Stuvg wrote in message <19980102200801.PAA05251@ladder01.news.aol.com>...

>Here's the report I've been waiting to give, and it's a WOW one!
>
>XL-1 vs. VX-1000... the results are in for me! I did a side by side comparison
>today with the VX-1000 and the XL-1. I think you'll all like what I have to
>say. First of all, I am still impressed by the picture quality of the VX-1000.
> It's nothing to complain about. BUT, when compared to the XL-1, the
>differences become quite evident. Here are the conditions used...
[....most deleted]

Thanks for an interesting comparison! I can well believe (from what I have
heard...) that under low light conditions the XL-1 probably has a superior
picture to the VX-1000 (which can show noticeable gain-up "grain" and loss
of color saturation as the gain rises to +12 to +18db) - even if adjustments
are made in the "custom" settings on the Sony. I wonder how the pictures
compare in good light, especially if the Sony image is optimized with the
"custom" settings... (I generally set the sharpness up a bit, the color
saturation up some, and the AE bias down some, resulting in a sharp, clean,
richly-colored image in good light - which remains unchanged through editing
with the Spark card. I also use AE[A] or manual exposure, and stick with the
optimum f5.6-8 apertures when possible for the best possible sharpness).
The VX-1000 used carefully offers very high quality at a (relatively!) lower
price, and the (relatively!) compact Sony package appeals to some of us...
(It isn't TOO hard to take two VX-1000s along on a shoot, but less easy for
financial, weight, size, and shape reasons to haul two XL-1s - or to use
even one unobtrusively...) I suspect that even if the XL-1 proves to be a
better camcorder in EVERY technical respect, that some of us will continue
to be happy with (or suffer along with, somehow...;-) the suddenly relatively
lowly Sony VX-1000...;-) Thanks, again, for the report (and for giving the
standards by which the comparison was made - without which the report
would not have been as informative...).
--
David Ruether
http://www.fcinet.com/ruether
ruether@fcinet.com