I am leaning towards buying another GL2 because I loved the quality, but am considering getting a smaller high def camcorder. Maybe one of the Canon Vixias. I just can't believe that the picture quality will be as good or better than the GL2 even though they are HD. I heard that the hard drive Hds are not that great because they are compressed so much. I appreciate any feedback.

There's absolutely no comparison -- any of the VIXIA series HD camcorders will produce an image that is far, far superior to the GL2. Hard drive recording makes no difference; it doesn't matter if it's hard drive, internal flash memory or removable flash card. You can choose from a variety of compression settings and put the image quality where you want it (there's no reason not to use the highest, which is usually 24mbps or 17mbps).

And remember, compression does not matter as nearly much as encoding efficiency does, and AVCHD is twice as efficient as HDV. So 15mbps in AVCHD will be better than 25mbps in HDV. And the GL2 ain't even HDV. Hope this helps,

Chris is right. By virtually all measures, the image quality from a HD camcorder will be better than form the GL2. One possible issue to consider with a VIXIA series (or similar) is the controls and handling compared to the GL2 you have grown to know and love.

At this point, at this time, buying a SD camcorder, even a GL2 or XL2, should be considered carefully, and undertaken only if there is a very specific, important reason not to buy HD..

Now I'm leaning towards buying the Vixia. lol. I just can't see why it would be so much less than a GL-2 if the quality is so good. I heard that it does not work as well indoors, but would it be as good or better than the GL-2 indoors because of the higher resolution? Also, I would use a telephoto lens because the zoom is so weak. I heard that lowers the quality, but would it still be better than the GL-2 with the lens outdoors?

Thanks

Personaly i far prefer my HV30 to the SR12 i used to have ,it is as sharp as the sony with better overall picture look, canon tapeless cams are far more popular than the HVs and good performers but at present i would not swop to one, But i know cameras like the canon EOS5D and panaonic lumix GH1 take brilliant video but they are limited in some aspects for videoing.

... At this point, at this time, buying a SD camcorder, even a GL2 or XL2, should be considered carefully, and undertaken only if there is a very specific, important reason not to buy HD..I have such a reason. I'm not a pro, I typically shoot with three cams, I only have a P4 computer and Vegas 7, so it will cost a small fortune to upgrade everything, I deliver only via SD DVDs, my audience is emotionally engaged in the content and one is complaining about the video quality.

... but I still want an HD cam.