Hey Guys,

I'm new to this board and I'm in the market to buy a new 3ccd camcorder. I have been researching for while and have come down to deciding on 2 units, the DV953 and the GL2. I'm leaning towards the DV953 but have read many reviews about the major issues with poor low light/indoor video. If any owners can provide real world experience, I would really appreciate.

Bottom line, if you had to choose one unit, would it be the DV953 or the GL2?

Thanks!

slufoot,

I am the owner of a dv953 and like it very much. I am new at video so this camcorder gives me a challenging learning curve as well as satisfys the quality level I want at the present time. Also it did not "break the bank" . I have never even had a GL2 in my hands so I really can not speak to it other then to say most of the reviews and post I read are positive. I do know that the GL2 has larger ccd's, I believe 1/4" vrs. 1/6", so it does do better in low light situations. I read several post on the low light issues with the dv953 and found that decent low light video could be had with some manual adjustment.

Both camcorders have good lenes and lots of manual adjustments. One thing to keep in mind is that the GL2 is about twice as much in cost as is the dv953 so you should expect quite a bit more out of the GL2. Try both camcorders if possable keeping in mind what you want to do with them and compare features with cost.

If I had to choose one or the other I would apply the above criteria and my choice would still be the dv953. But thats me not you...........................Happy holidays

__________________
Dave

You cannot motivate the best people with money. Money is just a way to keep score The best people in any field are motivated by passion
--Eric S. Raymond

As always, it depends on what you want to do with the camera.
Any experience with other cams? Want to shoot sports?Wildlife? Indoor birthday parties or weddings? Need to travel light on vacation? Need a camera now, with accessories, and can't exceed $2k? Is the best sound possible absolutely critical?
In other words, in what conditions do you see yourself shooting the most?

__________________
Breakthrough In Grey Room


DSR PD170
DSR PDX10
PowerMac G5
Final Cut Express

Those are the two cams that I narrowed my search to include. The conclusion that I came to was that the GL2 was a better camera for most things. I bought a 953 because it is half the cost and has what seems to be excellent performance.

__________________
Still Learnin

Those are the two cams that I narrowed my search to include. The conclusion that I came to was that the GL2 was a better camera for most things. I bought a 953 because it is half the cost of the GL2 and has many reviews which point out excellent performance. And with the invention of electricity and batteries light is an easy thing to obtain if the room is a bit too dark.

__________________
Still Learnin

Still Learnin-

What is your overall review of the DV953? I will be shooting a combination of indoors and outdoors. Thanks.

slufoot,

Well this review is pretty much what I would write and the link will save time. I would add that with a little tweaking the low light weakness of the dv953 becomes less weak.
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/conten...rder-review.htm

It seems though that most of the camcorders around 1K$ have weak low light ratings. The Sony TRV22 has better low light performance but the trade off is color fidelity and manual control.

"Your job, should you decide to accept it " is to list what you want to do with your camcorder in some detail and compare with the features that a specific camcorder offers. I feel that the reviews on this site are pretty well done and can assist anyone in making a decision as long as the person knows what they want out of a camcorder.

All of us want the greatest color fidelity, fast lenes, the best low light results, drop dead sound recording, ease of use, etc. etc.
Unfortunately the above only comes with camcorders that are much more expensive then most of the camcorder world is willing to spend. Even then you won't get everything perfect. I can say that for the money I spent the DV953 has not disapointed me. I wish you the best of luck................ and Happy Holidays

__________________
Dave

You cannot motivate the best people with money. Money is just a way to keep score The best people in any field are motivated by passion
--Eric S. Raymond

slufoot,

I just got the cam and the first thing I did today was to try it in low light. I got good video in the half of a large room where there were no lights turned on. I got pretty good video in a large room with only one nightlight on at one end. Dark objects did not show up totally but certainly the highlights did and for my purposes the camera will be SUPERB. Any darker and I would stumble over things.

