Total newbie with Canon XL2 on the way...

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Powerkicker

Hi all. I am a complete newbie to any type of videography apart from playing with a sony handycam. I have become surprisingly (to me) passionate about getting ideas and stories on video to be shared with others.

I've spent time researching good entry level cameras on the web (Didn't find this site until later) and came up with the Canon XL2 as the unit that would do all I need to do as I learn to put out quality videos short of HD.

I found a gently used unit in my price range and it is on it's way to me right now.

Now that I've found this site, I see it is not mentioned anywhere I can find as a suitable unit. It was all the rage elsewhere on the web from what I could find. Is this thing going to do what I'm after? I read glowing report after glowing report and saw the same on youtube and the like.

Bottom line; If I do my part, will this unit still perform at an acceptable level per turning out a good finished product? Thanks all for the forum here and for any advice/guidance offered.
 
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I was saying that me welcoming you to the site was slightly off topic, not you asking about the camera. You were bang straight on topic. I shoot on Canon and am used to them now. I don't have any experience with the XL2, but based on specs, it's lightyears better than the camera I started with. Just remember that this will most likely not be the last camera that you buy. My position on cameras is that the best camera for the job is the one that you have access to. My advice is to learn as much as you can using this system and improve yourself until the camera becomes the limiting factor in your cinematography. Once you start getting close to that point, rent a few of the cameras that you are considering as an upgrade and make the most informed decision that you can before you commit to the next one, unless you get a legitimately screaming deal that you can afford on a seriously bad assed rig.
 
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knightly said:
Buy one brand of tape and stick to that one brand... you'll avoid potential problems with lubricants mixing that way (that sounds bad).
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Perhaps the cause of my problems. I bought my XL 2 new a thousand years ago but it has "low mileage". It had already been sent in for service once for pixelating display and tape door/mechanism getting stuck. Yet I still have the same issues occasionally. I like the camera but been leaning toward the Canon XF300 just to be done with tape and use something not so antiquated, of course being HD is also a big plus.
 
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Lucky Hardwood said:
I was saying that me welcoming you to the site was slightly off topic, not you asking about the camera. You were bang straight on topic. I shoot on Canon and am used to them now. I don't have any experience with the XL2, but based on specs, it's lightyears better than the camera I started with. Just remember that this will most likely not be the last camera that you buy. My position on cameras is that the best camera for the job is the one that you have access to. My advice is to learn as much as you can using this system and improve yourself until the camera becomes the limiting factor in your cinematography. Once you start getting close to that point, rent a few of the cameras that you are considering as an upgrade and make the most informed decision that you can before you commit to the next one, unless you get a legitimately screaming deal that you can afford on a seriously bad assed rig.
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Thanks for the input! After reading up a good bit more, and for what im doing with the camera, it should hold up just fine as far as learning.


Now i do have another question. The heads on my camera are dirty, as the film is getting the fudged up footage, i can run a cleaning tape through it, but will only stay clean for a short time before the footage comes back bad.
There are no shops in my area that will even touch this camera so i will have to send it to canon for a good cleaining. Any idea what they charge for cleaning the heads? I tried calling for a price but they said there is no way they can give me one until they actually physically look at it.

(as im on a short budget i just dont want to waste time and shipping fees to learn they charge a crazy amount to clean it, just to wait to get it back through the mail.)
 
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Have you looked for shops in Texas that offer that service? It might be cheaper to ship it someplace closer and a smaller shop should be willing to give you a ballpark figure for the cleaning. The alternate would be to figure out how to take the tape transport mechanism apart enough to clean it yourself. I seriously do not recommend doing it yourself unless you are a skilled tinker.
 
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Canon won't do it either... it's been EOL'd. I had good luck with a Dynex cleaning tape ( http://www.amazon.com/Dynex-Minidv-Camcorder-Cleaner-Dx-da100541/dp/B000H35XKM ) -- much more aggressive than any of my other cleaning tapes I have... I thought my cameras were done at one point, until someone lent me their odd off brand head cleaning tape. Suddenly both sprang back to life. I think the larger brand name tapes are gentler to the heads, but if it's gummed up badly, the off brand guy did a better job for me.
 
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knightly said:
Canon won't do it either... it's been EOL'd. I had good luck with a Dynex cleaning tape ( http://www.amazon.com/Dynex-Minidv-Camcorder-Cleaner-Dx-da100541/dp/B000H35XKM ) -- much more aggressive than any of my other cleaning tapes I have... I thought my cameras were done at one point, until someone lent me their odd off brand head cleaning tape. Suddenly both sprang back to life. I think the larger brand name tapes are gentler to the heads, but if it's gummed up badly, the off brand guy did a better job for me.
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Cannon did service my xl2 several months back when I began to have trouble. It was a bad sensor if I remember correctly. It still works fine now. Ran me $200 and some change all told for the repair.

The only thing I do not like is that resolution is poor on any HD capable monitor. :(
 
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