I'm interested in filmmaking, and was considering the GL2 or the (more expensive) Xl2. It's been hard to get a lot of reviews on the Canon XL2, presumably because it's still very new.

But let me take a quick opinion poll.... if you could stretch your budget to buy the XL2, would you unhesitatingly buy the XL2 over the GL2? The XL2 is the real 'professional' level camera, but it seems to have bells and whistles I wouldn't use - I wouldn't use the time lapse on the camera, for example, I'd edit in post. The interchangeable lenses sound cool, but is it that vital?

As an owner of the Sony 900 and very recently a GL-2, I found this detailed review very helpful with a lot of information. While there were some legitimate responses to some errors, there was a s--tload of nitpicking and a couple of folks who couldn't do better than get nasty. I doubt any of them have the mental capacity to write a review of this detail. (No, I don't mean those of you who had real and constructive criticism. I've pretty much been a Nikon man for stills (you can always use your old lenses) and Sony for Camcorders. This was a great introduction to all the features, and in spite of a few errors, very very helpful - more so than the manual. And no matter what the 950 or other Sony models were mentioned, I can tell you as a part time nature and wildlife photographer and hopefully soon to be wildlife videographer, this has one huge advantage, the 20x optical zoom. What upper level Sony offers that? Thanks Robin for an interesting review. And I think those that chose to flame rather than to offer anything constructive should creep back into their holes. Those comments waste space and help no one. Grow up!!

The canon gl2 is no longer $2799 you can buy it new for around a $1000 at
http://store.yahoo.com/royalcamera/cangl2digcam.html $1229
http://store.tcscamera.com/cangl2digcam.html $1109
march 27, 2005

save $1800

Thanks for your reply - though checking both those merchants at www.resellerratings.com, they come with very negative reviews.