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MillimeterShoot Review — Canon GL2 Camcorder
Jan 1, 2003 12:00 PM, By Tom Patrick McAuliffe
Canon’s new GL2 DV camcorder offers affordable professional features three at a time.
 The Canon GL2 Camcorder can be used by professional videographers for video, audio, and still acquisition. |
About 10 years ago the then-new DV video format and digital transmission protocol FireWire/iLink/IEEE1394 set the video community on its ear with high-quality equipment at an affordable price. Since then, all the major camcorder manufacturers have been battling to win the market by offering the most features for the least amount of money. For consumers looking for three-chip MiniDV format cameras priced around $2,500, choices were limited. Not anymore! The new Canon GL2 offers the three most important features in a professional-level DV video camera: flexibility, superior optics, and digital computability. In fact, the camera should be called the GL3 since its features come in threes: three CCDs, three recording modes, three major audio modes, three exposure modes, and three main interface options (DV tape, FireWire, and SVHS).
In 1998, Canon joined the fray with its flagship XL1, and then in 2002 came out with the more moderately priced GL1, which also was a standard DV camcorder model with flip-out screen and hand-carry bar. When I first heard that Canon had upgraded its popular GL1 camcorder, I was about as excited as I am when I'm watching my camera batteries recharge. But the new incarnation offers variable-speed zoom control, manual audio, 2 1/2in. color flip-out LCD screen, automatic SMPTE color-bar generation, high-res digital still capture, and 16:9 letterbox recording. The improvements are substantial, and, aside from the prosumer form factor, the GL2 is a professional tool for video, audio, and still acquisition.
One of the interesting things about the GL2 is Canon's Pixel Shift technology. The imaging technology splits incoming light into the standard three separate color components. Each of the three 1/4in. CCDs handles one of the three primary colors — red, green, blue. Since the green component of the spectrum carries approximately 60% of the information for picture detail in the video, the green CCD is shifted 1/2 pixel from the red and blue CCDs, and then is sampled twice as often to get the maximum detail from the video signal. I'm not much for manufacturer hype, but in comparison with two other three-chip cameras, I found that Canon's claims about Pixel Shift were substantiated, provided the scene was well lit. In areas of low light, the GL2 video images exhibited grain and little detail in the shadows.
The GL2 has three video recording modes: Normal Movie, Frame Movie, and Digital Photo. This is a little weird as Normal Movie is actually the standard NTSC 30fps video setting, the Frame setting is the way to get your video to look like film, and of course the Photo mode allows just that.
The GL2 comes with the same professional L-series Fluorite lens as the more expensive XL1 camera. The Fluorite material reduces chromatic aberration and, according to Canon, provides the best resolution, contrast, and color reproduction available in any optics system. Unlike the XL1, the lenses are not interchangeable although there are several add-on lens attachments available.
If you're an aspiring filmmaker the GL2's Frame Movie mode and 16:9 aspect ratio tools will have your video looking like film (well almost, anyway) in no time. Using a non-interlaced capture method, you record full images at 30fps, sort of like a motor drive on a 35mm still camera. The results are a little like those achieved by “film-look” software used in postproduction. The video is more saturated, grainier, and motion seems slower. Combine this recording mode with the 16:9 format, and you're talking major motion picture look (well almost, anyway). Unique 16:9 guides appear as lines only on the viewfinders so you can compose the shot for letterbox playback later while recording in standard 4:3 mode. Recording in 16:9 mode stretches the video to fill the DTV/HDTV widescreen format without visibly affecting the image too much. Very effective.
The Normal Movie mode records professional-looking standard interlaced video like every other camera in its class. There are also three exposure modes: Automatic, Programmed Auto Exposure (AE), and Manual. The same is true for White Balance. One very handy tool is called Custom Presets. You can tweak for hours and set up the camera to produce any kind of look you want at the touch of a button, which can save you lots of time fooling with black levels, color settings, etc. One provided preset mode I found especially useful for when you are shooting stage shows with bright follow spot lights. It's all very convenient.
For making training tapes about computers, software, or the Web, the Clear Scan feature, something found on more expensive cameras, eliminates the rolling white bar on RGB computer monitor shots. Need to do a timecode-window burn tape for a client? You can burn the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second onto your video, which is great for pre-edit sessions and security or legal video work. The 100x digital zoom is only okay, and like with most of the other digital special effects (sepia, mirror, solarization), I'm hard-pressed to think of a professional or personal situation in which I would use it.
