Thanx Rob - Yeah, guess so.

Gl2/xm2/xv2
 

Nice dark gray on the japan model, ha?

http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/c.../2002_xv2.html

www.dvworld.com.tw/product/xv2/

http://www.soundweb-asia.com/product...xv2/page_1.htm

http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/t...09/report.html

Thanks, Cosmin. Yes, it seems like that only the GL2 for the Japanese market is a different color. Where in Romania do you live?

It looks better in dark gray!

I'm in Timisoara.

I prefer this color to the standard they offer in the states and in Europe. Why don't they offer it every where else?

auto standy....
 

is there anyway to turn the auto-standby/automatic turn-off option off on the GL1. and if not...when it starts to beep before it turns off what do I do to keep it from turning off. as far as I know right now the only way to stop it is press the record button.

I selected the custom key to "STOP" video. So when I need to keep the camcorder on stand by I push the custom key and the video part of the camcorder stops. The rest of the camcorder works.
There is something in the meniu where you can chose if you want the camera to switch off or STOP the video part. I just don't remeber where you can find that...

thanks

GL1 auto or manual??
 

I just upgraded from a JVC single chipper to the GL1. So far I love the cam...the overall picture quality is great. Question I have...I mostly do skateboarding films and I was wondering if I should shoot in auto mode or manual mode? Now I don't know much about manual with a camcorder but I have been taking digital stills with a Nikon D100 for sometime now. So...the concept of apeture, shutter speed, and their relationship means something to me. So am I better off filming my skating in Auto or can I get a better picture using Manual? thanks

It depends on how you are shooting. If you are shooting from a stationary position then manual is probably better. If you are shooting from your board then AV or TV mode is probably the go as as you move your exposure conditions change. Generally, I stay well away from auto/green box modes as I always seem to end up with home video looking footage.

One other thing you want for shooting skating is a wide angle or fisheye adapter. If you go with a fisheye, get a good one that gives you a full frame, not one that gives you the terible circle image.

Long Shots at the Sun
 

I'm going to be ordering a GL2 from Zotz this weekend. I am planning on trying to shoot an hour long shot of a sunset or sunrise. I would then speed this up to a fast timelapse in post. My concern is how this is possible without damaging the CCD on the camera. The only totally safe option I have come up with is the physically extensive method of doing frame captures every 30-60 seconds and using cardboard or something to cover the lense in between.

Can this be safely done with UV and ND filters? Seems like it have been done before with some type of camera in even more light that near dust or dawn, when you see time lapse of the sun crossing the frame with clouds moving by.

Gl2 Lighting and other problems
 

I shot with the Gl2 for a few days while my Gl1 was getting repaired. It looks like I'll have to get the Gl2 since they are going to swap them since the Gl1 is under the lemon clause and it is the only three chip cam they have to replace it. The problem is from the few days that I used the Gl2 it seems like a downgrade.

When shooting in subjects without the sun behind me it was very difficult to get the lighting correct. The subjects always were too bright or too dark using the auto exposure shift and the exposure button. With the Gl1 I usually was able to get the proper lighting by keeping the ae on +.5 and putting the exposure on about +1 to +5 depending on where the sun was. Is there a way to stay in auto focus and have good lighting with the Gl2? Some of the problem may be with the skin tones as discussed before but since I'm a little color blind it's hard for me to know.

The viewfinder is bad. The field of vision is even less than the Gl1. Putting the bigger one on helped some but it is still smaller vertically.

On the positive it is a little lighter and the picture quality would be a little better if I can get the lighting fixed.

Will Canon put out a Gl3 this year or wait another year or so?

Thanks,
Tony

There is already a thread on this.

I'm closing this one. Please continue the discussion there.
Thanks.

Tony,
I shot with a GL1 for quite some time until getting a GL2 last year. I can say that the GL2 is certainly no downgrade; quite the contrary. But I will also say that it's also not the same camera as the GL1. Like any new camera it just takes some dedicated practice to learn its nuances and its best uses. Start with the factory-default settings and work your way through all of the new tweaks available. I would leave the ae setting at neutral for now, and most of the time.

