still pictures on XL 1
 

In what resolution does XL1 record its still images when you use it in photo mode??
And how do you get it into the computer with a higher resolution than pal or ntsc??

As I understand it, the XL1 records pictures at 640x480...
It is not intended for high resolution photography... Get
yourself another (canon) camera then :)

The XL1 photo mode just repeats the same frame for about 6 seconds, with sound. It will have normal DV video resolution; nominally a 720x480 pixel image.

The XL1 photo mode baffles me. Why is it there? If you shoot in frame mode, you can just extract a single frame of your choice from the file that you send from your camera to the computer over firewire. That's what I always do, but if you really want good pictures you'll get a separate digital camera.

Its because its NTSC or PAL.
 

This argument comes up every once in a while (or is awhile?). With NTSC (or PAL) there is a loss of resolution merely because of the format. The format is for imaging motion with sound.

A digital still cam is not so encumbered. It can produce as many lines as it wants since it is not NTSC.

Nathan Gifford

Why photo mode? Handy for cut-a-ways, you get 6 seconds of still without having to spend time rendering! I use it often for that purpose. For the vacation shooter you can get 6 seconds of the historical marker wihtout shake while you do voice over, and so on.

It also makes it much easier for cataloging shots. I use it at the start of every shot as a form of "clapper" Using Photo Search on the IR Remote you can search for the shot you want, with out filling your HDD with usless shots.

This is especially useful for me as when shooting surfing and snowboarding the subject or rider does not always stay on their board so I might have 5 takes of the same jump before getting the on I want and don't always have time to review back to the begining of the shot.

Here's something I've tried with my XL1 to get larger, higher resolution stills. You could shoot in interlaced mode if it is a still subject. Though I've done it in frame movie mode. What you do is shoot several stills of your subject, but you pan around to include different parts of the picture. Then, in your editor (I use FCP) you make still frames from the different clips. Import them into Photoshop and paste them together to make one big picture. You may need to make a few adjustments so each still (which should have some overlap) seamlessly lines up with the others. The results can be astonishing! You can make still pictures of any size, depending only on the amount of ram in your computer. Of course, you could get a similar effect if you used a multi megapixel digital camera, but they can cost several thousand dollars. Since digital tape is so inexpensive (compared to film), you can do all kinds of creative experiments that would be prohibitively expensive with film. The XL1 and 1S work well for this, since the basic image they produce is a good one. You can then enhance the stills with Genuine Fractals, sharpening and uprezzing them. Amazing.

I've done what you are describing. It works great. See attached site:
http://www.geocities.com/ravens202/pano1.jpg

Flash- worth it- or pass?
 

is it worth buying a Canon Speedlite flash (sorta pricey) -does the image quality increase because of the burst of additional light given off by the flash- or is the money better spent buying a consumer grade digital camera?

Opinions?????

"Clapper" Function
 

Great idea, Adrian! Hadn't thought of of using "photos" at the beginning of a shot for quick searching.

I'll definitely be doing that from here on out.

Thanks!

Hmm interesting.
 

afterburnerDV,
I've often try to shoot, and like pushing the return button on aBroadcast camera, I have a bad habit of pushing the photo button. It pissed the heck out of me when I needed to shot fast.
But using it as a index search!! Wolla! I'll be using the photo button more once again.

Don, I also like the panaorama photo Idea. nice. I will give it a try.
Takeshi

I use the speedlite 380EX with my XL1. It comes in handy when doing weddings. What I do is I take stills along with the photographer to use in the video. I have a small (small file size, maybe I'll update it with a larger one for us dsl/cable users with better quality) example on my site in the wedding section on the left "Ending Credits" shows some stills in the ending credits.
It's allso good for index search as others have posted.

I like the speedlite flash. It appears to increase the quality. Especially the bounce lighting the back. It's probably just better light than normal thus looks better.