Canon Gl2 Camcorder Review
Cole Media Group
DV To USB Cable
Canon's MiniDv prosumer Gl2 is Canon's much predicted transfer for the favorite Gl1 camcorder. The Gl2 has an Msrp of 99, but you should be able to find it on the road for colse to 00 or better. With the Gl2, Canon did not make many changes, in fact the lens is reported to be same to the Gl1 so upgrading is questionable. The most distinct comparison for the Gl2 is to the Sony Dcr-Trv950 so throughout the communicate I'll assess the Gl2 to the Dcr-Trv950. All in all, the Gl2 is a great camcorder for recording video which gives you ultimate control over your picture, production it the exquisite choice for the serious videographer.
Video Performance
The whole of pixels put on the quarter inch Ccd has increased with the Gl2, from 270K to 410K. Although a lot of that is contributed to the still resolution, I believe that the increased pixels on the Ccd do enhance the photograph quality. The photograph is in effect professional quality, and very impressive, it's in effect sharp. It's a very hard judgment to make but I do feel that the photograph that the Gl2 produces is great than the Trv950. It's very subtle and you'll have to make the judgment yourself, but I also feel the Gl2 excels in other areas that place it ahead of the Gl2, production the slight differentiation in photograph capability mute.
Front
Before we get into the deep estimate of the camcorder, I'd like to take a tour colse to the Gl2. Let's start dead on with the front of the camcorder. The lens is a 58 mm L-Series Fluorite lens. Canon describes the advantages of this "professional" lens as delivering the ultimate in color clarity. Canon reports that the fluorite in the lens defeats color aberration. Also settled in the front of the camcorder, raised above and extended out from the cope is the stereo microphone. In the middle of the left and right microphones is the Ir receiver. Towards the top of the Ir receiver is a red tally lamp that indicates either or not the camcorder is recording. The tally lamp can be turned on or off.
The Right
The right side of the camcorder is pretty void of any features, which in my mind is a good thing. The tape loading mechanism is settled on the right side, with the actual tape eject button settled on the top, slightly recessed. The zoom rocker is also settled on the right side. Private behind a movable (though still attached to the camcorder) rubber panel is the Dc terminal, microphone input and headphone output. The Dc concluding is for plugging the camcorder into the power adapter, although this can also be attached via a "battery" style power attachment in the back. I like the placement of the mic jack on the Gl2 over the placement of the mic jack on the Dcr-Trv950 where it is settled in the front. I think it is best to have a mic jack on the side because then microphone wires won't get in the way of your lens, any way I guess by placing them on the side so close to the side strap, they will get in the way of your hand while you're shooting. It's in effect a trade off.
I have pretty small hands, but I felt that the right side "handle" was too small for me. When grasping the camcorder, my fingers fell beyond the zoom controls. When I pull my fingers back, there is a large space between the top of my palm and the handle, which makes it hard to in effect hold the camcorder stable. Also settled on the top right is the photo button. It gives a nice click when you press it.
Back
The back right of the camcorder includes all the suitable thumb-position buttons for easy access. The report button is surrounded by a rotating standby / lock switch. Right above the report button is a great Card / Tape switch that selects between still mode and video mode.
Still in the back of the camcorder, but settled to the right of the battery slot is a multitude of ports covered by a rubber piece. Going from top to bottom is the Lanc port, a mini Usb port, the Dv FireWire port, the Mini Av port, and lastly an S-Video port. The next area over is the battery connector. Something I don't like about the Gl2 is that the viewfinder has to be pulled out and up in order to remove the battery.
On the far left of the back side of the camcorder is a long vertical line of controls. The top most control is left audio hand-operated control dial with the actual indicator on the back of the left side. The right audio hand-operated control dial is settled right below that. Below that is the menu button. The last dial on the back of the camcorder is the make your mind up dial. Some of the dials on the Gl2 don't make full rotations, rather you can move them slightly up or down a slight length and then when to let go they spring back. I in effect like these dials. They allow for more acute control and variable speed control of features that would not usually be afforded such control, like exposure or scrolling through menu items. You can fast click the spring back scroll dials and the camcorder will move up or down one value. When you have pressed the menu button, the make your mind up dial scrolls through menu options. When the recording mode is in the choice side (not the easy recording mode) you use the make your mind up dial to scroll through distinct automatic exposure modes or switch into full hand-operated mode.
Left
At the far back left towards the top of the Gl2 are the indicators for the hand-operated left and right controls with the dials settled on the back. I in effect think these indicators I in effect great. The Gl2 in effect beats out the Trv950 on hand-operated audio control by far. The two dials with the indicators on the side are much great than the menu controlled hand-operated audio control on the Trv950.
