forgot to search the forum first. Answered my question, sounds like it is pretty normal in Premiere while it is still on the comp...
sorry for posting this...
--Carleton

It has nothing to do specifically with the GL1. Violent, fast camera movements, particularly at slow shutter speeds, will saw-up your image.

GL1 as second camera?
 

I've had my GL1 for a few years, and recently bought the XL2. I was wondering if anyone is using the two together. here are my concerns:
1-16:9- I don't have a true 16:9 monitor,but i shot the same scene with both cameras, and played back through my Phillips dvd recorder. I used the 4:3 letterbiox setting, and the GL1 looked the same as the XL2 ( no verical stretching).
Is the 16:9 on the GL1 true 16:9, or do you need an adaptor? Did I miss something by not playing it back through a tru 16:9 monitor?
2-What wide angle adaptor is reccomended for the GL1?
3- How do I get 24p out of the GL1? ( only kidding....)
The GL1 is a great camera, and I'd like to keep using it.
Thanks
Bruce Yarock

Wide angle adapter, consider the Canon WD58 as a good value and 0.7x.

Century Precision Optics offers a couple excellent options, at a somewhat higher price. I've been using their 0.65x.

Thanks, Don. Do you know anything about the 16:9 issue on the GL1?
bruce Yarock

Yeah, I upgraded from a GL2 to the XL2 and intend on doing the same thing...using my GL2 as a B roll where I can get away with it. Although I love using the XL2 so much, maybe I'll have to sell the GL2 and spring for another XL2...but I digress.

Your questions span the whole range from shooting footage all the way through to DVD player and TV compatibility. So I'll try to answer in scattergun fashion and see if we can hit your root concern. Hopefully others will join in with their experience.

1. The GL2 doesn't have "true" widescreen -- it is stretched -- so I'm sure the GL1 is stretched as well. You'd either need an anamorphic adaptor or accept the lower quality of the stretched 16:9.

Supposedly, the quality of the GL2's widescreen was a significant improvement over the GL1's. My XL2's true 16:9 is MUCH crisper than the GL2's stretched version. So I think you'd have a tough time getting a consistent look when you mix stretched GL1 and true XL2 footage. Just "supposing" here since I've never used the GL1.

As far as technically being able to mix the footage...I think the answer lies within your NLE rather than in the cameras' capabilities. You can import either camera's footage into a 16:9 project intended for display on anamorphic-capable TVs (eg HD widescreen TVs), or to a 4:3 timeline for regular ol' TVs. Either way, crop or letterbox as required/desired.

A timeline transcoded within your DVD authoring application and burned to the DVD will either be flagged 4:3 or 16:9, so if your DVD is made from just one Encore timeline (for example), you can't have the DVD player switch between 4:3 and 16:9 displays "on the fly." However, if you have more than timeline, each one (usually being made to appear as a menu choice on-screen) will be interpreted by the DVD player based on its flag. Thus, you can mix 4:3 and 16:9 on the same disc. You see this all the time on commercial DVDs; the disc will have both versions, narrow and wide. Or, it is a widescreen movie but the additional features will be 4:3.

2: The WD58 is a superb 0.7 adaptor that I used a lot on my GL2, but of course, it is not an anamorphic adaptor; its only advantage is to widen your field of view. I found that using it on the GL2 gave me about the same 16:9 width of view as the camera would give in 4:3 without the adaptor on it (that result makes sense mathematically). So it won't solve your anamorphic issues, but will sure let you get wider shots.

3. I've never tried it myself...but if you shoot 60i, it can be pulled down to 24p in software, maybe even with "acceptable" results if you were careful to shoot with a slower shutter speed, etc, etc. No kidding! ;-)

I hope somewhere in there I actually hit on your concerns.

Happy Holidays!

Pete, i was wondering, you talked about shooting in 60i and somehow being able to covert it to 24p. what type of software would do this? just curious. thanks for your time.

alex b

Gl1 Beginner Questions
 

Hi, I'm new to this forum and just recently purchased a Canon Gl1. I have several questions that I was unable to solve by searching previous posts and the Net. If you could answer my questions yourself or point me to a certain page I would really appreciate it.

1. I've read that the audio on the GL1 isn't that great. What's a good directional mic (I don't want any camera noise) for under or around $100?

2. What are some good inexpensive mics of any type for the GL1?

3. Any suggestions on a 3-4 track mixer board for on site mixing?

4. I have an iRiver IHP-120 20gb Mp3 player which features a 1/8" regular mic input and optical input for a microphone. Would this be of good use for an external audio recorder? Any other audio recorder suggestions?

