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Canon Xl2
built 641 days ago
The Canon XL2 is ... highly systemized, featuring interchangeable lenses and viewfinders. This functionality might be attractive to those shooters who work under widely varying conditions, from documentaries to more dramatic fare.
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While the XL1 offered a pleasing but rather soft image, the Canon XL2 has as high-resolution a picture as the DV specs can support. And while the XL1 produced a specific warm and edge-enhanced look, the XL2's deep menus and 12-bit DSP let you dial in almost any look you can dream up -- from traditional hypercrisp interlaced video to a softer and more cinematic 24P that could easily be mistaken for film-originated material. Canon ... gave the stock 20X zoom lens a fluorite coating that seems to have increased its sharpness and resistance to flaring.
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With the XL2, Canon has added a BNC connector to the RCA connections and the S-video connection found on the XL1 and XL1S. The bayonet mount BNC connector is used in professional and broadcast video applications.
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The XL2's main selling point is in the package of features now offered by Canon as a means of staving off the competition. Its three CCDs each produce a resolution of 800,000 pixels (effective 410,000 in PAL 4:3 mode and 550,000 in PAL 16:9 mode) and facilitate what Canon describes as "true" 16:9 widescreen recording thanks to the allocation of more pixels at the left and right extremes of each CCD in the generation of the 16:9 images which aren't used in its 4:3 mode (more of that later). In keeping with market expectations, the XL2 now delivers 50i (60i in NTSC) and 25p (24p/30p in NTSC) frame rates, a 20x "L-series" optical zoom with full Optical Image Stabilisation and the now-standard XL interchangeable lens system, with the Flourite component lens incorporating two independent Neutral Density (ND) filters. The XL2 not only offers full manual control over all settings, but it ... provides a full range of professional audio and video connectivity in the form of 4 audio channels with 2 built-in XLR connectors, 48v Phantom Power and a very handy BNC composite video output. For set-up purposes, it also offers Colour Bars and Audio Tone line-up signals.
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The Canon XL2 includes three oversized chips. 350K effective pixels at a 4:3 aspect ratio and an excellent 460K effective pixels in 16:9 mode offer a superb resolution of 962 x 480 in 16:9 mode and 720 x 480 in 4:3 mode. Canon’s new method for producing a decent 16:9 image from 4:3 sized chips is quite something. While it must be understood that the XL2 doesn’t have 16:9 chips, its oversized chips do produce a good 16:9 image. The XL2 takes oversized three 4:3 chips, with 680K gross pixels per chip, and cuts off the side pixels yielding 350K effective at a resolution of 720 x 480, which is average. The magic takes place when the XL2 frees these pixels yielding a 16:9 image of 460K pixels and a resolution of 962 x 480.
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The new interchangeable lens, with its 20x optical zoom, is included in that $5K price, with Canon saying a lensless XL2 will be available "later this year" for $3999. This newest optically-stabilized lens from Canon gives shooters a f/1.6 to f/3.5 Apple Aperture - MA715Z/A
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Canon Xl2