I'm about to embark on a new DV adventure. I have been developing 3D animations for medical education for the last 3 years. I want to buy a DV camcorder, set up a small studio and recorder myself giving parts of lectures which I will then use Final Cut pro to combine with my animations and texts. The final output will be both CDs and 1 hour educational videos. The recording demands are therefor pretty easy but I definitely want the final results to look and sound good on VHS and CD. I'm thinking about either the Canon XL-1 or the Sony TRV-900. The nice thing about the TRV-900 is that my wife would be a lot more comfortable taping my 6 kids with that one since it is so much more compact. Any suggestions/advice?

Thanks

Have you considered the Canon GL-1? It has many of the same features/specs of the XL-1 and isn't as big. And is about half the price of the XL-1.

It's a great camera.

good luck,
jeff

Both cameras you mentioned are really nice, but I have to tell you, I fell in love with the Sony DCR-TRV6, which is $1300 cheaper than the TRV900. It still has great color and fine resolution for VHS and CD. You won't be taking over NBC anytime soon, but for your project, it sounds ideal.

I use both the Sony TRV-900 and the Canon XL-1. The best thing about the Sony is the portability, the possibility to watch the result of editing on the screen and the ability to take a few frames every nth second. The Canon has a wonderfull stabilizer and you can change the lenses. As I use the video mainly for nature, the Canon is priceless...but I had to wait a bit before to be able to buy it, so I have the Sony too. Both cameras give wonderfull pictures with 3 CCD technology, both work on a G4 with iMovie, Premiere or Final Cut Pro.

Finally, I would take your wife advice and buy the Sony for multipurpose camera. The Canon is not convenient on holidays !

I just forgot two things : you need a camera with DV OUT AND IN to be able to take full advantage of the video editing.

The screen on the Sony is very udefull to watch what yoou've just shot.

But the Canon is really a fabulous piece of work !

Originally posted by Bernard Scherler:
I just forgot two things : you need a camera with DV OUT AND IN to be able to take full advantage of the video editing.

The screen on the Sony is very udefull to watch what yoou've just shot.

But the Canon is really a fabulous piece of work !

Does the Sony of DV out and in???

go for the TRV-900! its so much smaller and cheaper than the xl-1. and although i havent tried out the gl-1, its so much more expensive than the sony. it has 3 ccds, so no prblem there. and it has the little lcd screen, which is neat. my whole gang agrees, go for the sony. between us, three of us have sony cameras and one has a canon.

dabradda

I have an XL1, very nice piece of equipment. However, Mr. Scherler is right about a few features missing on the XL1. I wanted to use mine for stop animation but it won't record anything less than 1 second of video. So we have to make up for that in editing. But the interchangeable lens system is awesome for those with deep enough pockets to buy the extra lenses. And hopefully with 16:9 support coming to FCP I can start playing with that feature.
The GL1 is nice but isn't as fully featured, i.e. no changing lenses!
I have nothing to say for the TRV-900 because I don't have one, but I've heard nothing but good things about it.

I have a GL-1 and it is a very nice camera. From the 20x optical zoom to the optical image stabilization to the complete device control in DV apps, it is alot of fun.

Canon is making/has made a wide angle attachment for the GL-1 which already has the capability to attach 58mm lenses and attachments. (I could be completely wrong here about what can actually be attached.)

At about half price, it has smaller CCDs, no boom mic, and doesn't look as cool as the XL-1.

I have also heard good things about the TRV-900.

Have fun!
jeff

To everyone who has responded so far... my thanks.

Here is a GREAT review of all sorts of DV Camcorders. It is where I got my initial advice. http://www.ferrario.com/ruether/camc...comparison.htm

Moriel