5. I've built a microphone boom w/ vibration dampener out of an extendible golf ball retriever and rubber bands, would the long length of a microphone cable create unwanted static noise?

6. Any advise on an inexpensive lighting kit? Or perhaps info on building a homemade rig?

7. Any other essential Gl1 accesories a beginner would need?

I appreciate any help you could provide. If these questions have been answered before I apologize and I ask you to please direct me to where I can find them. Thanks a lot!

Hello Tom, welcome aboard DVInfo.net!

I'll try to answer some of your questions:

1. why not see how you like it first? Then decide if it is good or not. At that time you can see what you can do to change it (maybe it is something else than the microphone for example)

2. isn't this the same question as 1?

3. can't help you there

4. No, since it compresses to MP3. Audio in DV is *UNCOMPRESSED*! Stick to that

5. not if it is XLR with a phantom powered mic

6. can't help you there

7. can't help you there either

Most of these questions have indeed been answered a lot of
times already on this board. So please browse around and do
a search. Most questions are related to your GL1, but the main
question is something else.

So you might want to put your mic quest into our Now Hear This
(audio) forum. The lighting question (which has been asked a lot,
so please look around and search the following forum) is better
placed in the Photon Management (lighting) forum for example.

Otherwise a lot of people will not see your questions.

Again please take your time to browse and search the forums, we
248,394 posts in 35,350 threads, so you can bet your answers
have been asked and answered before!

Thank you.

Hey Tom, welcome to the club. I'm currently bound to a GL1 as well. Great camera really, but it does have its limits. Ok, here goes:

1. I've purchased a $60 shotgun/regular/do everything microphone from Best Buy, but have yet to test it =P. Looks promising though. Other than that, most recommend the Sennheiser (spelling?) MKe66 XLR microphone for it's great sound quality, though I'm not 100% sure if it's stereo or not, could be mono, but that shouldn't be much of a problem for your NLE to fix. The best XLR adapter is the one made specifically for the GL1 (though it works on other smaller camcorders too) by Beachtek.

2. As far as inexpensive mic's go, I'd have to go with the one I bought from Best Buy, it plugs into the mic connector on the GL1, thus saving you $150-200 or so for the Beachtek adapter, but I bet it costs on the sound quality =P.

3. Edirol makes some good mixers for audio, though they are expensive themselves. Beachtek also makes a camera-mountable audio monitor that should prove useful as well.

4. Yeah.... forget this idea, you're just asking for trouble. Also, don't go the mini disc route some here will recommend. Rely on the microphones you buy for your camera and your boom guy.

5. I haven't used a boom mic on a boom pole yet, so I have no idea how that goes first hand. But from the pictures I've seen, you can tape the front section of the XLR cable to the pole and leave the rest to dangle, it doesn't look like it would cause much of a problem anyway, a shotgun microphone is very directional and should pick up noise from where it's pointed, not behind it.

6. Ah yes, lighting. Your best friends are Home Depot and Lowes. They have a wide selection of dimmable work lights that do just fine for video use. Buy what you need. Prices for various lights usually range from $20-100.

7. Besides audio and lighting, you'll need some basic filters. You'll need 58mm Polarizer, UV, and Diffuser filters. Most important is the UV filter, you should screw this onto your camera and never take it off, it protects the lense from scratches and dust. Other than that, there's lense adapters you can get from various manufacturers. I've got a wide angle and a telephoto lense. I mostly use the wide angle lense so I can fit more into the frame. I rarely use the telephoto. Besides that you should be good to go.

If you need places to buy this stuff, I recommend www.adorama.com and, of course, B&H photo at http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home . There you have it, enjoy!

gl1 vs. gl2 black vertical lines on footage
 

Hello,

I have used both a Gl1 and Gl2 for shooting some video and just recently noticed that the Gl1 footage when viewed on a computer (FCP) has 2 skinny vertical black lines on both the right and left side while the Gl2 does not.

I'm a bit worried about this as when I cut from Gl2 shots to Gl1 shots the skinny lines are noticable. Is there any way to correct this, and why the differences?

Thanks,
-Dan

The vertical lines are on the edge, and lost in the overscan area on a normal TV screen.

If this is intended for viewing on a computer screen or other system with with no overscan, for consistency you could mask the edges of the GL2 image.

need new LCD circuitry- GL1
 

anyone know where to get parts for GL1? specifically i ned the circuit board behind the LCD that the backlight is attached to?

