XL1S
 

If you can afford, buy XL1S with manual lens at zgc.com.

I don't have any experience of shooting a moving object with the AF lens with XL1S. I am not qualified to answer your specific question. But, I still think XL1S' AF is not quite great comparing to SONY's. You need a good amount of light to prevent AF haunting (focus in and out in low light condition).
I do the following to avoid the AF haunting in low light:
Zoom in all the way and focus. Then turn off AF and zoom out.
In this way, the focus stays when I zoom out and in.

I don't see many reasons to zoom in/out frequently in my work.
But, you may need to focus fast and zoom in/out more often.
You really need to try XL1S yourself to find out.

Read the review on JVC AG-DVC200 and XL1 at www.zenera.com.
The reviewer talked about the focusing on a fast moving skater
with XL1 and JVC.

Panasonic MQ 60 $7-8 is good and is a dry lubricant DV tape vs. Sony's wet lub. B&H charges $7.99

You may consider getting PAL version.
It has a better vertical resolution(625 vs. NTSC 525 lines) and more color space( 4:2:0 vs. NTSC's 4:1:1)

The low-budget film makers in US use PAL version and copy their works to 35 mm film.

I live in US, NTSC country, but still want to buy PAL one.

You can order one at zgc.
You can not view PAL images on a NTSC TV set. But there are many pro quality monitors display either PAL or NTSC. Visit B&H.

Before you make a final decision, read Billup/s Digital Moviemaking.
You are going to learn a lot about DV and movie making.

Another vote for the Panasonic tapes. I've used both grades and typically use the MQ Master 63 min. series. I also use the full size Panasonic DV cassettes. They are excellent.

On two occasions, I've had an older archived Sony DVCAM full size cassette jam the DV2000 after sitting on the shelf for a year. That's never happened with the Panasonic. Might be just luck, or maybe the different lube is a factor.

Vic

Need info on XLR microphones
 

Hi all,

After reading more and more about professional productions, XLR inputs are the way to go for professionl audio.

What is phantom power? Do microphones need additional power? Does the MA-200 give any power to the microphones? I would like to read some more info on professional audio, any sites that may help?

Regards,

The MA-200 does not supply phantom power to microphones but does use DC from the camera for internal circuits.

Ed Frazier

Some mics need additional power to operate their internal electronics-- it can be supplied by an audio mixer, or an in-line phantom power box. Some cameras will also supply this power-- the XL-1 will not, nor will the MA-200 as Ed mentioned. Same is true for the MA-100.

XLR cabling does not necessarily mean the need for phantom power -- it's determined by the requirements of the mic.

Vic

Viewing 16:9 image
 

I took 16:9 format video and edited them in Adobe in which I can
view them in 16:9.

But, I can not view them in 16:9 mode in MS Media Player, or Quick Time player.

Do you know any video viewer that I can view 16:9 images?

Chris, Is the XL1S being featured at NY DV Expo?
 

Hi,

On another forum I found a pointer to a DV show in New York this February and I was debating whether to make the trip. Will the XL1S be shown off at this event?

http://www.dvnyc.com/

And, does Canon ever show both NTSC and PAL versions side by side at any of these expos?

Thank you.

Tim

Tim,

Canon USA is not exhibiting at this show. However some of their authorized dealers should be there. Locate me at the Canopus booth and we'll find an XL1S for you to get your hands on.

Canon does not show the PAL version at shows due to the hassles of transporting a PAL monitor (most often they don't even have NTSC monitors either). Besides, the majority of the public at large at these tradeshows are new to DV and new to the XL1, and they just wouldn't "get" what the PAL camera is for. It takes a trained eye to see any real difference in the image. Most folks would just notice the flicker of PAL and that's about it.

See you there,

XL-1 connection to a computer
 

I have an XL-1 for the past year and would like to do some editing on our computer with some software we bought. I can't seem to find...or don't understand...how to get connected and what I need in cables or adapters to get hooked up? Any help to push me in the right direction would be appreciated.

Without knowing what kind of computer you have and what operating system you're running, it's a little hard to give good advice.

Basically you need a FireWire card for your computer, and a FireWire cable that has a 6-pin connector at one end for this card and a 4-pin connector at the other end for the XL1.

You say you already have software, but you might want to consider the Canopus EZDV or Canopus Raptor at www.justedit.com -- these products include the hardware (capture cards), software and cables and are ready to install if you have the right motherboard and video card. Plus you'll need a hard drive of about 30 gigabytes or so, dedicated to video and audio storage.

It's a big topic. Try this link for some beginning advice:
http://www.videoguys.com/started.html -- hope this helps,

Don't forget that you need 1Gigabyte of hard disk space for every 5 minutes of DV footage captured into PC.

There is a good magazine called Computer Video which is based in England, but you are still able to get it in America, which has every thing you need to know about desktop editing and DV.

URL: http://www.computervideo.net/

But as Chris says, we need to know what platform you are going to be running it on.

Ed

Flicker in PAL images in US
 

I found flicker in my PAL video image which I created with XL1S PAL.

All the outdoor images and indoor images with a strong halogen
lights are OK with no flickers.

The images under florescent light, or a weak 75W tungsten
bulb show some flickers.

It is the PAL problem, not XL1's.

PAL has 25 fps vs NTSC's 30 fps.
In lower frame rate, you can see more flicker.
Film has even lower 24 fps.
Power cycle of 120v /60 is also contributed to flicker in US.
Europeans watch TV as much as americans do and they don't
complain about flicker. Their power is 220v/50

I am not an video expert, but I can see PAL images have more details and better color representation comparing to NTSC images from XL1S NTSC.

I can view PAL images on Adobe Premire with some image degradation and the $460 13" JVC TMH 1375SU multi-format monitor with no image degradation.

Most people in US would not want all the hassle to deal
with PAL image, such as buying a PAL monitor and converting
to NTSC in which the video quality is degraded somewhat.

This is my hobby and I don't need to convert my PAL image to
NTSC. I would give my PAL image to my friends in AVI, or Quick TIme format. Computer monitor handle both PAL and NTSC.

Framerate?
 

If "frame" is chosen as the movie mode- must we modify the capture rate in our DV editing program to 30 fps or leave at 29.97?

(I read somewhere that "frame" uses 30 FPS- just want to see if that was rounded out for advertising reasons.)


Proud XL1S owner.
Final Cut Pro

Hello Steve,

No, the frame rate of the XL1s (and most other video cams) is set. In North America under the NTSC standard that actually works out to somewhere around 29.97 fps. The "frame" mode of the XL1s specifies that the camera will capture full-frames as it shoots those 29.97 fps, rather than interlaced frames. Nevertheless many XL1, XL1s and GL1 shooters generally prefer to leave the camera set to frame mode as it is often a more pleasing image.

Good luck and welcome to the proud XL1s owners' club!

As noted the frame rate is 29.97 for NTSC. It is not 30 because for color, 29.97 eliminates soem potential interference between boradcast signal components that would happen if it was precisely 30.

Frame mode on the XL1 captures the whole frame at one instant exposure (1/60 or faster) and then sends out the fields (odd and even lines) out in normal interlaced mode.

There is some interpolation going on, a sort of vertical pixel shift, as well, which accounts for the slightly reduced vertical resolution when using frame mode.