GL2 vs XM2, Frame Mode and Resolution

[Dave Croft]

Would 25p frame mode combined with shutter speed of 1/25 be less jittery/stroby than frame mode with 1/50 or higher - i.e. enough to make motion and pans etc smoother?

In some ways 1/25 is less jerky than 1/50 because of the motion blur present at 1/25, but of course the flip side, is that there are half as many shutters per second - so it is a double edged sword.

I think frame modea nd 1/25 could be great with slow enough motion and pans etc.

By the way, what are peoples experiences of XM2/GL2's developing faults (zoom or rewind won't work for example) as other cameras eg vx2100/pd170 seem a bit more rugged, and maybe less prone to developing faults when exposed to the same conditions.

Dave.

[Prech Marton]

I was thinking the same about 1/25 sh. speed (motion blur) and 25fps frame mode.

What? Are you kidding? Not working zoom, rewind on XM2?
I will buy in 4 days!

[Robin Davies-Rollinson]

Frame mode and a shutter speed of 1/25th looked absolute pants when I tried it. It would be worthless in most situations. The only reason I would consider a slower shutter speed would be in a situation where I needed more exposure and not wanting to put in any gain - and if there was no motion in the shot. Interiors of cathedrals or early dawn / dusk shots might come into this category.

Robin.

[Dave Croft]

So Robin, are you saying that frame mode and 1/50 will give you better, more usable footage than f-mode and 1/25?

I would have thought that the lack of motion blur would make the footage more stuttery. What kind of thing were you shooting that looked 'pants' with 1/25.

Also a side issue, how do you find the XM2 copes in moderate to low light situations. Is it really so much worse than the vx/pd's, the XM2 must be a lot better than my current sony trv-15 (which has a grainyness in low light and uses a single 1/4" CCD). Is it that the XM2 is good in low light but the vx/pd'd are VERY good.

Thanks a lot,
Dave.

[Rob Lohman]

The preferred way of shooting both interlaced and frame mode
on the Canon models (due to their unique frame mode) is indeed
1/60 (NTSC) or 1/50 (PAL). That looks most pleasing with most
things and most closely resembles the film shutter. BUT, other
settings can do wonders in other things. With almost no movement
or only slow movement you can get away more easily with a 1/25
setting for example then when you have fast moving stuff.

[Robin Davies-Rollinson]

Dave,
If you have to use frame mode, then 1/50th (PAL) is better than 1/25th. Any movement just gives so much motion blur to be unacceptable - for me anyway...
As for the low-light capabilities, certainly the PD150/70 seems to have the edge on the XM2, but I wouldn't go out and buy one tomorrow. A DSR 570WSP maybe, but that's a different forum ;-)

Robin.

[Michael Connor]

Pretch....no dont worry not everyone has these issues, its a good camera. There does seem to be some concerns about cannons customer service, but the chances are you will love your camera as most of us including myself do and it will be fine.

Dave i havent played with frame mode much, but just to re-iterate what robin said, 1/25 mode is fairly useless unless you have very little to no movement in the frame. If you move the camera like in a pan... no good.

By the way dave, you said, 'Is it that the XM2 is good in low light but the vx/pd'd are VERY good'. Precisely that. I borrowed a sony vdx2000 just before i got my xm2. I loved it, and there were loads of pros, like the inbuilt 2 nuteral density filters, and ring piece zoom control. The low light was good on it.
However the low light on the canon xm2 is acceptable. And i have shots in daylight on both cameras, and they are both excellent quality pictures. I prefered the much bigger zoom on the xm2, the smaller size, and found it easier to use. And certainly the price tag makes a big difference.

[Dave Croft]

Many thanks to everyone who has replied on this thread, everyones views are very much appreciated.

I said earlier in the thread that I had decided to go with the vx2100, but I might change my mind again ;-) Well I think I have.

The XM2 seems like a great 'all rounder', and at the price you can't complain. My only issue is, that I bet Canon will introduce a replacement before not to long. (This won't stop me getting an XM2 though).

Cheers,
Dave.

[Michael Connor]

yea i think they probably will in the next couple of years. They probably have one or two prototypes ready but will be waiting to see what others are doing. I think at the moment there is no real competition for the xm2, as everything is either more expensive or cheaper with a worse picture. There is a 3 ccd panasonic model under £1000 that i thought was gonna compete with it. But its low light performance is poor, and it only works great in sunshine (going off the demo footage i saw)
So heres to canon....!