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Bill Swain · Jun 18, 2005, 05:35 PM

I need some help! I am entering into what will ultimately be a 3 yr project of filming a cruising DVD (set) in the Pacific NW, BC, and Alaska. As I plan to distribute the product on DVD's I have elected to stick with SD... I have read EXTENSIVELY about the pro's and cons of the two cameras I have narrowed down to... the Canon XL2 and the Panasonic AG-DVX100A. I thought maybe tht some readers might have had experience with one or the other cameras in the enviornment that I will be filming in...i.e. Outside, everything from thick fog to bright sunlight, lots of water, waterfalls, whales, eagles, bears, etc. The 20x zoom of the Canon is a definite plus (about 60% of clips will be taken from a static mount on boat that is quite large and stabilized... the rest via handheld) as we will be dealing with some "long shots" of whales and other wildlife... Arm fatigue is another consideration and the Canon fills in with the shoulder mount... On the other hand I read that the "low light" capabilities and color of the Panasonic is better, as is the viewfinder. Does anyone out there have some experiences to relate? Thanks, in advance, for the assistance.

MallyMal · Jun 18, 2005, 06:11 PM

Originally Posted by Bill Swain

I need some help! I am entering into what will ultimately be a 3 yr project of filming a cruising DVD (set) in the Pacific NW, BC, and Alaska. As I plan to distribute the product on DVD's I have elected to stick with SD... I have read EXTENSIVELY about the pro's and cons of the two cameras I have narrowed down to... the Canon XL2 and the Panasonic AG-DVX100A. I thought maybe tht some readers might have had experience with one or the other cameras in the enviornment that I will be filming in...i.e. Outside, everything from thick fog to bright sunlight, lots of water, waterfalls, whales, eagles, bears, etc. The 20x zoom of the Canon is a definite plus (about 60% of clips will be taken from a static mount on boat that is quite large and stabilized... the rest via handheld) as we will be dealing with some "long shots" of whales and other wildlife... Arm fatigue is another consideration and the Canon fills in with the shoulder mount... On the other hand I read that the "low light" capabilities and color of the Panasonic is better, as is the viewfinder. Does anyone out there have some experiences to relate? Thanks, in advance, for the assistance.

First, look at this 12 min nature video(DVX-100A). click here

Then, go to the following board and ask your question. dvxuser.com

mojo2 · Jun 18, 2005, 06:55 PM

Originally Posted by Bill Swain

I need some help! I am entering into what will ultimately be a 3 yr project of filming a cruising DVD (set) in the Pacific NW, BC, and Alaska. As I plan to distribute the product on DVD's I have elected to stick with SD... I have read EXTENSIVELY about the pro's and cons of the two cameras I have narrowed down to... the Canon XL2 and the Panasonic AG-DVX100A. I thought maybe tht some readers might have had experience with one or the other cameras in the enviornment that I will be filming in...i.e. Outside, everything from thick fog to bright sunlight, lots of water, waterfalls, whales, eagles, bears, etc. The 20x zoom of the Canon is a definite plus (about 60% of clips will be taken from a static mount on boat that is quite large and stabilized... the rest via handheld) as we will be dealing with some "long shots" of whales and other wildlife... Arm fatigue is another consideration and the Canon fills in with the shoulder mount... On the other hand I read that the "low light" capabilities and color of the Panasonic is better, as is the viewfinder. Does anyone out there have some experiences to relate? Thanks, in advance, for the assistance.

