Xl1s any good

B

bfsound

Well-known member
Hi guys im new hear looking forward to finding out some good info.

im new to camera's like the DVX and the XL and im putting together a few camera's to start filming a band i work for live.

I have a DVX100a i can get for a good price locally as well as a XL1s and i want to know some opinions about the XL1s? Whats the deal with the lenses i read that most you gain something but you loose another thing when using the different lenses?

Anyway some advise on some good camera's to get for a live shoot.

Thanks
 
The XL-1 is a good but old camera. Come to think of it, I haven't actually seen an XL-1 for five years or so - it was widely replaced by Canon's XL-2 and even that camera isn't finding much use now with HD cameras becoming extremely prevalent and cheap. If I were you, I'd pass on the DVX100a and the XL-1 and buy something like a Canon HV30 or HV40. They're smaller and in some ways a little less functional, but you gain the ability to shoot HD footage and if you know what you're doing they're capable of some pretty gorgeous footage.
 
Finnegan said:
The XL-1 is a good but old camera. Come to think of it, I haven't actually seen an XL-1 for five years or so - it was widely replaced by Canon's XL-2 and even that camera isn't finding much use now with HD cameras becoming extremely prevalent and cheap. If I were you, I'd pass on the DVX100a and the XL-1 and buy something like a Canon HV30 or HV40. They're smaller and in some ways a little less functional, but you gain the ability to shoot HD footage and if you know what you're doing they're capable of some pretty gorgeous footage.
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Really? You know i was looking at getting a few of the Hv30 and tricking them out but that seems like alot of work to make them good. Plus i use an old G4 dual 1.24 powermac and dont think HD will be easy to edit, especially canons AVCHD which i will have to convert to SD to edit? i figured i could get good with camera's like the DVX and thehn in 8 months to a year retire them and go all HD with a few HMC40's and a nice mac pro 12 core or 16 core? Age and HD dont matter to me as long as its a good camera if fine with older well know gear :)
 
Given the 2 options with no other outside influence I say DVX all the way. It might be a tough choice if you said XL2, but between XL1 and and DVX my vote is DVX any day of the week.
 
kgimedia said:
Given the 2 options with no other outside influence I say DVX all the way. It might be a tough choice if you said XL2, but between XL1 and and DVX my vote is DVX any day of the week.
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Cool, as far as for shooting live concerts will the dvx perform well? i was looking at the vx2100 as well since it seems to be the low light champ, no 24p though.

Between the 3 which two should i audition? i figure two 2 different ones out and then i can always sell the one i dont like and get a different one or another of the keeper.
 
Canon XL-2 is about six years old. For a long time it was the camera of choice for independent filmmakers because it had a great stock lens, interchangeable lenses, and a host of image manipulation settings that allowed some incredible customizability. But times have changed, no one uses that thing anymore seriously.

I think that if you're really serious about moving forward and doing work for people, you can't cut corners on your gear. SD had its time and that time passed. Now, it's the era of HD. I would almost recommend an HV40+accessories over an XL-2.
 
If budget is the main concern you'd be better off with an HMC40 or used XH-A1 and end up with really nice HD images.
 
Finnegan said:
Canon XL-2 is about six years old. For a long time it was the camera of choice for independent filmmakers because it had a great stock lens, interchangeable lenses, and a host of image manipulation settings that allowed some incredible customizability. But times have changed, no one uses that thing anymore seriously.

I think that if you're really serious about moving forward and doing work for people, you can't cut corners on your gear. SD had its time and that time passed. Now, it's the era of HD. I would almost recommend an HV40+accessories over an XL-2.
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So whats so great about the HV40? If all it is is HD then i dont care since our video will most likely never be watched in HD over the next year or 2! Explain how i ca make a good camera out of an HV40 and how i can get "great footage" with one vs a camera like the DVX which is a legend practically? and has no downside other than no HD and its a bit older...
 
I agree with the advice to purchase the XH-A1.
If you keep your eyes open you can find a good used one for under 2k.
You will have much more capability than most of the camera's mentioned.
The presets alone are worth the price of admission, supurb glass, never mind the ability to control just about every aspect in manual, which will be crucial in the type of shooting you have proposed.(low light)
Check out some of the examples on Vimeo, that should help you make your decision.
Good luck, hope find what you are looking for.
 
Canon XL-2 is about six years old. For a long time it was the camera of choice for independent filmmakers
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I thought it more crashed and burned. I felt it just never stood up to the DVX100 at all; something was off about it.

For filming a local band ? You'd be stoked on a DVX100.
 
bfsound said:
So whats so great about the HV40? If all it is is HD then i dont care since our video will most likely never be watched in HD over the next year or 2! Explain how i ca make a good camera out of an HV40 and how i can get "great footage" with one vs a camera like the DVX which is a legend practically? and has no downside other than no HD and its a bit older...
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What you're eventually going to realize is that it isn't the camera that makes the image, it's the lighting and composition. If you know how to light and compose an image well, then the camera makes close to no difference at all. The reason I'd suggest an HV40 over a DVX100a is for a number of reasons: firstly, it's cheaper. Second, it's HD. Third, I think it's a great camera to learn on because fo the first and second reasons. Lastly, because it's HD it'll give you a much higher quality image, thus enabling you to learn to a better degree more quickly. In SD footage, you'll find that it's too forgiving at times.
 
Lean540 said:
I agree with the advice to purchase the XH-A1.
If you keep your eyes open you can find a good used one for under 2k.
You will have much more capability than most of the camera's mentioned.
The presets alone are worth the price of admission, supurb glass, never mind the ability to control just about every aspect in manual, which will be crucial in the type of shooting you have proposed.(low light)
Check out some of the examples on Vimeo, that should help you make your decision.
Good luck, hope find what you are looking for.
Click to expand...

About the XH-A1 i found a local store where i can buy next to new Xh's for 1600 ea maybe a deal on more than 1 so i think im going to try and get 2 maybe 3!
 
You won't regret it.
Finnegan also had some great input, spend as much time as you can learning about shot composition and lighting.
Lots of great resources out there, including this one! :)
Hope you post, would love to see what you end up with.
 
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