Originally Posted by Mark W  I would suggest having a go on the XH if you havent already - I have always found the balance of the xl very awkward and I found the hi def version much worse in this respect, that lens is very heavy and holding the cam for any length of time on the shoulder was VERY tiring and uncomfortable, it felt like I was arm wrestling.
Maybe just a personal thing. |
Some time ago I had the opportunity to work half a day with the jvc
GY-HD100 which is more or less build acc to the same principle and I found it tiring as well. Another problem was that it was difficult to get it balanced well, I could get much more steady shots with my vx2100 or with a real sholdercamera.
Also something to consider is the fact that the xl2 doensn't have a flipout lcd, the viewer is too small to watch from a distance and for tripod shots you have to get your eye onto the viewfinder all the time to see what you are doing.
Below link also gives more info on the pros/cons of the xl2
http://www.dvxuser.com/articles/shoot3/