__________________
Still Learnin

sarx & Still Learnin-

Thanks for the info. My main recordings will include:

car shows (indoor/outdoor)
real estate (indoor/outdoor)

I will be exporting to dvd and also streaming video online for the output. I have a budget of $2K for my camcorder. I have already had the chance to shoot indoors with the GL2 and the results were amazing. Since I have not had experience with the DV953, I was wondering if the video quality was good enough on the DV953 to save the extra $1k. The advantages of the DV953 in my opinion are:

1. smaller and easier to pack/carry
2. bigger lcd for viewing
3. 3 megapixel still pictures

The advantages of the GL2 in my opinion are:

1. 20X optical zoom (2X greater than DV953)
2. better low light
3. image stabilization may be a little better than the DV953

slufoot,

Well I would go with the dv953 based on what you say you will be shooting. Let me briefly state why: 1. If you get the Pana you will have money left over from your buget to buy some peripheral equipment. You will need a wide angle converter if you are going to do real estate, a light ( I have been in real estate related business and believe me you will find many very dark areas of homes you will be filming), a tripod will come in handy, a durable case to carry your "stuff" in, etc. etc. Obviously if you get the Canon there is not going to be much left over ,if anything ,for other equipment you will need. 2. As far as car shows are concerned,at least when I used to go, the indoor lighting was superb in order to show off those multi K$ finishes. So you should get good footage with the 953. Also the 10X zoom on the 953 should be more then adequate for the types of shooting you say you will be doing.

As stated befor the GL2 edges out the dv953 in many areas but I am wondering if, for your type of shooting, if it is really worth the extra K$. And as stated befor you will need those extras to do the jobs you will be doing.

BTW the above are just my opinions and others may add to or have completely different ideas. Good luck and Happy Holidays.

__________________
Dave

You cannot motivate the best people with money. Money is just a way to keep score The best people in any field are motivated by passion
--Eric S. Raymond

It sounds like you're doing commercials or promotional work?
Will you never make money again, or soon enough?
Have you got a deadline shoot, and need to buy all gear as soon as possible?

The bigger chips and that great lens, greater latitude in effect, will probably be the most useful "features" to invest in, first and foremost. If I were hired to tv spots and could choose only between these two models, I would choose the GL2.
Are you doing sound primarily on camera? If not, I would venture to suggest the vx2000 in addition to your other choices. Price drops as a result of it's imminent replacement put it in league.

__________________
Breakthrough In Grey Room


DSR PD170
DSR PDX10
PowerMac G5
Final Cut Express

if price was no object , the GL2 . They are not the same breed of camcorder to begin with.

The real question now is this:

Are you going to bill people for your work?

in other words...

Will this camera pay for itself?

If the answer to either of these is yes, then you owe it to yourself and your clients to buy a professional camera. I own a 953 and I have shot with the GL2, PD-150, and DVX100 as well as serious pro cameras. I love my 953, but if it was my business camera I would invest in nothing less than a GL2. If you care about getting professional audio and you will eventually be using external mikes, then you really need to step up to the PD-150/DVX100 range. These cameras blow away the 953, and if I were billing for their use it would be a no-brainer.

Other than that, the 953 is a beautiful little camera well worth it's price. It's just not a pro camera.

In short, the 953 is proSUMER and the GL2 is PROsumer.

Slufoot,

I agree with Sarx that within your budget, you should consider the 953 with good accesories. You CAN use an external mike with it but the input is not balanced and you can't listen to what you are recording. As I read over your needs (streaming web video/DVD) I would say that the 953 is more than enough for streaming video. However, when it comes to DVD authoring you are definitely getting into something where sound will be very important.

I'm not sure how much experience you have with editing, etc. but in general your audience will think the video looks "cheap" if the audio is bad. They expect broadcast or "DVD" quality sound even if they don't conciously know it, so they are likely to be put off by the sound of an on-board mike even if the picture is excellent.

If your DVD will be mostly voice-over or music, then you probably don't need anything more, but for quality recording of voices the 953 alone just won't cut it. You'll need to research sound options that fit your budget and will complement the 953. Again, like in my previous post, it depends on your audience. If they are clients that are paying for your work (and therefore, your gear) then they deserve very good audio. (and you deserve great gear!)

By the way the lens on the GL2 is MUCH nicer than the 953. This accounts for most of the difference in price. Bigger chips and better audio features are the rest. These all make a noticable difference so if you can afford it... Other than that the 953 holds its own pretty well.

Rene

I agree with the others here if I were going to use the camera for hire. My use is personal and I was stretching just to come up with the $780 for the 953. $1450 less the $250 rebate was just more than I wanted to spend. I am very pleased with the 953 so far.

__________________
Still Learnin