Finally Optura XI won
 

Since last two months, I have been doing hell of research regarding which camcorder to go for.

It was fight between Optura XI and Panasonic GS400...And finally I choose to go for Optura XI with it's good price for the feature we get. I bought it from buydig.com for $ 847.

I have received this camcorder on 31st Dec04. I am very much happy with this camcorder, it looks amazing.

And with reference to advice given by our great team members in the other thread on 'proud owner' I bought some accessories.

I haven't bought camcorder bag, yet, any expert advice/suggestion on this?

With this note I am finding this opportunity to wish every one a Great 2005!!!

This is my first post.

Regards

Atul

Hello Atul, and welcome to this forum. I am an Optura Xi enthusiast. After a huge amount of research into the current around $1’000 camcorder market, I purchased mine last July. At $850, that is more than a great deal for the quality video this gear is able to put out. Aside from a few small complaints (there’s always SOMETHING….), I pretty much love this cam, and have taken my best video yet with it.

I found this link in another Cannon forum, where someone had posted a small video file of someone shooting a machine gun.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/blogs/gems/philg/MG42 .wmv
The quality (for a compressed WM9 file), blew me away. It looks more like film than video, thanks to the lack of edge enhancement in the Xi. I hope the link still works.

I also found this web article:
http://www.videomax.ru/tests/capaso/
that directly compares the video output of the Xi with the Panasonic MX500 (PAL model) and the Sony PC-330. Very useful stuff because those were the exact camcorders I was comparing it to. The site is in Russian, but you can run it through Babelfish, and it comes out pretty clean. They voted the Xi as the best overall camcorder from the three, and it’s also the lowest priced.

Have fun, and try lot’s of experiments with the cam - -there are some nice surprises in there for you. Let us know what you think of it.

Thanks a lot Kevin!
 

Thanks a lot Kevin for the useful information!!!

I just can't wait to experiment. Will definately browse those URLs.

Thanks once agian!

Regards

Atul

About a camera bag.
I bought a Pelican Style case from Bass Pro Shop. It was $50, but worth it. It has the pre-cut foam, and is water and air tight. I can send you photos if you give me your email.

Thanks a lot Alex!

Please send me the photo.

Please send me the model no. of the bag, so that I can search on the internet.

My email id: atul.malviya@ge.com

Thanks!

Regards

Atul

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=11548&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

Scroll down. It was the one that cost $49.00

-alex