sony vx2000 or canon xl1

shooting surfing, ice skateing, street drags.
Transfer firewire to computer for editing back to camara then to VHS Which is the better camara. Help please not the canon xl1s

Usually that question sparks quite a lot of heated debate. They are both great cameras. I opted for the VX2K mainly because it has absolutely killer low light capability. For what you're doing that won't be such an issue. Image quality is super on both, maybe a little warmer in the XL. I have to filter balance a tendency to favor blue in my Sony. Couple of my buds have XL-1's and they can pull down a better long shot than I can, so if surfing was your main subject, I'd go with XL. Now if I'm out on the ice with a steady mounted camera that would be my VX, it handles poor lighting really well.

Honestly, either way you'll do well. The XL will set you back quite a bit more, though. Good luck.

[Dan C.]

This question has been asked many times, I even asked it myself once. Use the search fuction at the top, and search for something like "vx2000 vs XL1" and I'm sure you'll find a few threads.

Hope this helps.

[Adrian Douglas]

I've shot a bit of surfing with my XL1(not the s) and I can tell you from experience it handles the job very well. Especially when you consider you can through the EOS adapter on it and sling a 70-200 lens on the front and get some awesome shots. The only draw back I found was the sleep mode, which the camera would usually enter a split second before I hit recored after waiting for a good set to roll in.

For surfing, my dream set up would be an XL1s(because of the defeatable sleep mode) on a tripod with a 70-200 on it for shooting from the beach, and a GL/XM1 in a housing for water shots.(hopefully I'll have this before the year is through.)

[John Klein]

I agree with Adrian.

You must determine what is the one thing you can live without and perhaps base a decision on that.

If I read your post right, I see it's the non-s version of the xl1. If so, there will be a considerable advantage indoors with the vx2k. It will also be sharper. The xl1S narrows the differences.

But you mention a lot of daylight activities that sway me more to the canon. The ability to take an adapter like Optex has and toss on a used 35mm lens to shoot surfing sounds awesome. When using the stock lens, the steadyshot feature is fantastic! The normal lens goes to 88mm (I think) and if you used a 80-200 f/4.5 nikkor with an adapter it would set you back about $425. The reach would be far and need some solid support. But there's no way to match the potential range of this rig with any cam for under big $.

On the other hand, the sony is really portable and born to do a great job if you point and shoot.

Do you like to fiddle around or just hit record?

Sony DSR PD-150 is the VX2000's bigger brother. Very simular cameras.

Try both camera's... Get a hands on feel for both of them....

I did just that before I purchased my Sony DSR PD-150. Sorry Canon I like the sony WAY more. I purchased a killer 24x Lense and a 16:9 TRUE lense. That's all I will ever need (lense wise ;) ).

I found the Canon to be over priced... Let me explain.

The Sony you get out of the box and use right away with no problems. You can do that with the Canon aswell but this is where more cost comes in.....

MA 200 2 XLR jacks add-on for the Canon is another $300 the Sony has 2 built in XLR. Audio is a MUST when you want to improve audio quality on your videos through the purchase of a new shotgun mic. 90% of factory ones suck.

Extra batteries for the Canon to get longer recording time cost $190 (4 hours record time) The Sony batteries have 7 hours record time on one battery ($140). You can have upto 12 hours of straight record time on the Canon IF you buy the MA 200 plus the dual battery charger / holder and 2x 6 hour batteries. not only does it add a ton more weight it adds another $600 to your purchase.... NOT WORTH IT.... The Sony on the other hand....Plop on a 7 hour battery while your other one is charging (3 hours charge time) then when and IF you use the 7 hours up plop on the fresh new charged battery.

Both handle low light very good but I find that the PD-150 has a warmer look to it.

The built in Still camera features are better on the Sony DSR PD-150. Unless you want to purchase $$$$$$ worth of lenses for your Canon. On that note when you add the still lense adapter (must buy) and the still lense (must buy) to your Canon you are making it a telescopic lense meaning that to get any good close up stills you need to be quite aways from your target. The Sony comes with the Flash Memory external Drive (usb) and a 4 MB flash memory card.

Look I could go on and on about why I feel that the Sony DSR PD-150 is way better than the Canon.

My point is by the time you purchase all the needed equipment on the XL1 or S Canon you might as well of purchased a better camera with bigger CCD chips. The cost is not worth it. The Sony is a cheaper solution and it gives all around better quality over the Canon period.. Picture, Sound, Battery Life and so on.

Again the choice is yours....

Feel free to contact me personally and I will help you in any way I can. (kloudi.geo@yahoo.com)

PS: People do not flame me lol this is from my personal experiance with the two cameras and the above said are MY opinions ONLY.