Xi vs. GL1 vs. GL2 HELP!!

[Patrick Smith]

OK, first off im trying to sell my optura 300 in the classified so i can upgrade.

Now i have heard of people downgrading to the XI from the gl-2 and such. im just looking on information on these 3 cameras in comparison. My friend uses a GL-1, and i film for his dvd, and his quality is just so much better, not to metion i cannot even film during night because i hate how my film turns out.

please help me out!

[John Lee]

I went through a similar decision a couple years ago, and I opted for the GL2 which was a relatively new camera at the time. A lot of the people on this board helped me make my decision, and 2 years later, I'm glad that they did.

I haven't had a problem with my GL2 yet and I find that for the price you are really getting a good deal. The image quality, in my opinion, is fantastic, close to that of the XL1, but not quite as good. But when you go from a single chipper to the GL2, the difference really is night and day. There is much less of a difference between going from the GL1/GL2 to the XL1, which is why, for my purposes, I decided that the GL2 was the camera for me at the time.

I've sinced graduated to the XL1s, which I don't own, but have been borrowing often from a friend.

I used the GL1 once, it is also a tough little camera. I borrowed it from a friend who informed me that the camera had been hit by a car. The mic was smashed up on it, but it still worked fine! My GL2 has gotten a lot of abuse over the last two years too, but I always clean it up and keep it in a safe place. Again, I've never had a problem with it.

I think the decision you need to make is based firstly on how much money you can spend, how many accessories you need to buy, and most importantly, what you plan on using the camera for. Wish I could help you more with the differences between the GL1 and the GL2, but I haven't had much experience with the GL1.

EDIT - If your planning on working with your friend and mixing video a lot, the GL1 might work out a little better, since the colors and sharpness should match up, whereas you may have to do some tweaking to get matching video with the GL2.