It would sure make for a short product life for the GL2...just over a year.

You know what rebates mean: new cameras are on their way!

sounds like you turned off the "demo" mode sometime.

XM2
 

The Canon XM2 is still available in Norway.
A local Canon dealer in Bergen, Norway told me today that the XM2 is not discontinued.

Focus questions
 

Not 10 minutes ago an adult Bald Eagle was circling over my house. Since the GL2 had a tape in it and the battery on (me bad) I went outside and started shooting.

I've always had trouble with focus under these conditions. The auto-focus will work some times, totally blow the focus and other times hunt. The probelm is that the bird in question may not show up large enough in the viewfinder to manual focus on. I feel like I'm close but the viewfinder is not sharp enough to tell for sure. All the while I'm trying to get good focus while holding the camera pointing straight up. If the image is large enough the focus is no problem.

Any tips? My wife's old Sony had a focus setting for infinity that worked well for situations like this. Focus zebras would sure be nice...

Jeff,

I have experienced this problem many times. I use my GL2 primarily to shoot birds of prey. With distant subjects, the only thing that seems to help is to keep the subject near the center of the picture. Sometimes, if I am zoomed in all the way, I may have to zoom out slightly and the focus "catches up".

If the subject is changing distance rapidly, then the autofocus really has problems. I have not found any solution for this. As a TV news videographer using manually focusing lenses every day at work, I find these autofocus problems very frustrating at times. I rely heavily on the focus ring stop points on "pro lenses" to quickly get me in focus - not possible with most autofocus cameras.

Bill

proud new father...
 

...of a GL2 :) Took me long enough, but I finally plopped down the cash and bought a kit from Zotz (who rock, by the way). I've been geeking out with it since I received it Thurs. evening, and man, I'm in love. What a great camera. This thing will be paying for itself in no time.

Thanks to this community for helping me make a wise decision.

. . . and its name is?


Congrats . . . G

Moon Shots
 

Out of curiosity, thought I'd try a few lunar eclipse shots with a GL2. These were shot from a city location at full optical zoom, 1/30 and 12db.

http://www.beaconvideo.net/lunar1.htm

they look great, congrats

Enlarge the view from viewfinder
 

Are there any gadgets out there that attach onto the viewfinder (not the LCD) that enlarge the image, so you don’t have to have it close to you eye?

I believe that Century Optics is currently working on an adaptor that will enlarge the image on a viefinder such as you mention - perhaps we will see a demo of this at a tradeshow in the near future.

Will keep you posted if I see any more developments.

- don

Hey cool. Here is a clip I shot recently with my XL1s using a PL-XL mechanical lens mount adaptor and an Angenieux S16 zoom lens.
http://noisybrain.com/SDTV/PL-XL/moo...ieux10-150.mov

- don

One hot shoe
 

I should be receiving my dm-50 microphone sometime this week. Now I want to buy VL-3 video light. The problem is GL2 only has one accessory hot shoe.

I am wondering how you guys are set up? I would like to have the DM-50 microphone and the VL-3 light together in my GL2.

OR should I opt for another video light that doesn't use the GL2 hot shoe and what would you recommend?

Many thanks in advance. I am learning ..........

Danny,

you can get a unit to use both, search the forum as I have seen it somewhere (sorry out of time otherwise I would look for you).

Danny,

Not sure I've ever seen anything that will add another "Hot" shoe to the GL2. You would need to have both electically connected to the cam and all of the extra hot shoe devices I've seen are a second mount only, no electical connections. Between the two, I would opt for the VL3. I've used it frequently for close up (3-4 ft) interview type stuff and it does a good job of lighting without blinding the subject or annoying others in the area. DM50 is a good mic but there are better ones out there (most would required an XLR adapter though).

Shooting the Moon
 

I've been playing around with this as well. In my case I've had a Sony 1.7x teleconverter on the camera as well.

I've found that with a typical full moon this arrangment has so much light coming in that the details of the moon get 'blown out'. One way of restoring detail is to turn the ND filter on. The other way is to go to full manual exposure and start "underexposing" until the details are restored. Under these conditions the light meter is pretty much worthless. It may tell you that you are fully underexposed (the sky is). What I've found is that what I'm seeing in the EVF is pretty much what I will see on the monitor as well - so I ignore the light meter.

For the lunar eclipse last Saturday I found I was able to shoot from moonrise until near totality. Most of this time I was at 1/60, 2.8 with no gain. This worked until there was only the barest sliver of a moon left at which point in time I had to kick up the gain. I should have quit while I was ahead as the increase in gain easily shows up as noise in the picture and I'll have to delete the footage anyway. I was not able to capture any of the soft reddish glow at full totality though - just not enough light.

check out hoodman
 

check out the product line from http://www.hoodmanusa.com/

blue white balance
 

I want to shoot a video-clip, outside during the day. What white balance card color should I use for a very blue, maybe even dark effect. Or should I ad the dark effect in post? Im using FCP.

TIA

Erwin.

Erwin,
There are two components to your stated objective: color and exposure.

To make something dark, simply underexpose the image. Be careful not to go too far with this. You'll have more control over your image brightness and contrast with your editing program.

To lend a blue cast to your image you can simply select the tungsten preset white balance. You can also experiment with blue-ish cards such as those from WarmCards.com.

