On Fri, 07 Jan 2000 16:42:57 GMT, chikung@newsguy.com (Peter Booras) wrote:

>I've been shooting sport video (Surfing, Snowboarding, MTB) for a few
>years now. I have been eyeballing the digital video arena for a while
>as well and am ready to jump in.
>
>I tend to keep getting drawn to the XL-1 for it's quality as well as
>it's lens capabilities. Right now I am looking to get:
>
>- XL-1
>- Canon's 3 times wide lens
>- Canon's 500mm lens
>
>My concerns are if it is durable enough to be hauled around the beach,
>woods, etc.. The other thing that annoys me is lack of manual zoom on
>the XL-1, though this could be a minor point. or....
>
>I'm also thinking of the GL-1 for it's manual control and florite
>lenses. I would lose out on the changable lenses but am not sure of
>how much of a potential loss this would be since I have only been
>working with Hi-8 cameras (TR-600 and little bit with an Optura)
>
>Anyway -- this is my delimma
>
>Thanks for any input.
>
>
>- Peter
>
>PS: If I did go with the XL-1 does the equipment listed above seem
>like a good starting point for the direction I am heading with it or
>are there any other accessories I should be looking at?

I just posted a "shoot out" between the Sony PC-1, TRV-9,
TRV-900, and VX-1000; the Panasonic AG-EZ30U; the Canon
GL-1 and XL-1; and a Sony Beta SP (jes' fer phun...! ;-)
on my web page, under "I babble". There are links with
each camcorder "mini-review" to frame grabs from footage
shot with each of the camcorders in five different
situations: bright tungsten room light, very low daylight
illumination of the same room, tungsten side-light of
a person, an exterior street view, and exterior daylight
side-light illumination of a person. There are a few
surprises... Look under "I babble" at the URL below.
There is a manual-control zoom for the XL-1, and a
sharper B&W viewfinder - but I would hesitate to use
any of these mini-DV camcorders in rough conditions - that
tape is SMALL! (And the camcorders covered are more
consumer/pro-sumer oriented). I have not seen it, but
I would be tempted to look at the JVC GY-DV500 mini-DV
camcorder. No stabilizer, but none of the lenses for the
XL-1 other than the standard zoom has one either.
Another possibility: multiple TRV-900's - or maybe the
DV-CAM version, since tape dropout may be less of a
problem in difficult conditions...