XL2 Wish List

Joseph George · July 7th, 2003, 06:53 AM

get a 3D lens for this thing, like the prototype developed for the XL1s, but this time base the shutters on technology that will not disintegrate itself in couple of years, use high quality MPEG2 processors, not like the ones on the JVC, add wireless diversity 2-channel receiver to the body, have full 1280x720 pixel resolution, with 60p and downconverter to 24p, like the Varicam, and straight 24p recording that would have a lot less compression than the 60p footage.

Scott Silverman · July 7th, 2003, 03:06 PM

Wow, good luck getting all that! :-)

Takeshi Fukushima · July 7th, 2003, 06:36 PM

sounds like a very expensive XL1x
takeshi

Nick Hiltgen · March 22nd, 2004, 01:16 AM

OH what the heck, I miss this catagory anyhow.

Here's my NAB 2004 XL-(X) wishlist.

WHile I think that HDV would be fun if you're going to be shooting and down converting to mpeg-2 why not just have a 40gb built in hard drive, heck the ipod has that and it doesn't seem much larger then the tapedrive mechanism.

I would love 1/2" or 2/3" chips and I think it would be silly to not offer progressive scan and 16x9.

I believe they should offer the ground glass alternative to a P+S That they could use with their new 16x9 capable lenses.

I think it would be great to have timecode input/ output along with a couple of xlr inputs.

An Sd slot for storing pictures and scene files would be sweet.

IF they want to ad a LCD monitor I think it should be an optional accessory.

I think that it should offer at least 24p recording and hopefully some other options. I think variable framerate like the varicam would be ideal but It's a cost that might not have to be incurred. It should have at least a firewire 400 and I would prefer a firewire 800 port for exporting your already digitized footage.

I wwould love a standard B+W viewfinder or a HR color VF (but would prefer the former)

I try to do little ENG so I don't care about the straps or shoulder mount but if they want to have a seperate configured one that would be great to.

Must retain interchangable lenses. I think it would be great to have a program for adjusting the look that the CCD's (or CMOS? LMOS? LMAO's) have in camera give it a painting option like the f900. But that might be a little much. I don't know.

But I'd relaly just like to see something with at least half of those options from canon in a month.

Robert Poulton · March 22nd, 2004, 05:01 PM

For some reason. Nick hit it on the head. Ipod and its hard drive. I don't think the ipod's HD is fast enough to encode real-time DV footage, but if so then all they at apple need next is a device controler for the Ipod to plug into. Then from that you just stick it to the back of your camera with a short 6 to 4 pin firewire cable and press record on the controler. just an interesting thought.

Rob

Maya Taylor · March 23rd, 2004, 05:10 PM

"Must retain interchangable lenses...."

true, but I question some of the comments made that it should be backward compatible with existing XL1 lenses. In my opinion all this does is LIMIT the potential XL2....I would rather have an XL2 that takes REAL lenses or better improved XL2 lenses than being limited to only using average XL1 type lenses.... I would rather have the XL2 be more "revolutionary" than just "evolutionary"...

Rob Lohman · March 24th, 2004, 03:13 AM

Why should it get an firewire 800 port? It is not even fully using
the 400 port. It is only doing around 40 mbps instead of the 400
firewire supports. True, if you would get a harddisk in there it
could be used for faster transport of the footage, but I'd be okay
with a 400 interface then as well. If it is going to be compatible
with DV (why wouldn't it be?) then I don't think they can do
variable framerate since the DV specs don't allow for it.

Harddisk recording is first on my list. But it should still support
tape I think (record to both) for storage and support of reading
tapes. 16x9 and true progressive would be very neat to have
as well, indeed.

Betsy Moore · March 24th, 2004, 01:24 PM

Touch screen focus.

Peter Moore · March 24th, 2004, 10:59 PM

24p and HD and I'll be sound as a pound, baby, yeah.

Nick Hiltgen · March 25th, 2004, 04:31 PM

I agree that new lenses would need to be made, especially if one were to take advantage of the HD recording capability but I also believe that in order for the next XL model to stay revolutionary it will have to have lenses that are interchangable (on a prosumer camcorder). I also agree that it would probably be backwards compatable (not neccisarily SHOULD be) I mena you can through an SD lens on an f900 but I don't think it would be the smartest thing to do. I think that they'll probably retain the mount that they have but it would be super cool if they switched over to a pro (bayonet) style mount, so we could go out and rent some digiprimes to see what real HD lenses are capable of!

The only reason i'd like to see firewire 800 is if there were a 30 or 40 gig diskdrive or two 20 gigs raided so that you could use the small ipod like disk drives, I would like to not sit there for 40 minutes transfering over my already rendered footage. (hmm I guess I just want to sit there for 20 minutes...) oh well.

Rob Lohman · March 28th, 2004, 04:13 AM

If I where to build a harddisk system in a camera I would build it
easy removable. Because it might be feasible to purchase a
harddisk for a client and give that to them. Or you might want to
shoot certain things on a certain harddisk. Or you might want to
swap harddisks.

