Hi Folks, This is my first posting here so please be gentle with me....

Right I heard a few things good said about the Canonb XL1s and a few things bad... What is the opinion of the jury on this piece of kit? On the surface it looks pretty amazing but does it hold up against the SONY and PANASONIC models in the same class? I know its since been replaced with the CANON XL2 but the older models are still available and relatively cheap now.

Phil

Well, if you're thinking you can get an XL1s you should probably wait and save up for a more recent camera, like DVX100a, which is has much better resolution and of course can shoot in 24 fps. That's just my opinion, it would definitely be worth it if you saved up a few more $$

When looking at cameras allways look at what you want to do with it first, then pick the one that will do that best.

the sony, panasonic and canon lines all differ from one another feature-wise greatly.

for doing weddings and corporate kind of stuff, i would definitely go for the xl1s, but for drama and short work i would go for the panasonic AG DXV100. and for docos i would use a sony pd150 or pd170, purely because these areas are where i believe those cameras shine best.