Canon GL2? User friendly?

[Jamie Isben]

Hello everyone,

I am currently in the market for a DV cam and just need a little help.

I've come to realize that I really would like to get a GL2. I have read numerous amounts of reviews and information on this camcorder and have been keeping my eye on it for well over a year.

Recently I found this site and decided to search through the posts relevant to the topic at hand. Needless to say I spent quite some time reading said posts only to derive at a fork in the road...

From what I gather some say that the Panasonic AG-DVC30 is a much more competent cam than the GL2 and its more "user friendly".

Instead of just hearing one person's view on the camcorder, I would like to get to know what the owners think. From your guys' experience do you think the GL2 is more versitle and comfortable for shooting movies than the DVC30? Do the features on the DVC30 outweigh the GL2?

I really want something that won't die on me after a year or so. I want something that when I load it into AE I can manipulate the footage with as little quality loss as possible. I want a camcorder that doesn't get stuck up on artifacts frequently.

Is the GL2 the camcorder for me? Now I'm not so sure...

[Rush Hamden]

Hi Jamie. I can 100% assure you that the GL2 will not die on you after a year. I have had one in my rental department for 2 years now, and it has paid for itself 3x over, and still runs like a champ. It is a rugged camera. The AGDVC30 has been an equally rugged camera. We have been very fortunate selling both these cameras; both are built well, both shoot great images with the same size CCD, both have fast f/1.6 lenses.

The two major points for my customers have been:

1- The DVC30 has a 3.5" LCD, as opposed to the GL2's 2.5".

2- The GL2 has a 20x Optical zoom 4.2-84mm with a 58mm opening, the DVC30 has a 4.1mm to 65.6mm 16x Optical Zoom with a 43mm opening.

Aside from that, my customers have also picked either camera based on the feel of it, ease of use for them. Try and play with one before you buy it.

Best of luck.

[Adam Folickman]

Jamie,

See if you can talk to Mark Williams. I think he has owned both the GL2 and the DVC30.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/member.php?s=&action=getinfo&userid=2369

Adam

[Jamie Isben]

Yea I was thinking that both cameras were pretty similar...

Though Rush I would imagine the price difference, 1900 for the DVC as opposed to the 2100 for the GL2, would aslo be a main deciding factor...

Thanks for the referal Adam, I will defintaly get in contact with Mark and get his scoop on the subject...

One thing that I can say which draws me towards the GL2 is its built in time lapse feature...I can think of a million ways to implement that. Other than that the cameras seem the same...

Thanks for the advice guys!

[Rush Hamden]

<<<-- Originally posted by Jamie Isben
Though Rush I would imagine the price difference, 1900 for the DVC as opposed to the 2100 for the GL2, would aslo be a main deciding factor...
-->>>

Believe it or not, that has been the least deciding factor in over 40 such buying decisions I have assisted in. 10% has been too negligible, not like $1500 to go up to the DVX100A or $2000 to go up to the XL2. It's always like, "boy I can fill the frame with someone's face from across the room," or "I really need the bigger LCD", or "it's cool to have a built in digital camera in the GL2"... That kinda stuff. : )

It's like when I got the Xeon 3.06GhZ instead of the 2.8GhZ, the increase in performance was worth the 10% higher price ($269 up to $309) but I couldn't go to the 3.4GhZ for double the price at $589), it just wasn't worth it...