On Mon, 02 Oct 2000 15:06:16 -0700, Kyle Root wrote:

>> What about the serious defects in the GL1 picture quality?
>> The GL1 oversharpens to the point where there are noticeable halos.

>I don't think there are any serious defects in the GL pic quality...
>Are you referring to the pics I posted in regards to the halos? I don't
>see any halos....

If you look at the two views of the car rear (BTW, the Sony
frame shows that the camera was in motion, so it should look
less than optimally sharp...), the GL-1 image shows a thin
light "halo" around almost the entire car. You can raise
the sharpness level (and with it the appearance of sharpness)
considerably in the VX-2000 custom controls
without showing this level of "haloing"... The color and
contrast of the two camcorders are fairly close, with the
GL-1 showing some excess warmth - but the warmth of the
VX-2000 color balance can be increased with the custom
picture controls for a better match, if desired. With near
vertical parallel lines in motion, the GL-1 tends to show
a lot of stair-stepping; the VX-2000 shows less. On fine
detail, with pictures optimised, the VX-2000 is generally
sharper-looking. In very low light, there is not much
contest, and the VX-2000 has slow shutter speeds and higher
gain levels available to shoot in REALLY low light...
Then, there's the sound....;-) For some specific purposes
the GL-1 is an excellent choice, and it is not terrible
anywhere - but overall, under the widest range of shooting
conditions, I prefer the VX-2000.

>> The GL1 does OK in indoor scenes of people, where there aren't many
>> edges. But shoot nature & landscape stuff and it's often a different
>> story.

>I've shot some outdoor stuff, wildlife, and trees etc etc... I'll have
>to hunt down the tape that's on and look at it. But I don't seem to
>recall anything being edgy etc.
>
>Even with the CCD's on the VX being larger than on the GL, I don't think
>that it's picture quality is better than the GL.

Sometimes it takes a while to appreciate the relatively
subtle differences, and what they mean in terms of image
quality. Try a long-lens focus-through with contrasty-edged
subjects, and you will see why you may want to minimize
that halo effect (true also on wide-angle views with complex
textures - see the pavement texture in the car rear view
"pixelate", and watch what happens when moving the
camera view over a bookshelf, brick wall, etc....).

>Tonight we are going to test the low light capability of the VX against
>the GL. Pics will be posted at the same website, assuming Premiere and
>Photoshop feel like functioning later this evening....

Still, a good excercise. Thanks.
BTW, you may be interested in the reviews and frame-grabs
on my web page - look under the "I babble" index...