I've been using the Panasonic GS120 and 200 and I love 'em but I'm ready to move on. I have £1000 to spend and I was looking at brand new XM1 which would cost me £950. I know the Xm2's are newer but they are about £500 more expensive. What would you recommend? is the difference in price worth the difference in Camcorder? How old is are the XM1s?

Thankyou.
John.

The XM1 dates from 1999.

This review may help you make up your mind, as it explains someof the differences between the XM1 and XM2.

http://www.simplydv.co.uk/Reviews/canon_xm2.html

Incidentally I bought an XM2 recently for £1,200 so the price difference isn't quite as big as you think.

Good luck

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IBM A51p with 160Gb Boot Disk, 160Gb external Firewire Disk, 2Gb Memory and a super duper sound card, 17\" TFT Monitor etc etc etc
Sony TRV33e : Sony TRV310e : Canon XM2
ULead products mostly including Mediastudio Pro (V8.0), Video Studio 8, Movie Factory 2.0, Premiere Elements

Remember, there is always more to learn than there is to teach.

I bought the XM2! Lovely peice of kit. Not had chance to use it yet.

Haha how do you know then?

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First B/W semi pro music video in the bag! More to come.
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ahh Of course !!

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First B/W semi pro music video in the bag! More to come.
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Point taken

I have tried it now and I think it rocks. All the controls are pretty easy to use and find and I'm pretty much getting used to it already.

Not quite sure what the gain is supposed to do really. Just seems like another way of brightening/Darkening the picture.

Imagine your in a nice sunny place say the beach (not a good plae for a camera I know). Would you simply press the EXPosure button to darken the picture or would you adjust the Iris (AV mode)?
I realise this alters your depth of field but doesn't the EXP button do the same thing?

Sorry for being so novicy about this.

Yes it is a nice camera, and I agree with your comments on the ease of use of the controls.

As you have spotted you can expose the shot in several different ways. What way is best? Well that wil ldepend upon what you are shooting and what outcome you want to achieve. I would suggest that you continue meantime to experiment. Shoot the same scene using different settings and take time to examine the differences. That way you will get to know what your camera is capable of, and more importantly, it will give you a big clue as to what shot you need to use when you start filming in anger.


Good luck

__________________
IBM A51p with 160Gb Boot Disk, 160Gb external Firewire Disk, 2Gb Memory and a super duper sound card, 17\" TFT Monitor etc etc etc
Sony TRV33e : Sony TRV310e : Canon XM2
ULead products mostly including Mediastudio Pro (V8.0), Video Studio 8, Movie Factory 2.0, Premiere Elements

Remember, there is always more to learn than there is to teach.