I have not heard of any plans for a successor to the GL2 in the immediate future.

The GL2 is an upgrade from the GL1. There are more exposure options, the focus ring is more sensitive and there are audio meters and level controls for both channels. Unless you were wearing headphones all the time, there was no way of knowing if you were recording audio with the GL1.
Bob

Canon Speedlight 540ez & GL2
 

Anyone know if the 540EZ flash will work on the GL2?

I think the camera requires the EX series. The EZ series is for older EOS cameras. It will not work, to the best of my knowledge.

Recording date and time onto tape
 

I bought GL-2 partially for the Character Recording capability on this camera. But so far I have not able to record "only" the date/time onto it. Actually I could record other information (useless to me) but date/time. Will anyone shed some light on me. What am I missing here?
Thanks in advance.

Max,
See this thread. I think you'll find it helpful.

GL2 menu settings for external mics
 

I am using an external mic without Canon's adapter (plugged right in to the port on the side). The manual does not address this (I guess to sell more adapters) and I can't get the on board mic to shut off when I'm using my shot gun.

Can anyone tell me how to shut off the onboard mic?

Alex,

As soon as you plug a mic in the jack, it should disconnect (physically I beleive) the built in mic. If that is not happening, service is indicated! Anything that you do using menus would affect both mics equally so there would be no way to isolate the on camera mic.

When you use an external mic (usually mono) you would expect to only see one channel of audio on the VU meters. Thats a pretty good indication that the external plug is connected correctly. If you still have both channels indicating (unless your mono mic is wired to both left and right) then I suspect your external mic may not even be providing an input to the camera.

GL2 Wireless Mics
 

This may have been covered before, but does anyone have a good recommendation for a wireless handheld mic for my GL2? Since the GL2 is "stereo" can the camera receive 2 wireless signals? Also, nobody seems to know which type of headphones works best with the GL2 - impedence etc?

Hello Joseph,
You'll often see members remarking that they have had good experiences with Sennheiser's Evolution systems. Audio-Technica also has an excellent system, their U100 series, that also features a handheld mic plug-on modulre. (I have the system but not the module for the handheld mic.)

Regarding headphones, I've been a big fan of the Sony MDR-7506's and their slightly more compact MDR-7505's.

ouch!..I almost killed my xm2's firewire port!
 

Hi Guy's great forum!
Me and my partner have been creating some stopmotion animation for a short film we are making using the xm2. So far the cameras performance rocks. We only had a one chip mini dv camera before( no comparison at all) We have been shooting directly into premiere via fire wire and also previewing to another computer via svideo for our low res animation loop.

Everything was going great until I stepped on the firewire cable and crunch!......The camera was fixed strongly on the tripod and the computer was siting on the table directly behind it. I bent the firewire socket on the back of our xm2 aswell as the fire wire cable aswell as the firewire card in the computer! I can tell you I was not a happy camper and neither was my parner when she returned back.

(We have only had the camera for two weeks and we both love it .........so it took us a while to come to grips with our first xm2 nightmare)

So......anyway luckily it still holds in and it still works by it's self but it is very very loose.

Our solution to anyone out there doing any filming with cables running off your xm2 or any camera for that matter...... is to gaffa tape everything to the tripod arm and don't risk any cables being ripped out of their sockets. This is what we will do for evey shot from now on.

Writing this down has given me a head ache!

Anyone else had similar or worse experiances.....might make me feel better.


Miles

Will my mic fit in ma-300 adptor?
 

hi guy's
Just wondering if anyone can tell me if my mic sony(ecm-ms957) will fit in the ma-300 adaptor? In the manual it says that the ma-300 can take a 25mm wide mic.......the sony is 32mm wide....but I was hopeing that I could maybe replace the screw with a longer one so it could take any extra thickness? Would thuis be possible?