There are a few debates here between some of the regular posters re: those two cameras. I suggest you do a search. In the mean time did you see this thread?

http://forums.macnn.com/62/digital-video-and-audio-archives/258954/sony-hdv-fx1-vs-dvx100a-vs/

Bill Swain · Jun 18, 2005, 11:32 PM

Originally Posted by MallyMal

First, look at this 12 min nature video(DVX-100A). click here

Then, go to the following board and ask your question. dvxuser.com

My thanks for your response... Actually, a good deal of the information I had received was from the DVX User/Review site... That is where they said that if Nature filming was the aim that the Canon XL2 was the choice due to the 20X zoom... at the same time they went into detail about the shortfalls of the Canon servo, focusing indexes, low light capabilities and the like... a bit confusing.
The video was great and was interesting in the use of still photos as well... very hi-res digital wildlife has been my forte until now... Having taken a lot of Orca photos I know that there are a lot of times I am using the full 400m on my f2.8 zoom lens. (Yes, it's a top of the line Canon!!!... I know, I know!!!)
I wish I had some idea of how much of the 10X zoom was used to pull in the eagles on the video... hard to guess how far away they were. It would not be unusual to be filming Orcas, for instance, that were 100 to 200 yards away (by law you are supposed to be 100 yards minimum).
There is no doubt that the video you referenced gave me a great view of the DVX's capabilities... very impressive... Thanks again... Any other input would be greatly appreciated....

Bill Swain · Jun 18, 2005, 11:38 PM

Originally Posted by mojo2

There are a few debates here between some of the regular posters re: those two cameras. I suggest you do a search. In the mean time did you see this thread?

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?t=258954

Yes, as I responded to MallyMall the full review you mentioned was the basis for some of my questions on zoom vs. quality. They acknowledged the superior zoom but then sort of took everything away by the discussion of the manual focusing, auto servo and the like... One minute I lean towards the Canon, the next to the Panasonic... Nice to be so firmly resolved (not!)

loki74 · Jun 19, 2005, 01:50 AM

Originally Posted by MallyMal

First, look at this 12 min nature video(DVX-100A). click here

Then, go to the following board and ask your question. dvxuser.com

umm lets see. I wonder how many people at DXVuser.com will endorse the XL2 over the DVX100A

I have used the DVX100A, and it is a good camera. But in features, value, quality, and professionality, the XL2 wins, although only by a little.

Basically, they are both bonified, high-quality cams. The XL2 wins on the native 16:9 CCD, as well as very professional shoulder design and nearly infinite interchangable lens options. The DVX wins in that it has the LCD flip-out display that the XL2 painfully lacks. The reason I say XL2 (and Eynstyn knows this well, lol) is that it has native 16:9. The anamorphic converter for the DVX100A is 700 bucks.

MallyMal · Jun 19, 2005, 02:42 AM

Originally Posted by loki74

umm lets see. I wonder how many people at DXVuser.com will endorse the XL2 over the DVX100A

Yes, I know dvxuser is going to bias but there is footage from XL2, DVX, and other cameras there. A lots of times I think actually seeing footage and then asking questions is far better than just asking a question alone.

travisimo · Jun 20, 2005, 11:14 PM

A newer feature in the newly manufactured DVX's is a aspect conversion known as "sqeeze" which acts as a faux animorphic distortion. I recently bought one and ofund the setting under the scene file menu, i shot some footage, dumped into final cut and told it to interpret it as 1.2 aspect and it was picture perfec widescreen. While it is still interpolating the extra information the quality is very very acceptable and i'm pretty dang picky hehe.

trav

loki74 · Jun 21, 2005, 01:14 AM

hmm.... you still lose resolution with squeeze. do you have anamorphic footage that you can compare to as a refrence point? id be willing to bet the quality difference is noticable in direct comparison, although ive never actually seen

but yes the squeeze is better resolution wise than the hard matte. hard matte = badbadbad

travisimo · Jun 21, 2005, 07:26 AM

i'll get some up sometime soon...

konakazi · Jun 21, 2005, 07:48 AM

If you're going to be shooting at any kind of distance, I can't imagine that the low light settings are going to make much of a difference. Especially if you are going to be maxing out your zoom, at some point you will just need additional light sources, so I would not let that low light lux factor sway your decision too much in this scenario.

Just my two cents. Sounds like you'll be pretty happy with either camera. The Canon is definitely sexier though, and you have to love that shoulder mount.