well, im looking to make my first big step up to the higher end miniDV cameras and i've partially narrowed it down to one of these two. so! my question is, is the canon gl2 worth the extra money over the older canon gl1? and would there be a better camecorder than one of these that runs around the same price (just making sure = ])?

thanks, i hope to learn alot from you guys in the future = ].

The GL2 is pretty much been made for the price you pay, anything that compares to it either is cheaper, and has less functions, or more expensive, and a little more features..

I personally use the GL2 myself, I actually just recently got one. The GL1 on the other hand is obviously the GL2's father.
The GL2 has been made better in some things.

It all really comes down to the money you are willing to spend along with what functions/features you want out of your camcorder..
If what you want it a GL2, DO NOT settle for less, it's better to save and wait a little longer than settle with something less and be unhappy.

Just do some research on each, and you will find the one for you, I personally find that the GL2 has a perfect price that really noone can touch.

The Sony VX2100 is a nice camera but quite a bit more than the GL2 (maybe an additional $4-500 USD). It has slightly larger CCDs AFAIK and it's somewhat heavier and has more metal in the construction. In my opinion the GL2 has a better lens and more natural color reproduction.

An interesting competitor for the GL2 is the Sony PDX-10 - smaller form factor (based on a TRV950) but it has 2 XLR inputs and comes with a decent shotgun mic. It also has native 16:9 and some interesting features involving the touch screen (controllable area auto-focusing with simulated focus pulls, for example). Similar price, but somewhat smaller CCDs and possible smearing around bright light sources.

It's been said that the GL2 has bout %90 of the XL1's picture quality, and the XL1 speaks for itself in that area. I love my GL2, it's quite a workhorse.

hey guys, thanks for all the help (except the last post kinda confused me hahah, you might have accidentily skipped over it, but i was wondering about gl1, not xl1 = ]). i think i'll save the extra couple bucks and go for the gl2. i'd rather get something that is really what i want than to be limited because i was in a hurry.

...I was talking about how the GL2 image compares to the XL1, and since we all know that the XL1 is a high-end camera the GL2 fares nicely compared to it.

oh, i see what you where getting at now hahah.