Hello everyone,

I want to rent a camcorder, i wanted the DVX100 because of his filmlook (never worked with it, but seen many examples) The problem is the rental company does not have the DVX100 anymore.
Only the HVX200 wich is too expensive to rent.

They do have the Canon XL2 (for the same amount of money as the used to have the DVX100) I think this is still a good choise, altough i do think the DVX100 is superieur in terms of the "filmlook"

I dont know if the XL2 is good for me, because of its narrow lens, everyone says that the DVX100 has a wide image lens and the XL2 has a very narrow view. Iam shooting in my own house, pretty small, and i dont want close-ups all the time...

Can anyone tell me if the XL2 has indeed such a narrow lens? And if this is a good choise to rent? (its just as expensive as the DVX100)

Thanks allot!
Jerryv

If you have to rent, and they're out of the DVX100, it doesn't sound like you have much of a choice.

I don't know the exact specifications of the lenses, but it's hard to determine a lot of the time since the sensor sizes vary and they don't always give 35mm equivalents. The XL2 should be similar to the DVX100 at the wide end. You can always throw a wideangle adapter on the front if you need more coverage.

Why don't you try the camera out at the rental house to make sure it can go as wide as you need?

Maybe you can make make something of this:
(this is from the Canon XL2)

equiv. 35mm focal length

(16x9 mode)
42.3 - 846mm

(4:3 mode)
51.8 - 1036mm


I read on my own camcorder lens:

1,8/4,5-45

And on the internet i found this:
35mm Focal Distance Minimum: 52.00

wich one is wider?
And if one is wider.. does it make a lot of difference?

So, can you tell me something?

Thanks

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jerry,

That's odd - is there another lens for the XL2 that the rental house has? Are those numbers for the standard zoom? 40-50mm range for 35mm is like a portrait or medium-normal. It's not very wide. Still, it doesn't sound like you have many options - unless you can rent a DVX100 somewhere else. If your camera has a 52mm equivalent lens it's not as wide as the XL2. I recommend trying it out. It may be wide enough for your purposes, and the rental house should have an adapter if you need to go wider.

Thank you Evan, well, anything wider than my own camcorder is a improvement for me

But you too says that the XL2 is not very wide (according to this numbers) and in reviews i read the same reaction... So thats a major drawback.

I could not find another rental house that carries the DVX100... So it looks like iam out of options.

Thanks for your help and explanation.

Jerry

I found online that the 35mm equivalent focal length for the DVX is Equivalent 32.5 - 325 mm if that is any help to you. So it's wider than the XL2.

I have decide that iam going to buy the DVX100b instead of renting. I know HD(V) is coming very fast, but i read everywere that the DVX100 gives the most filmlike picture (even compared to Sony's HDV camcorders) And i cannot afford a DVX200 (HD version of the DVX100)

Baldman Pictures, thanks for the information, do you find 325 mm very wide? Or..?

Jerry