Located below the two hand-operated audio are two small switches to toggle between hand-operated audio and automatic photograph and audio control. Exciting towards the lens of the camcorder on the right side is the Lcd monitor. A small open button pops open the 2.5 in. Lcd screen. When you open up the Lcd screen all that is Private is a screen and one button. I in effect like Canon's decision to make the only button that is Private behind the Lcd screen the on screen display toggle button which you are unlikely to use unless the screen is open. With decreasing space on every camcorder as camcorders get smaller, manufacturers have been hiding more and more buttons behind the Lcd screen. Putting buttons behind an Lcd screen is not only annoying, but it also means that you have to have the Lcd screen open for distinct functions, and if you're trying to support battery life you want your Lcd screen open as slight as possible. I am a slight disappointed that Canon did not place the Lcd brightness buttons on the Lcd screen like Sony did with the Dcr-Trv950. Instead they are controlled in the menu. I find that to properly use an Lcd screen I permanently have to adjust the brightness to get the best photograph and to optimize battery life.
Located towards the bottom of the camcorder below the Lcd screen is the Sd slot. The Sd card port is covered up by a door that folds up. I like Canon's placement of the Sd slot. On the Sony Trv950, Sony settled the Memory Stick slot on top of the tape vehicle which was in effect odd. To the left of the Sd card slot is a tiny slight white circle, and I have no clue what it is! I understanding it might be a card passage light but it doesn't seem to light up when the Gl2 is saving stills to the Sd cards. Maybe it's a reset button? anything know?
To the left of the Sd slot is the convention preset button, convention key, white equilibrium mode make your mind up and white equilibrium set button. Right at the far right end of the left side of the camcorder is the exposure dial which is used to control shutter speed, iris and gain. I don't feel the buttons bounce back enough. When you press them you're not all the time sure if they click it or not. Because they are recessed (to safe them from accidentally being pressed) they are somewhat hard to press. The exposure dial is the same spring back type as the choice dial.
There are four rectangle silver buttons to the left of the Lcd screen, with two above and two below the audio level meter. The top left button switches between hand-operated and automatic focus. The top right button turns the Nd filter on or off. The button two buttons toggle digital effects on and off and make your mind up which digital corollary to use.
Top
We'll start with the accessory shoe which is settled towards the lens. Practically all of the buttons settled on the top of the camcorder are settled on the top handle, raised about an inch above the top of the camcorder. As you move towards the back the next two buttons you hit are the zoom toggle and the report start stop button, settled next to each other. Below those two is a photo button. I love that Canon included buttons on the top handle, If you in effect want to do creative shooting you will inevitably hold your camcorder by the top cope an it is critical that you be able to toggle recording on and off and being able to control zoom is also very helpful. Sony didn't contain such controls on the top cope of the Trv950.
Located behind the photo button are the Vcr control buttons which are Private by a door that folds open to the right. I like that these controls are settled on top of the cope as opposed to behind the Lcd screen, any way I'm in effect scared that the door is going to pop off. I think a sliding cover would have been a great choice. Private by the door going from the front towards the back of the Gl2 are the stop / memory card index screen button, the rewind / memory card back button, the play / pause / mix / slideshow memory card button, the fast forward / forward memory card button, the report button, audio dub button and finally the audio video insert button.
Manual control Where the Canon Gl2 excels is in offering the user ultimate control over the photograph they are recording. The best evidence of the respect that Canon has for the buyer with regard to hand-operated control is with the zoom. The Gl2 has a very nice 20x optical zoom with a 100x digital zoom. The 20x optical zoom on the Gl2 in effect beats out the 10x optical on the Trv950. Every camcorder has hand-operated zoom. Of policy the Gl2 has hand-operated zoom, but you are presented with a multitude of options. There are two zoom controls, one settled on the grip and one settled on the top handle. I do feel that the grip control is a slight small and there isn't much movement production slow variable speed zooms a slight hard. However, within the menu you have the choice of setting the speed of the zoom, variable, slow, medium or fast. As I mentioned earlier, you can even set the speeds of the top cope and the right side grip zooms independently! So if you in effect wanted precision, you could set one to in effect fast or in effect slow and the other to variable zoom. I think this would make shooting in live situations, where you Practically all the time want to use a zoom, or shooting on fast on the go situations where you want to pop in and out very helpful.
