dv filmmaking: WAY biggest bang for the buck

Author's Rating:

Pros: Numerous manual adjusts, upgraded 3-CCD technology, custom presets, Viewfinder volume meters, top ejject

Cons: (wish list) direct XLR inputs, gamma adjust, stock zoom speed LANC control.

Author's Review
No doubt about it, the consensus in the film community is clear: the CANON GL2 (in the UK called "XL2") is the best bang for the buck in the semi-pro miniDV format (remarkably, this includes Canon's own XL1s!). What's more, the next best camcorder in this class is the Panasonic AG-DVX100, which sells - at a street price of around $3500US - for about $1500 more!

While the GL2 sports many general upgrades over the earlier GL1 (such as the "pixel-shift technology" of it's capture hardware), it is chiefly the "frame' (or "movie") mode (which somewhat emulates a "cinema-like" look to screened footage) and the various (and genuinely 'manual') override functions that push this petite workhorse in front of the pack of other "pro-sumer" camcorders, so much so that it has become, almost by default, THE ubiquitous camera in the mini-budget indie film movement.

Read around EVERYWHERE (as I did before forking out my $$) and you will come to the same conclusion, for lens quality, shooting in low-light, optional "frame" mode - and countless other features - for it's price the GL2 is in a class of it's own.