Thanks

Okay and I want to get some depth of field in my video. I was playing with it, but I never got a good DOF yet. What iris settings work good outside for others, just as a reference and you have to tele (zoom) right, wide angle won't give you much DOF.

Keeping my settings between camera modes
 

Anyone here know how I can save the manual settings (white bal/exp/etc) between VCR mode and Camera?

I'd like to be able to review my footage with out looing my settings.

Thanks.

Yes, Zoom-in as much as possible.

Then, open the iris up as far as possible, and use the ND filter on the camera and you will have to add a couple others. This will give you the DOF you are after. I don't think adjusting the white balance will affect DOF at all.

Hello Christopher,

I have had the same question a while back and no you cannot save the setting when you power off or go to VCR mode.

The only way to check your footage without loosing your settings is to follow Brian Dickson's suggestion:

Quote:
------------------------------
Depending on how much review you need to do, the record search might do the job, without resetting things. Use the two buttons to the rear of the main power switch. Tapping the "record review" button (the one with the loopback icon) will playback the last 3 seconds and automatically return to your previous record point. You can review farther back or forward by holding down the '-' or '+' buttons. Letting go will re-engage record pause right where the tape is at.
----------------------------

Here is the link to the thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11540

Cheers,
Jack

Hey Jack...I had been using that, and guess I will keep doing it, but sometimes it's just not enough.

Thanks for the info

PAL vs. NTSC puchase
 

Hi...

I have a similar set of considerations, that I'm agonizing over for my camera purchase.

First, Panasonic US assured me that DVX100's (PAL or NTSC) bought from a legit dealer in the US can be serviced here. Unless someone has experience otherwise, I have to assume that this is the case.

As far as editing, I intend to stay entirely in the computer until I need to produce a master for distribution or for DVD. BUT , in this case I would need the services of a post house that has the appropriate equipment (Tape etc) anyway. Since I can't handle this step in production regardless of format, wouldn't I be better off using the PAL DVX100?

I did get hold of a PAL dvx100 to borrow, and shot some footage which came into After Effects fine. I'll next try the same with Final Cut.

If I can work entirely in the computer, is there any point at which it does really become problematic to work from the PAL source? Or do I just do my final output to a particular NTSC format (uncompressed quicktime?)... get my settings right, and let the post house make the master tape etc.

Any ideas , help would be greatly appreciated...

Monroe,
I'm having the same problem with the rewind. This just started, but I've had my camera since March and have had no problems. It's been used quite a bit however.

What ended up being the problem and did you get it fixed?

Thanks.

Any features shot with GL2?
 

I've seen a few shorts done with the GL2, and some stuff was actually quite decent. However, I've never heard of any feature films being shot (indie or commercial) with the GL2. It's always the XL1 or the PD-150, etc.

That's a good question. Honestly, I don't know of any. The GL2 would pose some challenges for professional dramatic work, most prominently its lack of a professional lens focus control. The Sony PD150 would seem to share the same disadvantage, yet it has been used on quite a few indie features. Ah, but the PD150 has something that the GL2 does not: DVCAM compatibility and pro time code.

So I guess we'll just have to wait to see if anything comes up here.

This is an article about one shot with a GL1: Monsturd

Cheers,
Brian

eject cassette on 2 dvcams help
 

My Canon ZR45 and my Canon ZR 10 both have an eject cassette flashing in the LCD and will not play or record. The ZR45 will eject any tape put in but will not record or play longer than 10 seconds. The ZR10 has a cassette stuck in it. It will not eject it. Is there a way for me to repair on my own? All I need is the know how-or-what is the problem here? Me? Any help would be so great. Thanks Kiel Elligton

I'd first look hard at why both are exhibiting this problem at the same time. Are you in a humid area, or other demanding environment? Seems fishy to me. Not sure about the error messages with those cameras, but my old Sharp used to say that even in the slightest bit of rain, not necessarily repairable, but worth checking to see if the sensor is off I suppose.

Steve

While looking for info on OpTex 16x9 lenses, I found this link to a full length film:

http://doradovillagefilms.com/babysbreath/main.htm


They used a GL2 and the OpTex anamorphic lens. The screens look good, but I feel they could have gussied up the look of their film in post a bit.

Need to clean inside of lens asap
 

I need to get a spec of dust out from behind the first lens plate on my GL2 by tomorrow morning. Any one know how?

I posted a reply in your other thread here.

Showscan
 

Douglass Trumball used a filming techique called Showscan (I think it was on 70 mm) in which shooting was done at 1/60 of a second. The effects were almost surrealistic.

Motion at 1/60 appeared to be "slower" than when shot at higher speeds of 1/90, 1/120. etc.

1/60 of a second seems to work well in frame mode. I am curious as to whether or not it well present well in normal mode compared to the speeds a still photographer would use. (1/500 to 1/1000), particularly when looking for quality, sharpness and the ability to get high quality slow motion.

Any thoughts???

Thanks in advance,

Al

cuz 1/60 is a slower shutter speed than 1/90 , 1/120 etc

Will this battery work on my GL2?
 

I'm thinking of purchasing a battery off eBay. It says its compatible with the GL1 and XL1 but doesn't list the GL2. Will it still work?

Yes, GL and XL series share the same type of battery. Any of the BP-xx batteries (or equivalents) will work on your GL2.