I'm buying a 3 chipper and I have a question for everyone. A ton of people say the GL2 is a great camera...which I'm sure it is. My only question is this. The chipset in it seems awful small compared to the other cameras in its class. for example...the VX2000, JVC DV-300U all have 1/3 inch CCD's at about 410 k pixels while the GL2 has 1/4 inch CCD's at about 410 k pixel.
Even the 1500 dollar Sony TRV950 has 1/4 inch CCD's that are 700k pixels. How does this camera even compare to the others having the smallest chiopset of the bunch?
second question is....I film skateboarding...a LOT of nighttime filming. Is it in my best interest to pay an extra $500 and get the VX2000? or will a light on the GL2 be fine? thanks if u answer my questions...i really appreciate it.

You can even buy a cam with 3, 1/6" CCDs. As long as you have lots of light, at night-----the skate boarding footage should look fine.

Luke,
In brief, yes it "performs". To a great degree, the difference between 1/3" and 1/4" CCD's is immaterial. The VX2000 is supposedly better in dim light but I do not know this first-hand.

But any camera, including the VX2000, needs some light to operate effectively.

For the same effective pixel count, larger CCDs are usually better other things being equal. But in decent light it makes little if any difference for most purposes. The GL2 is good, the VX2000 maybe slightly better in poor light. The 950 may have slightly better resolution. But most viewers will never see the difference in well shot, properly edited footage.

The TRV950 has the smalleest CCD of the three, 1/4.7 inch (note the one over four-point-seven

I sold my 950 and bought DV300 (DV301E for PAL).

Sony 950 is indeed a powerful cam, sharp images and fast automode. Although not as bright as other 1/3" CCD cams,
but its gain is cleaner thanks to its 14-bit DXP that supresses noise effectively.

DV300 delivers brighter images but its automode is not as good.
This cam has more manual controls. I'm still learning to use this cam. This buddy controls vertical smear very well, amazing.

I shoot skateboarding with a gl2 and my footage looks totally sweet. For night shots i use the vl-10 light and it works really good when light is low.