Yet another item that lurks in my brother's electrical goods shop is the 'Canon Camcorder'. As most top quality items do, we get a nicely packaged item, with all the appropriate information, such as the instruction manual, which is overall very easy to follow and it even includes diagrams for ... Read review
The Sakar CV-1800 is a universal video light for digital camcorders. The camcorder video ... more
light is excellent it helps you ensure your picture's perfect setting. A sleek lightweight design with a compact size makes it ideal for traveling and for your traveling.What's in the Box:Light, mounting bracket, two AAA batteries
Postage & Packaging:£3.50 Availability:Usually dispatched within 2-3 business days...
This Camera Tripod is designed for most film and digital cameras as well as camcorders. ... more
Featuring a quick-release plate that makes it a breeze to switch to handheld shooting and a professional grip for fluid 3-way panning and tilt, the tripod lets you capture images from any angle you can imagine. The tripod can extend to a height of 145 cm (57 Inch) when in use, and collapse to just 55.88 cm (22 inches) for travel or storage. For your convenience, a carrying case is included. Lightweight, versatile, and affordable, this is a great tripod for photographers of all levels of experience.
Postage & Packaging:£3.50 Availability:Usually dispatched within 2-3 business days...
The Sakar CV-1800 is a universal video light for digital camcorders. The camcorder video ... more
light is excellent it helps you ensure your picture's perfect setting. A sleek lightweight design with a compact size makes it ideal for traveling and for your traveling.What's in the Box:Light, mounting bracket, two AAA batteries
Postage & Packaging:£3.50 Availability:Usually dispatched within 2-3 business days...
This Camera Tripod is designed for most film and digital cameras as well as camcorders. ... more
Featuring a quick-release plate that makes it a breeze to switch to handheld shooting and a professional grip for fluid 3-way panning and tilt, the tripod lets you capture images from any angle you can imagine. The tripod can extend to a height of 145 cm (57 Inch) when in use, and collapse to just 55.88 cm (22 inches) for travel or storage. For your convenience, a carrying case is included. Lightweight, versatile, and affordable, this is a great tripod for photographers of all levels of experience.
Postage & Packaging:£3.50 Availability:Usually dispatched within 2-3 business days...
Advantages: Great for special events Disadvantages: It is far too pricey.
...
The Canon Camcorder is quite sturdy (measuring 22.5 cm x 49.6 cm x 22 cm) , also weighing in at 3.5 kg, although it doesn't induce any arm aches.
The Canon camcorder is the ideal choice for recording broadcast or web content, making educational videos or registering an event like a wedding. A point worth raising is that the battery lasts for a fair while, and so makes it a lot more suitable for such events, just don't ... ...
However, although the Canon may have better audio, colour reproduction is less natural than that from the Sony TRV950 , which also offers better still images (plus a built-in flash), and is also kinder on the bank balance. So, after weighing up which of these final pointers you find the most important, you may have a rough idea if this is for you, or not as the case may be. Either way, there is no denying that this is an excellent product. more
Yet another item that lurks in my brother's electrical goods shop is the 'Canon Camcorder'. As most top quality items do, we get a nicely packaged item, with all the appropriate information, such as the instruction manual, which is overall very easy to follow and it even includes diagrams for those of you out there who are not over technically minded.
The Canon Camcorder is quite sturdy (measuring 22.5 cm x 49.6 cm x 22 cm) , also weighing in at 3.5 kg, although it doesn't induce any arm aches.
The Canon camcorder is the ideal choice for recording broadcast or web content, making educational videos or registering an event like a wedding. A point worth raising is that the battery lasts for a fair while, and so makes it a lot more suitable for such events, just don't forget to charge up!
The camcorder owns the ability of analogue inputs and outputs (S-video, composite video, L/R audio) - not just DV in/out - and adds a card slot (SD Memory Card or MultiMedia Card) for still-image storage. Also included is a mini USB socket, which is useful for doing things such as downloading stills to your personal computer, which is a useful feature.
As with the previous version, the size of the imaging CCDs remains the same. That being at 0.25in, although according to the manual, the number of effective pixels has apparently been increased from 300,000 to 440,000. Also according to the manual the cam is said to "deliver 540 lines resolution and a claimed improvement of 3dB in the signal-to-noise ratio - factors said to enhance colour reproduction, low-light performance, exposure range and resolution."
Manual control over audio levels was an omission on the previous model, but the camcorder has right and left non-directional microphones, adjustable via dials on the camcorder body. Also present is an option to which allows you to change the frequency response to normal, voice, which allows a lot more crisper speech, and also "wind screen", which obviously is used for reducing wind noise, which can be an awful pain! These settings are useful and you can also prevent distortion or overloaded levels by turning on the mic attenuator. After watching recordings with this camera, I have to say that the quality of the sound recorded, with each of the features, is very pleasing.
Another useful new addition to the cam is the feature which allows you to set "Clear Scan" , which prevent flicker when filming a computer or TV screen; Analogue-DV-analogue pass-through conversion; colour-bars generation; and custom settings for video levels and picture sharpness.
The camcorder is EASY to use, and all buttons are clearly marked, and if there is any confusion, which I doubt, there is an instruction manual which is clearly labelled. Talking of keys there is a custom key that can be used to assign functions used frequently, which I found to be very useful and an extremely good feature.
Overall, the camcorderis is a great item,one reason being the fact that there is the added bonus of manual audio controls and solid-state memory card capabilities for stills.