You'll have to send the camera to Canon Service. Canon does not offer parts to consumers.

actually it does...

i ordered a new LCD circuit board for $64 shipped from the NJ canon center

Hey, good for you! This is the first time I've heard of a consumer ordering replacement parts for a Canon camera.

yea i figured they would try to get me to send it in too...but after scouring the net and even ebay couldnt find it, so i called and just said i want the LCD circuit board...and walaaa my wish was granted.

i just cant see paying a couple hundred dollars to get it done when its a very simple replacement...if it was internal in the body i woulda passed the buck, but the LCD is a pretty east fix if you are semi-competent with electronics...

No sound on GL1
 

One of my camera operators (my daughter) was using a GL1 during the photo session after a wedding ceremony. She was getting a shots of the activties in the sanctuary. So she was shooting short clips from 10 seconds to 50 seconds long. One of the clips had absolutely no sound. All other clips had sound, even the clip before and the clip after the offending clip. So there was a 10 second clip with sound, a 48 second clip without sound, and then 12 second clip with sound. She shot another 2 minutes of video (a number of short clips) on which the sound was normal.

She was using the camera mic. There are no external controls to turn off or turn down the sound for the camera mic that I know of. She did not go into any of the menus.

What would cause the lack of sound? Was this a warning that the camera mic may be starting to fail.

Suggest a trip to Canon factory service, considering its age, especially if it's never been serviced before. It's kind of like an oil change; should be done at least once per year.

how much for used gl1
 

i have a gl1 that sent to canon to repair the tape heads, they replaced the entire tape mechanism, $600 bucks...

when i got it back i noticed two white dots on my monitor...burnt pixels...i did not send the camera back to canon, or should i?

they told me the cost to fix would be $800 + shipping

if i were to sell it how much do they go for cams with burnt pixels, $100 or less?..it serves as a nice deck, recording is fine through 1394...

do i now own an expensive paper weight, i was thinking instead of fixing it just to buy a new cam..maybe a smaller pocket cam..

i had an old jvc 500 cam that would fix burnt pixels without sending it in by accessing a service menu, i take it the gl1 has no such feature...although it should, in fact all cams should have this...

any of your thoughts would help..thanks for reading

Are the hot pixels recording to tape, or is it just the monitor? Either way, I think you'd be nuts to pay $800 to fix it. I'd just live with it. At the very least, you could use it as a deck.

they are showing on the tape...and i think you are right i would be nuts to pay and additional 800...

i might as well get a pana g400 or something

Isn't it wrong that if you send your cam and pay 600 dollars that you get it back with another fault?

Gl1 Lcd Screen offcolor
 

I didn't really know about this problem because i thought it was normal really untill i looked at a friends lcd and it didn't look off color. Mine looks as though theres green and some weird colors you dont usually see in it. It doesnt effect the picture or anything, it's just irratating in some situations. Does anybody know if you can get this fixed, or how to fix it?


- thanks

I can't comment about your particular situation, but a point to made here is that you cannot and should not judge the color or chroma correctness of your shot by visually judging the image on the viewfinder.... a point made often but worth repeating.

Yes I know this. But basically, it's just annoying. I look through the viewfinder to see how the image will be, but just looking through the lcd and it being off colored is a bit annoying. Just wondering though. Thanks

My Optura camera's viewscreen had a similar problem several months ago. Occasionally it would drop one or more of the primary colors (RGB) from the flip-screen (viewfinder always looked fine). If it looks greenish, it may be losing the red or blue color components. I found that the vibrations caused by opening the DV transport would sometimes throw it out of whack (or back in). Look at the white heads-up indicators to figure out what color may be missing. If this is the case, however, it should be quite obvious (for example, the blue background in VTR mode would be black instead).

Mine was still under warranty, so it has since been fixed. 'Thought I had posted about this in another thread, but I can't find it now.

GL1 (How To Dub from VCR to Camera; VHS-miniDV)
 

Can anyone help me dub from a vcr to my GL1?

I have the three-way audio/video cable connecting the VCR and GL1, I have the camera set to VCR mode (camera as a player/recorder) and as the tape plays on the TV it wont play through the camera.

Are there GL1 menu presets that need to be applied?

Hello Richard:

I could be wrong ('cuz I don't have a GL1) but what you are trying to do could be a new feature on the GL2. The procedure you describe is found in the GL2 operating instructions which you can download from the Canon website.

I hope it works the same way with the GL1.

Mabuhay!

