Canon XL3 on the Way?
Is September the release date?
by Stephen Schleicher

I received an email from a source who tells me Singapore Canon techs are currently in Japan learning how to service the next Canon HD camera set for release in September.

Remember, Canon Marketing Director Michael Zorich told me at NAB in April they would have a very big announcement toward the end of the year and it would not coincide with any major trade show.

"The answer comes in the form of a cryptic reply that was stated loosely as,
“In the second half of the year, Canon will have five or six announcements that
should answer your question.” While I did remind the Canon reps that the second half of the year starts in July, they simply smiled. I felt like I was in a Monty Python sketch (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean, know what I mean?).

I further inquired if Canon would be making these announcements to
coincide with any major trade shows. The answer received was, “No,” with
another smile.

If we were to take this cryptic answer as truth, I would put money on
the claim that by the end of the year, you will see a Canon HDV solution. I would postulate Canon unveils a GL3 HDV camera first, followed by an end-of-the year XL3 HDV . Why? When I was at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, I mentioned to Canon that they haven’t had a GL2 upgrade in some time, and their response was, “That is correct” (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean?).

Canon certainly isn’t sitting on the HD fence waiting to see what the industry will do. For professional cameras, Canon had more HD lenses than SD lenses for the
first time at any of their shows. The only high powered SD lens they had
was a 62x SD lens for sports."

This is a product I've been trying to follow closely. Neither the Canon Singapore or Canon USA site have any information or hints. In the past, a mysterious new space would open in the digital camcorder section of the website that was a vague hint of what was to come.

Doing a simple search for Canon XL3 brought up an interesting link to the Apple site that had an OSX FAQ compatible products list that mentioned the Canon XL3. Following the link leads to a dead end. It seems that out of the US, the canon XL/GL line is labeld as the XM/GM line.

Email to Canon has gone unanswered at this time.

Is this new HD camera the fabled Canon XL3? It would be sweet if it were. Keep your ears to the ground kiddies and pass along the information. A prize to the first person that can provide an image of this new camera before it is officially announced!
posted by Stephen at 9:51 AM