Better yet, with such a system you could mount it directly into
your NLE system (without the need for the camera to be there,
and so someone else might shoot something else on another disk).
In a multi person company you could even have a dedicated
harddisk for each person which also contains his or hers presets
and other shooting preferences.

Now that WOULD be neat. We'll have to wait and see I guess...

Nick Hiltgen · March 29th, 2004, 12:26 AM

I totally agree... oh I can't wait for these days to come...

Pete Constable · April 28th, 2004, 05:30 AM

Audio 1 needs separate level control for the 2 Channels. Existing system is impossible to juggle unless you use 2 identical Mics. With Radio mic & a shotgun mic the levels are different & of course levels change dramatically if lapel mic is 30 feet from the shotgun. I gave up & now use a 2nd XL1 to record 2nd line of Audio. Much easier & I end up with 2 completely useable Audio tracks. Nothing 1 extra control dial would'nt fix.
Underscan flipout LCD could be useful, but really the B/W viewfinder is brilliant.
Hard disc recording & HDV would be great.
Have been watching existing footage on a High Definition TV & must say the old XL1s does do a great job.
Like the guy @ cahnnel 9 here said to me one day, "Why do they bugger round with those huge Betacam cameras. This quality is more than good enough for Broadcast".
I gave them up years ago.
Besides TV systems in 99.9% of households can't even reproduce VHS quality.
How many people do you know with a wide screen, Hi Def digital Telly.
Well done Canon. I will never go anywhere else. PC in OZ

Jason Steussy · April 30th, 2004, 01:58 AM

I'd like the camera to tell me the color temperature it settles on when it white balances! Also, a photo button override/disable option to avoid those accidental bumps.

Luis Caffesse · April 30th, 2004, 02:21 AM

Well, as long as we're talking about color temperature... I'll go you one further.

One thing I've always wanted to be able to do is manually control my white balance - (yes I know how to white balance a camera) - What I mean by that is, not only have the camera give you the color temp that it chose, but allow you to then dial it up or down from there. There are few things I find more frustrating than having to rewhitebalance 4 or 5 times to get the temp that I'm looking for.

I know this is possible in higher end cams (as is the option to see your color temp). It would be great to see this at a 'prosumer' level.

(then again, if we got everything we wanted, i guess it would no longer be a 'prosumer' level cam, and would cost about 20K)

-Luis

July 7th, 2003, 03:06 PM	#92
Scott Silverman Major Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Cupertino, California, USA Posts: 301	Wow, good luck getting all that! :-) __________________ Scott Silverman Shining Star Digital Video Productions Bay Area, CA

March 22nd, 2004, 05:01 PM	#95
Robert Poulton Major Player Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 245	Brain behind the Ipod. For some reason. Nick hit it on the head. Ipod and its hard drive. I don't think the ipod's HD is fast enough to encode real-time DV footage, but if so then all they at apple need next is a device controler for the Ipod to plug into. Then from that you just stick it to the back of your camera with a short 6 to 4 pin firewire cable and press record on the controler. just an interesting thought. Rob

March 24th, 2004, 03:13 AM	#97
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Why should it get an firewire 800 port? It is not even fully using the 400 port. It is only doing around 40 mbps instead of the 400 firewire supports. True, if you would get a harddisk in there it could be used for faster transport of the footage, but I'd be okay with a 400 interface then as well. If it is going to be compatible with DV (why wouldn't it be?) then I don't think they can do variable framerate since the DV specs don't allow for it. Harddisk recording is first on my list. But it should still support tape I think (record to both) for storage and support of reading tapes. 16x9 and true progressive would be very neat to have as well, indeed. __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

March 28th, 2004, 04:13 AM	#101
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	If I where to build a harddisk system in a camera I would build it easy removable. Because it might be feasible to purchase a harddisk for a client and give that to them. Or you might want to shoot certain things on a certain harddisk. Or you might want to swap harddisks. Better yet, with such a system you could mount it directly into your NLE system (without the need for the camera to be there, and so someone else might shoot something else on another disk). In a multi person company you could even have a dedicated harddisk for each person which also contains his or hers presets and other shooting preferences. Now that WOULD be neat. We'll have to wait and see I guess... __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

April 28th, 2004, 05:30 AM	#103
Pete Constable Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: NSW, Australia Posts: 50	XL2 Wish List Audio 1 needs separate level control for the 2 Channels. Existing system is impossible to juggle unless you use 2 identical Mics. With Radio mic & a shotgun mic the levels are different & of course levels change dramatically if lapel mic is 30 feet from the shotgun. I gave up & now use a 2nd XL1 to record 2nd line of Audio. Much easier & I end up with 2 completely useable Audio tracks. Nothing 1 extra control dial would'nt fix. Underscan flipout LCD could be useful, but really the B/W viewfinder is brilliant. Hard disc recording & HDV would be great. Have been watching existing footage on a High Definition TV & must say the old XL1s does do a great job. Like the guy @ cahnnel 9 here said to me one day, "Why do they bugger round with those huge Betacam cameras. This quality is more than good enough for Broadcast". I gave them up years ago. Besides TV systems in 99.9% of households can't even reproduce VHS quality. How many people do you know with a wide screen, Hi Def digital Telly. Well done Canon. I will never go anywhere else. PC in OZ

July 7th, 2003, 06:53 AM	#91
Joseph George Permanently Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 265	get a 3D lens for this thing, like the prototype developed for the XL1s, but this time base the shutters on technology that will not disintegrate itself in couple of years, use high quality MPEG2 processors, not like the ones on the JVC, add wireless diversity 2-channel receiver to the body, have full 1280x720 pixel resolution, with 60p and downconverter to 24p, like the Varicam, and straight 24p recording that would have a lot less compression than the 60p footage.