The GL2 features a dynamite 1.7 Megapixel digital still camera that allows you to save high-res photos (1488 × 1128). You can save images on two different kinds of storage media: Secure Digital (SD) and MultiMediaCard (MMC) memory card. The GL2 can save still images on DV tape. Using the built-in digital effects, you can transition from stills to live video and back again. I was not able to test the well-known “smart” hot shoe, or Advanced Accessory Shoe, that powers a variety of options including still flash units, but I did like using the variable-speed zoom that is controlled with the standard wide angle to telephoto toggle switch and also with small buttons on the carry handle and remote control. Theirs is also a medium and fast (not really that fast) as well as variable (by touch) zoom control.
All the controls are right where you would expect them. The Camera/VCR switch on the top on the unit, however, would not click in place and is too easily moved from one to the other so that when you pick it up to spontaneously shoot, sometimes the camera will be in VCR mode. Not good. I also found this to be true with the Audio Auto/Manual switch. It felt like the switches weren't tight. The unit was also supposed to come with a CD-ROM with drivers for PC and Mac, picture viewing and enhancement software. Mine didn't, but it was no problem to go to the Canon website and download the very latest USB drivers.
One of the main drawbacks to most DV cameras is the lack of audio features. Fortunately on the GL2, there are three main audio-recording modes: Normal, Voice, and Wind Screen. The Normal mode can capture sound in regular surroundings, the Voice mode raises the operators voice above background sound, and Wind Screen minimizes wind noise. Audio shot from a boat on the San Francisco Bay during standard playback was unusable, but when I selected the Wind Screen mode, the wind noise was minimized without dampening the audio with excessive bass. In general, the camera's mic captured decent audio with good low and high frequencies.
Both the left and right audio channels can be manually controlled with easy-to-reach dials on the back of the unit. You can record on all or just one channel or turn them all off for silence. Best of all, you can monitor the sound levels with a VU meter on the LCD in the viewfinder or with a small color audio-level meter on the side of the camera. A 1/8in. headphone jack and a small speaker near the flip-out viewfinder allow you to hear what you're recording. For better monitoring, Canon should add basic bass and treble controls.
The camera records 12- or 16-bit audio and offers the ability to dub audio onto previously recorded tape, known as audio insert, provided the video's audio was recorded in 12-bit mode. Using the Audio Mix feature, I was able to adjust the audio level of both the original video and the dubbed audio during playback.
The onboard stereo mic does a good job of capturing audio that sounds like an off-camera mic. The optional MA-300 microphone adapter, unavailable at press time, connects to the Advanced Accessory Shoe and, with no wires, powers and records from any professional microphone with a balanced XLR connection.
With the GL2 you are really getting three tools in one device: a professional-level manual camera with film mode and 16:9; a digital audio recorder to be used in a pinch; and a 1.7 MegaPixel digital still camera. The camera offers outstanding image and color quality, great audio tools, a well-written manual, and a very competitive price point. The GL2 should be on your list of serious tools to consider.
I used the GL2 to record video in a variety of situations, from a dimly lit nightclub to bright stage lights at a play, as well as from sports in the sunny outdoors to family gatherings at the ranch. The camera produced outstanding images with few flaws in all but the most dimly lit areas. I even shot some digital photos for my website, and they turned out great. Weighing in at a little over 2lbs., lighter than the GL1, this camera was a delight to hold and operate. It's one of the lightest camcorders available. I found its only real shortcomings are a tendency toward graininess in lower light scenes and color that runs on the cooler blue side of the spectrum.
There are several online sites for users, and Canon has been better than average when it comes to listening to and acting on feedback from its customers. Unlike a few other manufactures that cripple some features to differentiate their product lines, driving you to purchase a higher-priced model, Canon includes most features found on its highest-end professional model. In fact, there are features on the GL2 that users of the much more expensive XL1 wish they had, such as zebra bars in the viewfinder that indicate hot areas (above 100 IRE), SMPTE color bars, and viewable VU audio meters. A smart design, valuable features, and handy controls make the improved GL2 ideal for serious shooters who need an all-around digital acquisition device.
BOTTOM LINE
Company: Canon U.S.A.
Lake Success, NY
1-800-OK-CANON
www.canondv.com
Product: GL-2 camcorder
Assets: Camcorder with three 1/4in. CCDs with Pixel Shift technology; optical image stabilization; three modes of shooting, including Frame Movie Mode; 16:9 format; SMPTE color bars; variable speed zoom; 1.7 MegaPixel chip for still pictures with USB terminal; Character Record option.
Demographic: The GL2 is for serious shooters who need an all-around digital acquisition device. The camcorder offers the three most important features in a professional-level DV video camera — flexibility, superior optics, digital computability — at an affordable price.
Price: $2,999
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