Some stills - As promised.

[Luke Renner]

Sharp eye Devin.

I'm a firm believer in leaving it alone as it comes into the camera. Anything simple (like gradiation or grain) can be added in post. Nothing can be removed if it's shot that way.

So in answer to your question, I added gradients in post.
I do love the look. On the deep blue, that was actual. No filter, no post effect.

I think the only post-gradient that is represented in these stills is the market shot.

Oh yeah, and thanks for the positive thoughts.

Cheers!
Luke

[Devin Doyle]

Ah, well thanks a ton for the insight luke. I generally side on the post-filtering process and agree with your statement, the only time i apply a filter in the field is to control exposure (nd, etc). I'm also very surprised at how well the XL2 reads colors. I'm purchasing one here in several weeks and can't wait to get my hot little mittens on it after seeing your pics!

[Luke Renner]

One of the beautiful things Devin, is how you can internally tell the XL2 how to handle color.

Seriously, the internal menus gave me control over red, green, and blue intensity (independent from one another). I could go less or more.

Overall color boost or desaturation was available.
Cine gamma.
Knee tweaks.
Black tweaks.
Sharpness tweaks.
It was insane!

Literally, most of the things that I tend to color correct in post, I was able to correct them to my liking BEFORE THEY EVEN HIT TAPE.

You ARE NOT gonna regret this purchase for ONE SECOND.

By the way, the 20x lens that can be purchased with the camera is truly a great piece of glass. I friggin LOVE the flare that it produces in good light. Very film-like. Very smooth and slow zoom (if you want it). Also, the ND ring that is built into it was a real charm. While the lack of dynamic iris control is a bit doofy, I learned quickly that adding or removing a level of ND (which takes a split second to do) get's you in the right ballpark immediately and requires less iris tweaking from there. It was a good trick that I learned. Most times, after jumping up or down my ND filter, I was only a couple of notches from where I wanted to be.

So have fun and let us see some of your work when you can!

Cheers!
Luke

[Dmitry Kichenko]

Oh man, you just wanna make run and buy this camera :D.
No, really :).

[Jason Hilton]

Wow! Very nice images! I'm currently in the market for a camera to shoot my first major short film. The two cameras Im considering are the XL-2 and the DVX100a, and Im having a hell of a time making a decision. Have you ever used the DVX? How do you think thy compare? It's obvious to me from your images that you can get the same kind of picture out of both cameras. I have always liked the soft filmic look you can get from the DVX, and I keep hearign that the XL-2 is too sharp. Can you soften the picture more? This is such a hard descision! Any insight you have would be much appreciated!

-Jason

[Luke Renner]

Yes, you can soften the picture internally.

I have worked EXTENSIVELY with both cameras. I would NEVER use the DVX to shoot a film. The XL2 is HANDS DOWN worth the extra money. For goodness sake, you can even attach 35mm film lenses to an XL2 if you want! It's just BUILT for filmmaking. You can take that as far as you care to. But even out of the box, it SHINES.

I would use the DVX to shoot a rock concert (but that's about it). And yes, I have used both cameras quite a lot. It's not that the DVX isn't good. It's that the XL2 is BETTER.

My two cents.
Luke

[Jason Hilton]

Thanks Luke! I appreciate your info. I've been on the fence, but I'm leaning more and more to the XL-2. Thanks

-Jason