appears to be a one pixel white dot in the upper right of the shot (as reference: just below and to the left of the ten second digit if viewed with the display on). The artifact is always in the same place and is unaffected by zoom or focus, so I know it isn't the lens. I've ruled out media as well since the same tape was used on a Sony camera with no such artifact.

I've dusted the areas where the lens meets the body, but this does nothing. Does anyone know what could cause this?

Thanks from the new guy.

It could be a hot or dead CCD pixel. Just a guess.

Cleaning XL-1/GL-1
 

Couple of questions.....

Using head cleaning tapes on the XL-1 and GL-1....

....how often?

I realize they can damage heads, but when horizontal lines interrupt an important shoot, you don't know until it's over.

Experiences from users?



OK....we've got 2 XL-1's and 3 GL-1's and somebody ran a wet cleaning cassette (Sony) through these cameras a number of times after they were acclimated to a dry cleaning cassette (Panasonic/Canon).

So.....stripes over video everywhere.

Do I need to send these in to Canon to be cleanedcorrectly or is there a way I can handle it myself?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.