July 7th, 2003, 06:36 PM	#93
Takeshi Fukushima Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Tokyo, Japan Posts: 86	sounds like a very expensive XL1x takeshi

March 22nd, 2004, 01:16 AM	#94
Nick Hiltgen Trustee Join Date: May 2003 Location: Atlanta GA Posts: 1,427	OH what the heck, I miss this catagory anyhow. Here's my NAB 2004 XL-(X) wishlist. WHile I think that HDV would be fun if you're going to be shooting and down converting to mpeg-2 why not just have a 40gb built in hard drive, heck the ipod has that and it doesn't seem much larger then the tapedrive mechanism. I would love 1/2" or 2/3" chips and I think it would be silly to not offer progressive scan and 16x9. I believe they should offer the ground glass alternative to a P+S That they could use with their new 16x9 capable lenses. I think it would be great to have timecode input/ output along with a couple of xlr inputs. An Sd slot for storing pictures and scene files would be sweet. IF they want to ad a LCD monitor I think it should be an optional accessory. I think that it should offer at least 24p recording and hopefully some other options. I think variable framerate like the varicam would be ideal but It's a cost that might not have to be incurred. It should have at least a firewire 400 and I would prefer a firewire 800 port for exporting your already digitized footage. I wwould love a standard B+W viewfinder or a HR color VF (but would prefer the former) I try to do little ENG so I don't care about the straps or shoulder mount but if they want to have a seperate configured one that would be great to. Must retain interchangable lenses. I think it would be great to have a program for adjusting the look that the CCD's (or CMOS? LMOS? LMAO's) have in camera give it a painting option like the f900. But that might be a little much. I don't know. But I'd relaly just like to see something with at least half of those options from canon in a month.

March 23rd, 2004, 05:10 PM	#96
Maya Taylor New Boot Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 21	"Must retain interchangable lenses...." true, but I question some of the comments made that it should be backward compatible with existing XL1 lenses. In my opinion all this does is LIMIT the potential XL2....I would rather have an XL2 that takes REAL lenses or better improved XL2 lenses than being limited to only using average XL1 type lenses.... I would rather have the XL2 be more "revolutionary" than just "evolutionary"...

March 24th, 2004, 01:24 PM	#98
Betsy Moore Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 444	Touch screen focus.

March 24th, 2004, 10:59 PM	#99
Peter Moore Trustee Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Arlington VA Posts: 1,034	24p and HD and I'll be sound as a pound, baby, yeah.

March 25th, 2004, 04:31 PM	#100
Nick Hiltgen Trustee Join Date: May 2003 Location: Atlanta GA Posts: 1,427	I agree that new lenses would need to be made, especially if one were to take advantage of the HD recording capability but I also believe that in order for the next XL model to stay revolutionary it will have to have lenses that are interchangable (on a prosumer camcorder). I also agree that it would probably be backwards compatable (not neccisarily SHOULD be) I mena you can through an SD lens on an f900 but I don't think it would be the smartest thing to do. I think that they'll probably retain the mount that they have but it would be super cool if they switched over to a pro (bayonet) style mount, so we could go out and rent some digiprimes to see what real HD lenses are capable of! The only reason i'd like to see firewire 800 is if there were a 30 or 40 gig diskdrive or two 20 gigs raided so that you could use the small ipod like disk drives, I would like to not sit there for 40 minutes transfering over my already rendered footage. (hmm I guess I just want to sit there for 20 minutes...) oh well.

March 29th, 2004, 12:26 AM	#102
Nick Hiltgen Trustee Join Date: May 2003 Location: Atlanta GA Posts: 1,427	I totally agree... oh I can't wait for these days to come...

April 30th, 2004, 01:58 AM	#104
Jason Steussy New Boot Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ames, IA Posts: 9	I'd like the camera to tell me the color temperature it settles on when it white balances! Also, a photo button override/disable option to avoid those accidental bumps.

April 30th, 2004, 02:21 AM	#105
Luis Caffesse Major Player Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 704	Well, as long as we're talking about color temperature... I'll go you one further. One thing I've always wanted to be able to do is manually control my white balance - (yes I know how to white balance a camera) - What I mean by that is, not only have the camera give you the color temp that it chose, but allow you to then dial it up or down from there. There are few things I find more frustrating than having to rewhitebalance 4 or 5 times to get the temp that I'm looking for. I know this is possible in higher end cams (as is the option to see your color temp). It would be great to see this at a 'prosumer' level. (then again, if we got everything we wanted, i guess it would no longer be a 'prosumer' level cam, and would cost about 20K) -Luis