Canon L2 - The Super weird and Super Expensive Camcorder I wanted 20 Years Ago

Back when I first started shooting videos in the early 2000's I wanted to get one camera. The Canon L2 Professional Camcorder is perhaps the most high-end camera that was ever released to the Consumer and Prosumer market. After 20 years of trying to get one I finally did!
Let's go through the very fancy Pelican case and see what kind of a camera and accessories I bought for $350CAD, then lets talk a little on two markets that ended up really making this camera a must-have for top-end Hi-8 users.
(Update: YES I am ware I bungled the zoom factor when mentioning the VL-EOS adapter. It is NOT 2x magnification. It is *5x*. Five-times magnification. I wasn't running on a script here, so the numbers got mixed up in my head...)
A review from The Chicago Tribune in 1994 can be found here - www.chicagotri...
Another fantastic review from a wildlife photographer in 2007 can be found here - pawildlifephoto...
Unexpectedly, Dave's Retro Video Lab did a video on the L1 a week earlier. We both ended up pretty much covering the same topics but if you wish to hear more details about the functions of this camera, I recommend you watch his video - • CANON L1 CAMCORDER - R...
(Seriously! I was editing this video and only when I was halfway through did I discover he had thrown a video up earlier that morning!)
Cathode Ray Dude also did a good video covering the technical aspects (and a better job explaining for optical differences and zoom caveat) a few years. You should check it out - • The Messy, Bizarre Can...
The issue of Popular Electronics seen in the video is form October 1991. IT has a good 3-page review of the L1 that covers most of the L2 as well. World Radio History has provided it in digitized from from their website - www.worldradio...
Remember to follow me on "X" at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.

[@JanusCycle]

Very cool L2 kit you found there. This video is a great historical perspective on this camera and the prosumer environment at the time. I think you easily beat out CRD with this one.

[@richfiles]

Not knowing cameras well, I just assumed this thing was an early 2000s device... I'm blown away that this is a 1991-93 era camera! It really looks so much ahead of it's time

[@AttilaTheHun333333]

It was available end of 94.

[@JessHull]

I remmeber drooling over these when I would go to the Los Angeles automotive manufactures car show and I would see lots of people with them. Then in the movie "the Jackal" Bruce Willis' character mounts one on a huge gun.

[@CelGenStudios]

I remember seeing it in Godzilla!

[@sergeydaggett6183]

Bill Paxton's character held this camera in the opening scenes of James Cameron's “Titanic”.

[@GeeWillikersMan]

When I was a teenager, my dad borrowed one from work, 1992 or 93. That thing was amazing for the time. I have a photo of myself with it somewhere.

[@dragonheadthing]

I love the look of the tape deck. It's a nice size and looks a little futuristic.

[@CelGenStudios]

And it has just the perfect amount of buttons available.

[@msylvain59]

I took one of those apart a long time ago already, yeah it's packed full of electronics, very tedious to disassemble, and probably a nightmare to re-assemble, I wonder how they do it at the factories. There is one thing I know, they have screw dispending devices, that will automatically load the tiny screws on a calibrated screwdriver, it can be seen in action this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5-1qYKQmtObZtE

[@ryanfoley8035]

I don't know how much a betacam sp camera would cost however my DVW-790ws digibeta camera cost $60k in 2003.

[@CelGenStudios]

Yeah I'm likely off by about ten grand. Sometimes it's hard to believe just how expensive seriously professional camera gear is.

[@orincat10]

our family had two canon camcorders from the early 90s that failed- one about 5 years after we got it and one a couple months ago to transfer some tapes. very similar failure mode too, first it wouldn't power up, and after warming up it just showed some flickering lines on the screen.

[@minty_Joe]

Nowadays, it's easier just to buy an HD or better camcorder that records to an SD card. You can then eject the card and insert it into a card reader attached to your computer. That's what we do here at work.

[@CelGenStudios]

All my "shakycam" videos are done on a Canon Vixia HF-R300 simply because I can just pop the SD card out. Even compared to the days I shot in MiniDV, it's SO much nicer.

[@minty_Joe]

@@CelGenStudios I agree. It's SO much easier.

[@themaritimegirl]

I hate to bear bad news, but you're not gonna find someone willing to re-cap this for a couple hundred dollars. Be ready to be quoted $500 minimum. I wouldn't even be surprised at $1000.

[@domarealhumanbeing]

I have one made in late 95 and it works in almost perfect condition and I’d like to keep it that way for as long as I can. Would you be willing to answer a few of my questions about this camera?

[@CelGenStudios]

Depends on the questions but go for it!

[@domarealhumanbeing]

@@CelGenStudios 1. How long can the capacitors last if I use the camera regularly? Will they still eventually rot even with power flowing to them? 2. Do the lenses eventually go bad too because I’m having a problem with my 15x lens communicating with my camera on occasion. The other lenses I own work without flaw except my 10x lens drains the battery pretty quickly. Presumably because of the stabilizer being more advanced than the rest. 3. Is there someone in the states that actually repairs these things because I can’t find anyone out there who even knows what this thing is? 4. Are there any battery companies you’d recommend that provide at least decent batteries that don’t drain in less than 15 minutes? 5. What does the line out button do? Genuinely don’t know what it means.

[@CelGenStudios]

@@domarealhumanbeing 1- Camera use does not affect how much more life you will get out of them. Technically by now they should of already failed, so perhaps it's been serviced in the last 20 years? 2- It's possible. I think only once I have seen a lens that had enough electronics in it to need a capacitor internally. No, dismantling a lens is not fun. 3- I have found nobody doing it on scale. I know two or three people who do it on the side for their own cameras but they don't want to make it a full-time job because of how fragile the cameras are. 4- Unfortunately I don't know any vendors to pick from for camcorder batteries this old. 5- I want to say it's a control for the audio output but I've never actually checked myself.

[@domarealhumanbeing]

@@CelGenStudios Ahh. Oh well. Looks like I’m just gonna have to use it till my luck dries up and hopefully get a few years outta it🤷‍♂️. Honestly it’s a pretty awesome bit of technology from what I’m used to (primarily shot on a quasar vhs-c for 4 years). I know you advised against trying to find one in working order but I simply couldn’t help myself. I fell in love the second I saw the lenses come off. And so far it hasn’t disappointed me. Fingers crossed. Also gotta say, thanks for making one of the only in depth videos about the l2 out there. This old beast deserves more recognition and respect for what it did for canon and camcorder history.

[@CelGenStudios]

@@domarealhumanbeing Thank you. I do try to add depth to my videos beyond cribbing Wikipedia so while I'm sorry I can't give a proper demo I do hope I was able to discuss the rest of its hardware and features clearly enough.