Any answers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Miles

Thanks a lot, Ken. I was able to get time/date. Now the second....

GOD NO!
Why should you feel better?!
You did a bad thing! You must suffer! :-)

Any pics of the loose socket on the back the xm2?
Also, could you run some more tests and tell us how much can the xm2 take?
:lol

Please don't mind me....

You're right, the EZ series will not work. Just for grins I tried my 540EZ on my new GL2 and no luck. Oh well.

I also use the Sony MDR-7506. When I'm working with them on my wife can yell and I can't hear her. Meantime I'm getting great clarity. They even allowed me to hear the faint zoom motor noise on my GL2 that was giving me a problem before I solved the problem.

In the low cost arena, consider the Azden WD-series of VHF wireless mics.

YOu can conenct two wireless receivers to the GL1/2 if you use a "Y" adapter, available ar Radio Shack and other fine audio accessory sources.

Problem with new GL2 - Handle buttons stopped working?
 

I've had my GL2 for two days now. Everything is going fine, but now all of a sudden the buttons on the top handle (record, photo, zoom) are not functioning. However the playback controls still work...

Is there a setting that I'm missing that somehow turns off these buttons? I've tried the camera in all modes (easy record, auto, Av, etc) but that doesn't have an effect. The camera has not been dropped or exposed to any conditions that would have this effect on it...

Everything else works perfectly =\
Any ideas?

Thanks.

Hi Steve,
If the Record/Zoom/Photo buttons aren't responding, check the locking latch immediately to the right, and below, the Start/Stop (record) button. You have probably accidentally pushed this latch to its locked position, thus disabling those controls.

I suppose I should read the manual. hah. Yep, they were locked.

Thanks!

Thanks ken....mine stopped working about 6 months ago...and I was just about to send it in before the warranty goes...even though my lock switch was off, I switched it on and then off again and, by jiminy, now my zoom works.


Barry

Dirty camera head
 

I was recording recently and got a "dirty camera head" message when filming with my GL2. When I got home, the entire tape had this "mosaic" look to it. Is my tape ruined for good or is there some way to reverse it?

I am using Sony DVM 60-PR 60 minute tapes. I had used a Sont cleaning cassette earlier in the week and followed the instructions of running it only for 10 seconds. Should I run the cleaning cassette longer?

Hello Terrill,
I would run that cleaner tape again (per its directions), then try recording on a new tape. If the camera is still laying down bad video, chances are that something else is awry and that Canon Service will need to take care of it.

I agree with Ken. Something else may be wrong. However, here's a link about tape (with head cleaning info) and further links about tape.

http://www.dvfreak.com/tape.htm

Please continue the thread Ken indicated so that all questions
regarding this issue go into that one thread. With that I am
locking this one.

I'm glad your camera still works Miles. But you might want to
consider to get it fixed. Otherwise it might break down at the
least forgiveable moment (your familiair with such laws I assume)

Dv In?
 

Okay, firstly I'm not getting a problem, I'm asking the following as a means to '"clear-up" a question I've been mulling over for sometime now.

When I connect my XM2 to my pc I get a "DV IN" notifacation on the XM2 screen. Okay. There is an option within the Settings to select DV IN or not. If I'm Capturing surley this is DV OUT, and therefore why don't I dissable "DV IN"? My laptop allows for DV control and I can Preview/Cue/Fast F and reverse no problem. Is this the action of connecting to the laptop "forcing" a DV IN notifacation? On the other hand I can understand why the "DV IN" happens when I Print To Tape - this makes sense to me. - As I said all is working fine - I'm just a tad confused - no change there then!

I also get the "TV SCREEN" notifacation. I'm presuming this is because the XM2 having the f/w cable connected to the laptop, the XM2 thinks it is being used on a TV monitor - yes?

I'm really not wanting to continue to use my XM2 as a VCR deck. I'm considering a separate piece of kit - but that is a separate thread.

Thanks in advance,

Grazie