Manual focus is controlled by a ring colse to the lens. The focus ring gives a fair about of tension production definite focusing in effect easy. If you hold the camcorder like I prefer to when I don't have a tripod by putting my right hand in the grip and cradling the lens with my left hand, your left hand falls right on the focus ring, with your thumb conveniently falling right on the automatic / hand-operated focus toggle button. I am able to move my left hand thumb to the exposure dial to adjust the aperture, shutter speed and white balance.
Where the Gl2 in effect excels in hand-operated control is with the cleft control and shutter speed control. When you are in automatic shooting mode, you can use the exposure wheel to manually compensate the allembracing exposure (a aggregate of cleft and shutter speed) by setting the exposure lock. You can set the exposure lock from -11 to +5 with 15 steps in between.
To get full control over the shutter speed and cleft you switch the camcorder over to full hand-operated control. You press in the exposure wheel to toggle through shutter speed, cleft and hand-operated gain. The on-screen display shows the values of the four photograph elements. The first in the list is shutter speed. The Canon can go from as low 1/8th of a second to 1/15,000 of a second with 29 steps of shutter speed control. The slower 1/8th of a second, 1/15th of a second and 1/30th of a second shutter speeds are new to the Gl2.
Canon also added a in effect great new shutter speed control named clear scan. After you get to the 1/15,000 of a second shutter speed value, the next choice is the clear scan shutter speed control. This shutter speed choice is designed for adjusting the shutter speed based on the scan frequency of a television or a computer monitor. If you've ever filmed a computer monitor you might have noticed black lines scrolling horizontally on the screen. This is because the shutter speed of the camcorder is out of sync with that of the monitor. You adjust the clear scan screen shutter speed by going into the menu and choosing camera setup. The clear scan shutter speed is set based on Hertz (Hz) from 60.5 Hz to 201.5 Hz with an overwhelming 120 steps in-between. This is a in effect great feature. I think it's a broader example of Canon including features that in effect add to the camcorder but don't cost them anything to put in there, it in effect shows a respect for the consumer.
Pressing the exposure dial in once more switched control down to the aperture. You can set the aperture, or depth of field from F1.6 to F8 with 19 steps. The camcorder tells you the exact whole of F stops on the on screen display. The inclusion of the numerical values is very helpful for the professional videographer. Although Sony gives you control over the hand-operated exposure on the Dcr-Trv950, they do not display the whole of F Stops.
Pressing the exposure dial in one more time toggles the camcorder to hand-operated gain adjustment. You can set the hand-operated gain at 0 dB, +6 dB, +12dB or +18dB. Again you move through the options using the exposure wheel. I in effect like the added +18dB which helps in low light situations.
With white equilibrium you have three suitable options. Indoor, outdoor or complete manual. Two buttons control the white balance, The make your mind up button toggles between the three options. When you are in the full hand-operated options, a button to the right of the make your mind up button sets the actual white balance.
You also have the capability to turn the neutral density filter on and off. No such feature is provided on the Sony Dcr-Trv950. The Nd filter is great for shooting Exciting scenes. allembracing hand-operated control is one of the areas where the Gl2 in effect excels.
A feature I in effect love on the Gl2 is the convention preset. Using this feature you can adjust the allembracing color gain, color phase, color sharpness and color setup level (brightness). Using the convention preset button on the side of the camcorder you can toggle the adjustments on or off. The convention preset options are in effect great for tweaking your video image even more, above the basic hand-operated controls that the camcorder offers. It's a in effect helpful feature.
Frame Movie Mode
The Gl2 has frame movie mode which allows it to shoot 30 frames per second progressive scan video. The video is nice to get that movie look, but if you're in effect seeing for a high capability movie look, get Panasonics new 24 frame progressive MiniDv camcorder.
Optical Image Stabilization
The Gl2 includes an optical image stabilizer, something the Trv950 lacks. When electronic image stabilizers came out, I all the time select camcorders with optical image stabilizers over digital because digital image stabilizers often degrade photograph quality. However, now the Ccds have higher resolutions than the actual camcorder's production quality, the whole an electronic image stabilizer degrades the video photograph is negligible. So is the optical image stabilizer better, especially when compared to the electronic one of the Trv950? I hesitantly say yes. It is very hard to value image stabilization because the differences are so subtle, any way I do feel that the optical image stabilization is much smoother. It seems you don't get photograph stalls (where you move the camcorder and the photograph doesn't move with you for a half or quarter second) with the optical image stabilization. either or not the video capability is better? In system it is, any way I can't tell a noticeable contrast in the degradation between electronic and optical image stabilization.
