Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Let me just say straight up that this would be a five star camera if the price was $1,000 less. I do not claim to be an expert on high quality digital camcorders. I've just dome some reasearch and thought some whould be interested in my opinion. This is the best picture quality semi-pro (between $6000 and $1500) camcorder availiable. Many think that this also will be the last of the semi-pro cameras to come out before the whole format switches to High Definition. The reason why the XL2 has been getting bad reviews on some websites is not because of the camera's quality but because just about all of the press and many professional videographers were expecting the XL2 to have high definition instead of progressive scan. The progressive scan quality of the XL22 is more than many will ever need, including myself. Unless one can afford a top quality TV that plays high definition you'll never see the difference between XL2's picture and a HD picture. Not to mention that all of the a computer editing programs whith a reasonable price do not support high definition yet. Currently the only camera that can compete with the XL2 is the PanasonicDVX100A it has slightly poorer picture quality (almost unnoticable) and it shares the nearly magical 24f and 30f progressive scan modes. It make what you shoot look like a movie. When you watch these modes for the firt time you won't be able to decribe the difference it makes but you will see it and fall in love. The reason why I chose the CanonXL2 over the DVX100a is because no camera currently on the market comes close to having the XL2's number of manual features and selection of lenses. This camera is for people wanting to experiment with the visual style of filmmaking, trying to acheive art on the screen. For those who are looking for a high quality camera that is less hands on and more automatic (something you can pull out and instantly get great picture) and are not intrested in digital film as an artform but one of those who just wants to get the best picture for family events and weddings the PanasonicDVX100A would be a better choice as it is an easier camcorder to learn and has picture quality that nearly matches the XL2, not to mention it is $1500 cheaper depending on where you look. I'll stick with my CanonXL2, though, as I hope to join the film buisness one day and I need the freedom of manual features this camera offers. I welcome an oposing opinion.