Canon GL-1 Camcorder Review
by Robin LissPublished on Feb 12, 2004 12:00 AM
The GL-1 is a prosumer MiniDV camcorder with an MSRP of $2,699. The camcorder has a 20x optical and 100x digital zoom.
A great key feature with Canon camcorder's is their lenses. The camcorder uses Canon's high quality optical image stabilization system that has been known to work wonderfully in the XL-1 and other camcorders. The camcorder has the exclusive L-Series Fluorite lens. Canon describes the benifits of the lens in the following statement: "Within a lens structure, fluorite precisely controls components of light, providing an excellent balance of sharpness, contrast and color." The camcorder has 3 CCD's and a visitor of the web site has told us that their pixel rating is 270k but they are rated higher than the Sony 410k due to their technology improvement with progressive scan and pixel shift techniques.
The camcorder has a 2.5 inch color LCD and a color viewfinder. The camcorder has a IEEE Digital port and a analog input port, a feature that not many digital camcorders have.
A big question surronding this camcorder is what camcorder it is trying to replace or compete with. Many people would automatically think that the GL-1 is trying to replace the popular XL-1, but, besides the same look, the GL-1 seems like a more consumer friendly version of the XL-1 with improved features that proved problematic in the XL-1. The view I support is that the GL-1 is trying to compete with Sony's 3CCD TRV-900. Though the two camcorders are very similar, it looks like the GL-1 is a little more profesional. Today Canon announced a new higher end MiniDV Digital Camcorder called the GL-1 MSRP $2,699, in a press release. The camcorder has a 20x optical and 100x digital zoom.
A great key feature with Canon camcorder's is their lenses. The camcorder uses Canon's high quality optical image stabilization system that has been known to work wonderfully in the XL-1 and other camcorders. The camcorder has the exclusive L-Series Fluorite lens. Canon describes the benifits of the lens in the following statement: "Within a lens structure, fluorite precisely controls components of light, providing an excellent balance of sharpness, contrast and color." The camcorder has 3 CCD's and a visitor of the web site has told us that their pixel rating is 270k but they are rated higher than the Sony 410k due to their technology improvement with progressive scan and pixel shift techniques.
The camcorder has a 2.5 inch color LCD and a color viewfinder. The camcorder has a IEEE Digital port and a analog input port, a feature that not many digital camcorders have.
A big question surronding this camcorder is what camcorder it is trying to replace or compete with. Many people would automatically think that the GL-1 is trying to replace the popular XL-1, but, besides the same look, the GL-1 seems like a more consumer friendly version of the XL-1 with improved features that proved problematic in the XL-1. The view I support is that the GL-1 is trying to compete with Sony's 3CCD TRV-900. Though the two camcorders are very similar, it looks like the GL-1 is a little more profesional.
After handling the camcorder here are my thoughts. I like the picture quality, its really really good. The exposure controls and white balance controls are great a long lost tool - but I would like them to be more accessable than a jog dial. The color viewfinder really detracts from the camcorder becuase it makes focusing hard to do. When compared to the VX-2000, its obvious competitior, I would have to say there is only one difference. Picture quality. Its slight but I think you get a slightly sharper image on the GL-1. Go test it for your self however if you are comparing the two. After handling the camcorder here are my thoughts. I like the picture quality, its really really good. The exposure controls and white balance controls are great a long lost tool - but I would like them to be more accessable than a jog dial. The color viewfinder really detracts from the camcorder becuase it makes focusing hard to do. When compared to the VX-2000, its obvious competitior, I would have to say there is only one difference. Picture quality. Its slight but I think you get a slightly sharper image on the GL-1. Go test it for your self however if you are comparing the two.
