I have a Panasonic NV-GS 120 which I am thinking of replacinbg with a Canon XM2. Is this a good move and will I notice any major benefits from such an upgrade. I am largely into wildlife videography but also use the camera for general filming (kids, tall ships race, days out etc). I use Adobe Premiere elements to edit.

Any advice would be really welcome. :

I have an XM2 and love it to bits. I can assure you you won't be disappointed. I also have wildlife (some great shots with the 20X optical zoom), kids and family, and weddings.

The editing suite is largely immaterial but I have edited using Liquid Edition and Adobe Premiere Pro. Niether have presented any problems with capturing or device control.

I would recommend the Sennheiser MKE300D Microphone as an accessory.

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Lloyd

That's my opinion. If you don't like it I have others

System: Apple Macbook Pro 17, and an external Freecom 500GB eSATA drive.
Software: Final Cut Studio 2 (FCP 6, Motion 3, Soundtrack Pro 2, Color, DVD Studio Pro 4, Compressor 3), Sonicfire Pro 4.5
Favourite Resources: Findsounds.com, Free DVD menus, Ken Stone's FCP Page, Wikivid

Biggest differences are the chip size and the lens size. These compare to 1/4 inch ccds on the Canon and 1/6th inch on the Panasonic. So you would expect a better quality image on the Canon.

As far as the lenses go the Canon has a 58mm compared to the 37mm of the Panasonic. That should give the Canon the edge in poorer light conditions.

I am not so sure about the Panasonic's manual settings (Reviews suggest Programmed settings only?) but the Canon has full manual control, this may well be important to you in your wildlife shoots. (incidentally I have some wildlife myself - 2 girls and a boy!).

Like Lloyd, I have an XM2 and I have to say I am delighted with it. So if you have a spare £1,200 to £1,400 then why not. Having said that, if you are only an occasional videographer, its a lot of dosh for a second cam and the Panasonic does get good reviews.

Incidentally I am also with Lloyd on the external mic. There is a little bit of motor noise from the XM2. Unlike Lloyd though, I can't afford the Sennheiser so I bought a Rode (and I am very pleased with it too).

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.