I am a new Canon GL 2 owner. I did search and search this site, but came up empty handed.

My question is simply this: Does the Canon GL 2 record an anamorphic picture in the 16:9 mode or does it simply mask off the top and bottom of the frame?

Since, to my knowledge, my "obsolete" Optura 40 does true anamorphic, I would hope a semi-pro camera would have that feature. Don't know how true the test is, but one book I have suggest testing by looking in the viewfinder (not the LCD) while switching modes. Supposedly an anamorphic widescreen will appear in the eyepiece at full height, but squished in width. (That effect does take place on the Optura).

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Don't believe so. For $2300, the lens would be 1/2 the cost. I think the XL-2 does though. But you're adding 4K to the cost too. Saving up for one for my vx-2100

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Dave Jones
D&D Video Productions
www.vdoguy.com

Couldn't find a definitive answer browsing reviews. The sensor chips seem to just be large enough to support anamorphic widescreen.

Presuming SD 4:3 DV only requires a sensor of 720x480 => 345600 pixels. Anamorphic uses the same 720x480 in 16:9... so it needs to pick up some wider position pixels, no? 720x480 : 4:3 as ???x480 : 16:9 ??? => 854 on the sensor (even if only 720 of them are encoded to tape).

854x480 => 409920; the reviews talk about a 410K pixel sensor (being more pixels than the GL1 had). Looks like it might be capable of supporting anamorphic.

The Canon GL2 does not record in 16:9. It crops the image.



Rich

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FireWire Survey

Thanks very much... guess I'll just stick with 4:3......
Tom B.

I bow to the voice of authority <G>

Ah well... So much for blind analysis

The reality of it is pixel count is almost never an indicator of "True Widescreen" which can be a confusing issue. I can't even remember which ones do "True Widescreen"/"Native Widscreen"/Anamorphic/"Real 16:9" (whatever they are calling it this year)



Rich

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FireWire Survey

Actually, the GL2 does NOT crop the image when recording in anamorphic 16:9 mode.

Instead, the camera records a true anamorphic 16:9 image, which means that it does it by recording an image that is 16:9 in shape, then digitally squeezes it horizontally (but not vertically) to fit into the 720x480 pixels of an SD 4:3 image area. On playback, devices that understand anamorphic SD 16:9 format stretch the image back out horizontally to fit the 16:9 shape.

If it were cropped, lines of pixels at the top and bottom would be lost entirely and the final resolution would be approximately 720x270 pixels, and the entire image (horizontally and vertically) would have to be enlarged to fit a standard 16:9 viewing area, with considerably more loss of image clarity.

See the image below.



This explains why, when you put your GL2 into 16:9 mode, the LCD screen shows the image being recorded as a "squished" image. This is also what the term "anamorphic" is referring to. The same basic concept is used in film to create the super anamorphic movies we see a lot of today.

While this technique is not as good as shooting a true 16:9 image using an HD camera, it is much better than taking an image shot in 4:3 and cropping it down to a 16:9 shape.

I use 16:9 with my GL2 all the time with very good results. I've even shot an entire feature-length movie that way. It's not HD clarity, but it's quite good. Most people would not notice the difference in quality between SD 4:3 and SD anamorphic 16:9 recorded on a GL2, but they will enjoy the widescreen affect if displayed on a widescreen TV.

Finally, there are anamorphic lens adapters available (over $500) that will optically squeeze the picture into the 4:3 space and, I'm told, will do an even better job than the digital squeeze the GL2 does.

Hope this is helpful information. It took me a long time to learn it myself.

Thanks!
Fritz

No, this is not a true test. Anyway, considering that Elura 100 records true 16:9, I would assume that GL-2 does too.Many Canons do true widescreen, including my very own Elura 100.The LCD screen is just an output device. If it displays video shaped into a circle or a star or an octopus, this does not affect information already written on tape. In short: squished (or not) image on an LCD screen or in viewfinder explains absolutely nothing.

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Michael, Canon Elura User Pages

Hi Michael,

Of course it is just an output device - specifically it is a 4:3 aspect ratio device that, by the camera's default, displays a 4:3 image even if it is really an anamorphic 16:9 image.

I merely mentioned the point about the LCD screen because it illustrates what an anamorphic 16:9 image really is by providing a visual of the "squished" image.

I didn't say that the squished image on screen proves (or explains) that the camera shoots anamorphic 16:9. Rather the opposite, I said that the fact the camera DOES shoot anamorphic 16:9 explains why the GL2 screen displays the image squished on its 4:3 screen when in 16:9 mode.

EDIT: After re-reading my post, I see your point in that I referred to the "image being recorded", which is not entirely the right way to say it. What the screen displays does not necessarily square exactly with what is being "recorded".

Best regards,
Fritz

Just to add to the confusion...

On my Optura 40, the LCD displays the 16:9 mode in letterbox.

The VIEWFINDER, OTOH, displays the anamorphic squished view -- no letterbox/no "pan&scan".

Cameras that "crop" the sensor probably (emphasis: probably) display letterbox on everything, as they also record to tape in letterbox mode.

That would be an obvious choice for 4:3 LCD/viewfinder.

My Elura 100 has 16:9 LCD and 4:3 viewfinder. 16:9 footage is displayed edge to edge on the LCD and letterboxed in the viewfinder. 4:3 footage is letterboxed on the LCD and fullscreen in the viewfinder. In short, it works as I expected.

This article on DVInfo compares Optura 40 and Elura 70 and concludes that in 16:9 mode the Elura 70 does not have margin for image stabilization.



I don't know whether EIS works on Elura 70 in 16:9 mode, it works on my Elura 100. Nevertheless, the Elura 100 has about the same imager size in pixels as the Elura 70, so I suppose that EIS steals some pixels in 16:9 mode. I try to shoot everything from a tripod now, turning EIS off. This should not be a problem for cameras with larger imager, like Opturas.

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Michael, Canon Elura User Pages

Just to thank you for your comments and let you know that I solved the delimma with my GL2.

I am now using this lens and it works wonders.

http://www.schneideroptics.com/ecom...ID=1071&IID=855

Oh yea, I bought it on a closeout and saved $$$$$ .