ntsc or pal on xl1

David Bradley · February 23, 2007

Hello.

I have access to an XL1. Does anyone know if I can shoot NTSC and Pal and this camera?

Jack Barker · February 23, 2007

As far as I know, there is NTSC Xl1 model and a PAL XL1model, but none that shoot both.

Edited February 23, 2007 by Jack Barker

Chris Durham · February 23, 2007

As far as I know, there is NTSC Xl1 model and a PAL XL1model, but none that shoot both.

That is correct. If you look on B&H for instance you will see that they are two different items.

John Holland · February 23, 2007

If you said what part of the world you are in ,might be a easier to give any advice !

Chris Durham · February 23, 2007

Well now here's an interesting thought. If my market is both US and abroad am I better off shooting PAL, knowing that PAL is a bit better in resolution and that I can convert to NTSC later on? Of course there are other hurdles in that question, but it's an interesting point academically.

Miles Heckendorn · February 25, 2007

Well now here's an interesting thought. If my market is both US and abroad am I better off shooting PAL, knowing that PAL is a bit better in resolution and that I can convert to NTSC later on?

Back when I lived in the US, I knew of a few freelancers that would offer PAL as their main shooting platform (beta, SP & Digi). It was a better resolution (as you stated) and it was closer to 24fps. This was before 24fps cameras.

Of course they would transfer over to NTSC for final output. If you have time for the conversion it's not a bad idea.

Jack Barker · February 25, 2007

Well now here's an interesting thought. If my market is both US and abroad am I better off shooting PAL, knowing that PAL is a bit better in resolution and that I can convert to NTSC later on? Of course there are other hurdles in that question, but it's an interesting point academically.

Well, yes of course that would be a viable option. I know a full-time pro videographer (commercials, History Channel, etc), who shoots 25p PAL for the resolution, and he has no overseas clients, as far as I know.

But say the question didn't involve PAL-country clients. You want higher resolution, and/or slightly smoother motion, but still want the "film look". The answer is to shoot in 30p. Give it a try on your next setup. Light for film, etc., then shoot once in 24p and again in 30p for comparison. The results are very nice.