Should I upgrade to the XL-2?
 

Hello all, For many years I have loved the XL-1 and now the XL-1s. The 1s continues to take beautiful video with bright vivid colors. I have been reading this board for years and trust the opinions and information I get from all of you. I spoke to the man at my local video store and he said that the reports he is getting back from customers indicates that there really isn't that much difference in picture quality between the XL-1s and the XL-2. My question to all of you that have upgraded to the XL-2 is...Is it really worth it? I do health education videos of hazardous waste sites and produce DVD's for distribution to the general public (and public TV) living around places such as Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee. Also, at this time I am not interested in going HD. So, is it really worth going to the XL-2, or stay with my XL-1s? Thanks to all, Bob Safay

If you don't want the primary features of the XL2 like true 16:9 and true 24p acquisition, then I say stay with the XL1s.

That being said, there are many good deals to be had on a used XL2 and they occasionally come up for sale here in the classifieds. You could then sell your XL1s or keep it as a back up camera.

JMHO,

-gb-

I have found that the quality jump, not only in actual video footage, but also camera build and handling, was more than I had at first realised and feel that it was well worth paying for the upgrade from XL1s to XL2.

Even if you aren't using the 24P feature, I think the amount of picture tweaking and 16x9 format makes it a great upgrade. I think that thre are enough changes in the XL2, from the XL1s, that you would be happy with the XL2.

Just my $0.02.

In my humble opinion the XL2 is a far better camera than the XL1s, the picture to me is far cleaner, colour i think more true, 16:9 the best,

But it has more picture settings and needs some practice to get the best out of it

The only downside for me is the viewfinder with the LD screen underneath not so good

Take it from a man who works in a video camera store and plays with every camera on the market. The XL-2 has a different clear/sharp.......colorful picture quality over the XL-1 and XL-1s. My XL-2 is on the way.

Lou, dropping the JVC?

Sadly....yes..................I need to keep up with technology. Widescreen and HDV will be here sooner rather than later. I would have taken a "BIG HIT" next year on my SD cameras.

Thanks for all the replys. I guess the XL-2 must be a mother of a camcorder to be that much better picture quaility than the XL-1s. I will watch the classified and see if any really good ones come up and then see about posting my XL-1s. Thanks again. Bob