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General discussion

Im new!! please i need some help.

Sep 30, 2010 2:30PM PDT

I have been taking photos for awhile and know most of the photography terms. im just now getting into videography and have been using a very amatuer camcorder. Im looking at getting the canon xl2, but i dont know what the heck i need to look for as far has camera body functions and some of the lens options. I will primarily be shooting sports such as motocross and offroad truck racing, so i would like something that can capture it easily, and in low lights, and also when i edit the video something that i can slow it down without the video having bad quality.
So please help! thanks..

Discussion is locked

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The Canon XL2 is a
Oct 5, 2010 9:27AM PDT

great, pro grade, standard definition, miniDV tape based camcorder.

Before we go to far (like picking lenses andn such), getting the video from this camcorder to a computer means importing over firewire (IEEE1394) - not USB. What is your computer hardware (manufacturer and model) and what are you planing to edit with?

Also, to get good slow motion video means capturing solid high-speed frame rate. As far as I know, the XL2 can handle NTSC standard 30 frames per second (FPS). Slowing this much less than about 15 frames per second will result in an odd "jumping" effect - some vide editors can do "frame blending", but we don't know what you mean by "slow"...

I am not an XL2 expert - but I have used them (a while ago). I just want to be sure it has a chance at meeting your requirements.

Have you downloaded and read through the manual yet?
Have you strolled through bhphotovideo.com to see what accessories (lenses, rails, etc.), are available there?
What are your plans for audio?

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Canon has converted
Oct 27, 2010 6:38AM PDT

Canon has there top line pro video cameras with Flash memory now so tape is not the thing to consider. Canon XF series uses CF cards and they seem to recommend 64GB cards. It has 2 CF slots for video and a SD slot for stills. They are new so price is pretty much unavailable. They XF100 and 105 also can do 3D Canon says.

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We should send a thank you
Oct 27, 2010 1:52PM PDT

to the engineers for skipping AVCHD.

Now... if RAID1 storage $ and complexity would come down, that would be great. The XF300 series have been available for several months.

In the mean time, miniDV tape is still "affordable".

The XLH1 continues to be a great camcorder.

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The XL2
Oct 27, 2010 1:57PM PDT

also continues to be a great camcorder.