Shooting Modes
The Gl2 has a multitude of shooting modes. The first mode which I in effect like is Easy Recording. In this mode, the camcorder takes control of everything. The camcorders has Tv mode, where you have control over most features other than gain and aperture, Av mode where instead of control over shutter speed you have control over aperture. Of course, my favorite mode is full manual, where you have total control over everything, except you can't set the exposure lock. Of course, in this mode you can set the shutter speed and cleft so not being able to control the exposure lock doesn't matter. The last two modes are Sand and Snow and Spotlight. The first is self explanatory, but the Spotlight feature is great for shooting areas where there is strong contrast in light, specifically in an auditorium on a stage.
Handling
The one major thing that I feel is great with the Sony Dcr-Trv950 over the Canon Gl2 is normal handling and control. The Gl2 is in effect heavier and larger than the Trv950, which I in effect like. The extra mass is not too much that you'll get tired retention it with two hands, but it has sufficient weight so that you can shoot stably. Button location is pretty good on the Gl2. I felt that I could adjust the photograph settings in full hand-operated and report to tape at the same time while maintaining a steady shot.
Still Performance
The major upgrade of the Gl2 over the Gl1 is the increasing of an Sd slot of saving digital stills to. The Gl2 utilizes pixel shifting to accomplish 1.7 Mega Pixel 1488 x 1128 resolution stills with the three 410K pixel Ccds. The Gl2 only has satisfactory still performance. The stills are okay seeing but I do believe that for allembracing quality, the Trv950 produces great pictures. The camcorder does not contain a pop-up flash like the Dcr-Trv950, although one is ready as an increasing accessory. Something I understanding was quite annoying was that the Gl2 cannot save digital stills to the Sd card while you are in the tape recording mode. In order to save digital stills you must switch from tape mode to card mode. It seems that when you are in card mode it takes the camcorder an highly long time to save the digital stills to the Sd card, this maybe could be explained by the fact that the Canon Gl2 has to use pixel shifting, and therefore do more processing to the images before they are saved to Sd cards. The Gl2 includes a Usb port and includes a Usb cable and software to hook your camcorder up to your computer.
Low Light
I would rate the Gl2's low light performance as excellent. When you throw the camcorder in to full manual, open up the iris, bring the shutter speed to 1/60th and turn the gain up to +18 dB you can get a satisfactory photograph in a fairly low light setting, one that in effect beats the Trv950. The great still performance is most likely explained by the slightly larger Ccd's on the Gl2 which are able to bring in more light per pixel than the Trv950. I in effect didn't observation any grain until I kicked the gain up to +18 dB, and then it was only minor, in effect at an suitable level. At +18 dB the grain on the Gl2 is greater than what it is at +12 dB on the Trv950, but I feel that when they are both at the same dB level, the Gl2 has less grain. Where the Gl2 in effect jumps ahead of the competition in low light performance is with the aid of the convention preset. By maxing out the color gain and just slightly increasing the brightness, you can get a in effect descriptive low light picture. Now the Gl2 doesn't beat out the Vx2000 in low light, but it does beat out the Trv950 in my opinion.
Lcd / Viewfinder
The Gl2 includes a 2.5 in. Lcd screen, smaller than the 3.5 in. Lcd on the Dcr-Trv950. The screen looks fine. I of policy would prefer the larger screen on the Trv950, any way I do feel that the 2.5 in. Screen is sufficient. The Gl2 also includes a color viewfinder. I in effect wish Canon at least made a black and white viewfinder ready on the Gl2. They've in effect made a professional class camcorder here and it would be great if we could have a professional class black and white viewfinder.
Ports
The Gl2 contains all the suitable ports for connecting your camcorder to external devices. transfer of digital stills is done through a Usb port. The camcorder includes a single suitable Dv Ieee 1394 FireWire in / out port for transferring your video from your camcorder to your computer. The camcorder also has a mini Rca port with a cable which converts the mini Rca into full size Rca ports. The port can function both as an in and out pot just like the S-Video port on the Gl2. The camcorder also includes mini 1/8 in. Headphone out and microphone in jacks.
Audio
What makes the Gl2 so great is that it seems Canon in effect concentrated on developing a solid video camera and not on adding bells and whistles. The Gl2 gives you two ways of monitoring audio. The first is the on screen display which gives you a right and left channel audio meter. The Gl2 also has the increasing of the side audio monitor which also shows the right and left channels. The Gl2 also offers many audio mixing options. The first is the hand-operated right and left channel dials for adjusting volume which I mentioned earlier. When the camcorder is in hand-operated audio mode you can manually adjust the recording levels of either the on-camera microphone or the audio advent in from the mic jack. As for audio quality, the on camera microphone is fine, I can't tell a contrast between it and the Trv950, of policy the Canon offers you more recording options and monitoring than the 950 does.
