ok sorry for yet another low light post. Am I losing my mind, but my new XM2 requires a boatload more light than my gl2 did..... crazy?

Joe,

Maybe the GL2 has better low light performance than the XM2 due to its lower pixel density per square inch. The GL2 has 3 x ¼ inch CCD’s, approx. 3 x 410,000 pixels (3 x 380,000 effective pixels). The XM2 has 3 x ¼ inch CCD’s, approx. 3 x 470,000 pixels (3 x 440,000 effective pixels). Therefore the CCD transistors on the XM2 must be more densely packed (per sq inch) than those of the GL2. This would mean that each transistor is smaller. I think the larger the physical size of each CCD pixel the better the camera’s low light performance is. Not being an expert, I may be wrong in using this line of thinking.