If you go to the "VCR SET UP" menu, turn on the setting marked "AV->DV OUT" (page 104 in the manual as Mariano mentioned). This is what I use to pass an analog signal (from VHS) straight into my NLE via firewire.

...but again this is in regard to the GL2, so your mileage may vary.

Otherwise I'd just double-check to make sure you're coming out of the proper jacks on the back of your VCR. I have had some footage that had such bad tracking that the cam couldn't sync to it, but then you'll usually at least get some flickering on the LCD display.

GL1 Exposure Levels????????
 

Just got this GL1 a few weeks ago and I'm having trouble with the exposure levels.

Like Final Cut Pro, if the light is overexposed and the zebra lines are on, the lines will appear were there is too much light. Simple right?

No Matter how I adjust the aperature, shutter and/or gain, there will be at least a few lines appearing on something bright. For any projects I do this is unacceptable. Of course I can make it really dark and there will be no zebra lines/overexposed areas but this overlooks the enhancing functions of the GL1's lighting adjustments.

Can anyone offer advice? How can I maintain the good lighting that this camera offers without having overexposure?


Thanks all,

Rich

These cameras only have about 5 stops of latitude. So eliminating every bright highlight will be a challenge, even if you light your scenes.

Don't obsess about the GL1's Zebra display. I believe I recall that it has only one tolerance -- 100%-- so it's of somewhat limited value. You'll nearly always get a line or two to flicker. For bright scenes use a neutral density filter to bring you into a more workable exposure range.

Dubbing is fun and easy!
 

Well, maybe not fun.

With the GL1...you just need to hook your three-way cable up to your VCR, put the GL1 in VCR mode, and THEN hit record (and pause if you want). Once you hit record, it realizes that's supposed to be piping in the signal and you'll be able to see it.

Furthermore, if you have a laserdisc player or a VCR with an S-VHS on it, you can use just the sound cables from the three-way and use the SVIDEO for the video. I've done it many times. Works beautifully.

Hope this helps...

Jeremiah

Gl1 Frame Mode - Capture Settings
 

Quick Question.
I have Final Cut Pro 4.5
I have a Canon Gl 1.
When shooting using Movie (frame mode) what capture settings do I use? Should I put 30 frame rate and no fields?
Some have told me I just capture using the regular DV 29.97 settings.

Also - does the audio get put off a bit because I would assume the audio is still recording at 29.97?

One other thing...
Filters - It seems that Polarizing and ND are filters most agree are useful. Do you use these at the same time? How do I put them on? Also - how do I use it with the Canon Wide Angle Adapter?

One more thing while I am thinking about it.
RE: Sound...
I have a Sennheiser ME66 or 64, can't remember- its late. With the module power, Behringer MBX1002 field mixer and the Beachtek Dx6. Does this seem like a proper setup? I have the mic XLR going into the Mixer XLR input and from the mixer I have a 1/4 jack output going to the beachtek XLR input and then the beachteck going into the Gl1 mini jack. I have Mic ATT on.

Use the standard NTSC 29.97 fps rate for capture. The GL-1 simulates progressive scan but produces standard frame rates. Nothing special for audio, either.

Filters are specific problem-solving tools. Your need for a polarizer or particular neutral density (ND) filters is determined by what you're shooting.

Unfortunately you won't be able to mount filters onto the WD58 wide angle adapter.

I'll leave the audio question to others.

Importing gl1 footage to comp
 

Hi, I have a quick question. If I recorder footage from my GL1 and used my sony camcorder to import the footage to my computer, will I lose resolution? The reason why I am doing this is because of my gl1 heads.

As long as both camera's are DV, then no, you will not loose any
resolution or quality. DV is DV. However, one camera may have
problems reading other camera's tapes. Due to small differences
in the tape systems and alignments etc.

Thanks

need a mic for GL1
 

hey guys,
i am gearing up to shoot a feature lenght dv flick with my GL1. it is now the point in preproduction where i buy a boom mic.
i've been looking around, particulary at the azden SGM series.
i was wondering if anyone had any sugesstions for me in this arena.
needless to say i want the best for my $$$, which is less than 300$.
do you think i should go XLR style and spend an extra hundred bucks on an adapter, or is there a good mini pin mic out there that i can slap on a boom pole, get great sound and stay within my budget?
any suggestions?

mics
 

I use an Azden SGM-2X with my GL1, with a Studio1 XLR adapter. (similar to the Beachtek)

If you want to get any kind of decent sound, you'd probably be better off getting the adapter AND a mic. That will probably be around 400-450 total, but it's worth it.

Jeremiah