The Gl2 also offers the capability to dub audio onto tape which you have already included, also known as audio insert. You may only dub audio to tapes which have been recorded in the Sp mode with 12-Bit audio. MiniDv has the feature of four channel 12 bit audio which very few camcorders have utilized in the past. The audio dubbing feature allows you to report on the third and fourth channels of previously recorded tape, without recording over the former first and second channels. The audio mix feature of the Gl2 allows you turn the audio levels of both former audio and dubbed audio while playback. The versatility of the audio recording on the Gl2 is great, especially for in-camera editing situations. The one feature which I wish they had included on the camcorder would be the capability to report on all four 12- bit audio channels on your first recording.
Other Features
The Gl2 includes many other features which enhance it. Canon was very generous in including two eye cups with the camcorder. The first is a suitable eye cup for most shooting situations. The second eye cup is an extra large one which gives more shielding from light is exquisite for very sunny situations. The Gl2 includes digital effects including fade, wipe, overlap, black and white, sepia, art, mirror, mosaic, strobe, and trail. You also can display Smtpe suitable color bars on the camcorder for calibration purposes. It's great because you should all the time report a few seconds of color bars to each tape you record. You can toggle a zebra pattern on to detect over exposed areas. The threshold can be set at 80, 85, 90, 95 or 100 Ire; the Trv950 only gives you two options. To passage all these features easily, the Gl2 includes a convention button which you can assign to distinct functions. The Gl2 has a digital pass through choice so that the camcorder can turn analog video advent in through either the S-Video or the Rca port to digital video outputted through the FireWire port on the fly. The Gl2 also can do both audio and video insert editing, where audio or video is laid on the tape over previously recorded audio or video. finally the camcorder has a title mix choice where you can insert titles from the Sd card onto previously recorded audio.
The Gl2 includes a neat interval recording feature. Using this feature the camcorder can report .5, 1, 1.5 or 2 seconds of video at intervals of 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes or 10 minutes.
Compared to the Sony Dcr-Trv950
When production the likely comparison between the Trv950 and the Gl2, I would select the Gl2 hands down. The Gl2 offers great hand-operated control which is the main infer I would select it. The clear scan, the display of F stops, the +18 dB gain level, the neutral density and the in effect great convention preset choice equip the videographer to tweak their photograph to get the best possible. Now if you don't know how to use these features, they are in effect useless to you, and it won't matter which camcorder you choose!
The Gl2 has larger Ccds, .25 in. Versus .21 in. However, the Trv950 has a smaller Lcd screen, 2.5 in. To 3.5 in. In the more subjective category, I in effect believe that the Gl2 gives a great photograph than the Trv950, although the contrast is slight. The real infer you will be able to get a great photograph out of the Canon Gl2 is because you are afforded a lot more control over the photograph elements. In addition, I feel the low light performance of the Gl2 is classic to the Trv950. I do feel that the Trv950 is easier to handle. Although the Gl2 is heavier, which I like, I feel some of the button placement is awkward and I feel the lens is hard to cradle.
Improvements over the Gl1
Although I've covered these features earlier in the review, I felt it would be helpful to explain all the upgrades of the Gl2 over the Gl1. The Ccd's have more pixels, 410K in the Gl2 per Ccd versus 270K in Gl1. The Gl2's most distinct revision is in the digital still category. The camcorder can report 1.7 Mega Pixel stills to the Sd card and transfer those stills to the computer via a Usb slot, while the Gl1 had no such option. The Gl2 also includes an advances accessory show for attaching accessories such as a flash.
Conclusion
The Gl2 is in effect for the serious videographer. The camcorder doesn't have many bells and whistles, and when it does, they are Private in the menu where they should be! The hand-operated control is great, far classic to what the Sony Dcr-Trv950 provides. The camcorder gives you hand-operated control and actual values for your photograph controls like f stops. The photograph is in effect sharp. This camcorder is about shooting video, and that's what a camcorder of this price should only be about. The exquisite low light performance in effect puts the Gl2 over the top. If you're seeing for a serious camcorder with great hand-operated control and one that will put out a great picture, go for the Gl2. I am permanently irritated by builder investing money in useless features instead of working to enhance the video that the camcorder shoots. Although I love the Trv950, and it's a great camcorder, the Gl2 just clearly does videotaping better, and I'd strongly advise you go with the Gl2.
Canon Gl2 Mini Dv Camcorder4 pin dv to usb cable