On Sat, 15 Jun 2002 22:26:20 -0400, "Jim Harvey" wrote:

>...snip...
>
>> Oh, can I resist...? 'Course not...! ;-)
>> "Canon-myopia" is too irresistible! ;-)
>> First, if your reference is the GL-1, it is rather
>> low as 3-CCD Mini-DV camcorders go (see:
>> www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/camcorder-comparison.htm
>
>I heartily agree! You should download the comparison grabs and look at them
>carefully. You will then notice ( if you have a functioning optic nerve)
>that the GL-1 grabs are much clearer than the Sony 900 stills. It's been a
>while since I stopped over at David's, but after re-examining the stills
>that he has there, it is apparant that the GL-1 makes a nicer picture. The
>low light shots of Peter look a lot nicer (Slightly warmer) with the GL-1
>than the 900.
>
>Couldn't resist either.
>
>Jim "depends on what you like" Harvey

Nor can I...;-)
If you look at the exterior scenes, where the lenses are
stopped down below f4 or so, the GL-1 image sharpness is
noticeably less than that of the TRV900 (and the TRV900
contrast and color is noticeably superior, also). If you look
at the "Peter, interior" images, the GL-1 image is nearly
monochrome orange; the TRV900 image has more neutral,
honest, and varied color (and shows less oversharpening
outlining on the shirt against the wall, about equal detail,
less irregularity in the rendering of the near-vertical
right side of the picture frame, and all the image frame
is there, without the black bars on the left and right);
if you look at the "tungsten room" frames, the GL-1 image
is again unnaturally orange (though not bad here), with the
TRV900 image neutral, with better tonality, about the same
detail level (but with fewer oversharpening effects), and
without the near-vertical line-rendering problems of the
GL-1. The GL-1 "shines" in only two respects relative to
the cheaper TRV900: the 20X zoom range is longer, and the
lens is enough better wide open to show a slight
resolution advantage with the lens wide open (only...).
The GL-1 sound with the built-in mic is also poorer than
it is with the TRV900. So, if you like orange interior
images, lower resolution (but more cartoon-edged
oversharpening effects), excessive contrast, "wobbly"
near-vertical lines, black frame edges, less low light
range, and inferior sound (all in a bigger package),
then I guess the extra cost of the GL-1 relative to
the TRV900 is worth it...;-)
BTW, www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/vid_pict_characts.htm
shows 29 video picture characteristics and defects.
Using the "key", you can find out what cameras' images
supplied the examples. The GL-1 is well-represented
for showing the possible defects, for good reason...;-)