Excellent Prosumer miniDV for under $2500

Author's Rating:

Pros: production quality video for under $2500

Cons: lacks manual audio gain control

Author's Review
Camcorders have improved dramatically over the past few years and I found myself lusting after miniDV like the Sony VX-1000 and the Canon GL-1. Unfortunately both were a bit pricey for me and lower end miniDVs rarely the feature and picture quality I needed.

The GL-1 has three 1/4" 270,000 pixel CCDs. While this is less than the Sony VX-1000 or TRV-900, the results are still excellent for two reasons - (1) Canon uses a mechanical image stabilization technique rather than an electronic method and (2) Canon uses the fact that the green signal dominates red and blue in information content and samples green more frequently through something they call "pixel shift" (see their site for an explanation).

The camera looks something like the VX-1000 (I really like the styling on the Canon XL-1, but found rental units to be cumbersome in comparison) and is reasonably small and light (under 3 pounds). Controls are outstanding and placement is great (something I can't say of many camcorders). Manual focus (very important if you are serious about images) is smooth and the zoom is the smoothest I have encountered.

Mechanically the camera has a very high build quality. While this should be secondary to image quality, user interface, etc. it is nice to have something that is nicely designed and well-built.

The lens isn't interchangeable like the higher end Canon, but what a sweet lens it is. I have tested the camera with a resolution target and find the images are crisp at most zooms with the exception of a bit of a problem at very high magnifications with the aperture fully opened (low light extreme zooms). It performs better than any other prosumer grade camcorder zoom I have encountered including the stock lens on the XL-1. Canon does great glass!

Image stabilization is Canon's familiar mechanical technique. I have used this on other Canon's as well as their binoculars and find it to be preferable to the electronic techniques. There is a viscous "feel" to the image when stabilization is engaged. It isn't a substitute for a high quality tripod, dolly or steadicam mount, but it is clearly a great aid for marginal handheld shots.

There are two color viewscreens - a small 2.5" foldout and a conventional viewfinder. Both are serviceable, but not as nice as on the 3 CCD Sonys.

The image quality is excellent for this price range. I would judge the color rendition for flesh tones to be the best I have seen in an under $5,000 camera. There is a sharpness control (yay!) so you can get a variety of effects on the raw capture.

Low light level work is reasonable. The camera does not have an IR sensitivity feature like some of the Sonys, but this isn't a big thing for me.

Audio input is the GL-1's weakest area. It is fine for family style camcorder work, but if you are doing serious video (and I suspect that anyone who drops $2500 for a camcorder is), you need something better. The issue is that there isn't a manual gain control. Canon has something they call "smart AGC" (automatic gain control). It works, but you don't have the freedom associated with separate controls. In theory you can get around this with something like a Beachtek manual gain box, but I haven't had the time to investigate.

The firewire connection works well and I edit the DV using Final Cut Pro on my Macintosh. I have heard that the camera also works with iMovie on iMac DVs.

All camcorders are compromises and the GL-1 isn't an exception to the rule. This is just the ticket if you are looking for very high image quality in a low priced prosumer camera. You can do production quality video with the GL-1 (I have) - I don't know of any other statement that recommends it more highly.