Canon GL2 MiniDV Digital Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom

I purchased this camera looking to take more manual control over my video projects. And that is exactly what it has allowed me to do. It has the right balance of manual controls (as well as automatic modes) and price. It has given me the flexibility I was looking for. The weight balance is good, the controls are easily accessible and battery life is very good.

This camera is Great! I use it to film events for a broadcasting class at school and its wonderful. The only problem is the microphone picks up noises behind the camera, as well as infront, usually you only want sound from the front, but thats just a minor problem. The image quality is superb! Just be sure that you buy a better battery, because the one that comes with doesn't last too long. Other then those two small problems this camera is great. However if you just want to film small events, birthday parties etc don't get this, this is a semi-proffesional camera.

The GL2 certainly is compact which is great for handling but means that all the inputs and outputs are squashe together and you need small nimble fingers. I specifically bought this camera to use with tapeless capture (Firestore FSD) and that has proved problematic as it records all on the screen. But it was not an unsurmountable problem, just not user friendly. The menus are clunky to use and I would like better audio inputs as standard.

Great PRO 3CCD camera. We bought this camera because of it's lens quality and zoom capabilities.

For the money, this is a great buy. I haven't had any function problems with mine yet, but that could be because I have used the same type of MiniDV tape since I got the camera. Canon says that the cause of the "remove the cassette" error is due to different kinds of build-up from different brands of tapes, so by using the same type, you probably won't encounter this problem. Now, Canon did not originally worn customers of this flaw when the camera was released, so I think they should recall it and fix them all for free, but I guess that's unrealistic.

Back to the camcorder, though. For low-budget filmmaking that looks great, this is a very good choice. Just be sure to take good care of it.