Significant specifications for Canon XL2?
I’d like to know how well an XL2 produces it’s quality video and still imagery compared to a Sony DCR-SR42.
Specifications such as Video Actual, Still Actual, Megapixels, Optical Zoom.
Also average price in Australia, if you can provide that much info…
Also, is the quality of the image/video, full image control (Aperture, Focus, etc.) and shutter speed the only things that are good about the Canon XL2?
I have a DCR-SR42 and i was just thinking if i should upgrade the quality of the image/video by investing for a Canon XL2. I’m a beginner filmmaker with around 5 months expeirence in filmmaking. Living in AUstralia.
You are comparing a consumer grade hard drive based, small lens, small imaging chip, no mic-jack, difficult to get to manual zoom/focus/aperture/shutter and no manual audio control camcorder (DCR-SR42) to a pro-grade (or high-end prosumer) with a comparably large lens, large imaging chip, dual XLR audio input, easy to reach manual zoom/focus/aperture/shutter and full manual audio control (XL2)…
It is like comparing a hand-truck to a full sized tractor-trailer…
Perhaps you can rent an XL2 for a day to see if it will do what you want… Be aware that the XL2 is a miniDV based camcorder and records standard definition DV to the miniDV tape. Getting the video to your computer requires your computer to have a working Firewire (IEEE1394a, i.LINK, DV - all the same thing) port. DV does not compress the video as much as the highly compressed MPEG2 video from consumer hard drive based camcorders.
Video compression = discarded video data = reduced video quality.
For a price similar to the XL2 (new prices) then the Sony FX1 or FX7 let you enter the wonderful world of HDV, though admittedly the XL2 is a bit better laid out.