Then, there is the lens, which produces excellent detail. This is helped by the optical image stabiliser which as a result feels good when focusing; however, it does need end-stops. There is a dial, rather than an "iris ring", which is ok, but an Iris ring in my opinion would be a lot more sufficient.
The LCD screen itself, is a little too small for serious monitoring, but the colour viewfinder is good, and compensates well.
As the manual states: Having analogue in/outputs, FireWire and USB means there's a good connectivity, plus there's effective analogue-DV-analogue pass-through. I was rather impressed with the stereo audio quality from the onboard microphone, and felt that the controls, sharpness, phase and black levels of the picture are professional features worth having, making it a great piece of equipment for filming at events like weddings, parties and so on.
However, although the Canon may have better audio, colour reproduction is less natural than that from the Sony TRV950 , which also offers better still images (plus a built-in flash), and is also kinder on the bank balance. So, after weighing up which of these final pointers you find the most important, you may have a rough idea if this is for you, or not as the case may be. Either way, there is no denying that this is an excellent product.
The estimate retail price is £3,170.00 however. That automatically makes this quite redundant I feel however, with the fact that there are so many camcorders out there, at cheaper prices that could do just as, or half a good a job as this.
Advantages: Easy to use for beginner, built in 16:9 field of view Disadvantages: Heavy in prolonged use (3.545Kg), quite short battery life
Canon suggests that the XL2 provides "unprecedented flexibility" for the digital camcorder user. So, how good is the XL2?
Straight out of the box the camera seems impressive. The build quality is good and each camera component feels strong and well built. The supplied user manual leads you through the step-by-step assembly of the camera although some of the stages are not explained very clearly. However, the connection of each of the camera's components ... ...availalble as an "extra").
Canon say that the XL2 offer "an incredible amount of manual control" and I must say that I agree.
Many cameras allow adjustment of white balance or brightness levels. The XL2 provides over 20 adjustable settings including sharpness, colour hue, gamma, knee, colour gain, skin detail and noise reduction. In use we haven't even begun to scratch the surface of using all of these features but an initial "testing session" ...
kollerto 20.04.2005
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Canon XL2 camcorder - Mini DV
Advantages: Interchageable lens system, 2xXLR inputs built in, adjustable viewfinder position Disadvantages: Not good for low light performance, bulky when compared to consumer units, not HD
The Canon XL2 is the pro-sumer miniDV camcorder that is most often spotted on the sets of low budget and independent films. Not because it is a cheap option, but because for a fraction of the cost of a professional rig, you can deliver the same results.
SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT SPECS:
1/3" Progressive Scan 3CCD image sensor
PAL & NTSC versions available
TTL Autofocus and Manual focus ring
20x optical zoom
Min focus distance 20mm on wide macro
... ...have the entire range of Canon photographic lenses at your fingertips, a necessity for specialist shooting like nature documentary and astrological study. However, it is important to remember that the lens is probably the most expensive part of a modern camera, so this coupled with the high quality of Canon lenses in general, could lead to an expensive sink for the gadget hungry director.
If like most end users you plan to keep this on full auto ...
gnipping 10.05.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Canon XL2 camcorder - Mini DV
...would not be without my canon as it far excideds other competitors in terms of picture quality and ease of use. i have had my canon xl1 for 6 years and its still as good as the day i brought it i brought the canon xl2 last year and it is just the same high quality. ...
vikkick 06.07.2005
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Canon XL2 camcorder - Mini DV
Advantages: Interchageable lens system, 2xXLR inputs built in, adjustable viewfinder position Disadvantages: Not good for low light performance, bulky when compared to consumer units, not HD
The Canon XL2 is the pro-sumer miniDV camcorder that is most often spotted on the sets of low budget and independent films. Not because it is a cheap option, but because for a fraction of the cost of a professional rig, you can deliver the same results.
SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT SPECS:
1/3" Progressive Scan 3CCD image sensor
PAL & NTSC versions available
TTL Autofocus and Manual focus ring
20x optical zoom
Min focus distance 20mm on wide macro
... ...have the entire range of Canon photographic lenses at your fingertips, a necessity for specialist shooting like nature documentary and astrological study. However, it is important to remember that the lens is probably the most expensive part of a modern camera, so this coupled with the high quality of Canon lenses in general, could lead to an expensive sink for the gadget hungry director.
If like most end users you plan to keep this on full auto ...
gnipping 10.05.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: not helpful Review of Canon XL2 camcorder - Mini DV
Product Information for "Canon XL2 camcorder - Mini DV" »
Connections
Connector Type
1 x DC power output
1 x microphone
1 x composite video/audio (input/output)
1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire/i.LINK)
1 x Control-L (LANC)
1 x headphones
1 x S-Video input / output
Manufacturer's product description
The Canon XL2 allows you to capture images closer to the finished product than ever before. Work that previously was limited to post-production can be simply and effectively accomplished in the field, in the camcorder. An Open Architecture philosophy, performance found only in much more expensive video cameras, Total Image Control and the solid foundation of Genuine Canon Optics, interchangeable lens capability and superb Canon image processing quality are united in the XL2. The XL2 brings a host of performance and convenience features to this class of video camcorder- benefits that can't be found in this combination on other high-end video cameras. They include: Canon Super Range Optical Image Stabilization in the standard lens; dual aspect ratios; various frame rate capabilities; image gamma and detail controls; skin detail control and convertible LCD display and among others. Unprecedented image control coordination between two XL2 cameras, remote computer camera control and direct video recording to computer are just a part of the capabilities of the XL2. Never before has so much creative power been put in the hands of the film maker, video artist, and corporate and event videographer.
