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Do any retail stores carry camcorders such as the Canon XL1 or Panasonic AG-DVX100?

I am a film student and I do not feel comfortable buying items this expensive online.

Public Comments

1. The Canon XL1 has been discontinued for a couple of years, so you won't find a new one in any regular stores. For standard definition only, the XL2 is currently available.

I have not seen any of the Panasonic pro camcorders in retail stores.

The ONLY place I have seen anything approaching pro-grade in a retail store is at Fry's Electronics. I was at their Concord, CA store this past weekend and they have a Canon XHA1 and a Canon XL2 on display - I don't know if they have any in stock. No Panasonic pro-grade and no Sony prosumer or pro grade... No JVC pro-grade, either.

I was EXTREMELY hesitant like you to buy online and personally, I would rather pay more to buy locally in a store (and pay taxes to support the local infrastructure), but I could not find anyone in the SF Bay Area that had any pro-grade cams on display or in stock (except Fry's, but I did not want what they had on display/in stock) - Last year, I bought a Sony HDR-FX1 from bhphotovideo. They are awesome and I like the camera a lot.

2. full line photo stores that sell canon SLRs can get you the XL2 even if they do not stock it as a regular item. the XL2 is a consumer line item.

large metro areas used to have AV supply stores that sold professional and sometimes broadcast line equipment from Sony, JVC and Panasonic. they sell to the industrial market and schools that have to buy on purchase orders which most mail order and internet sellers won't take. again, they may not have a demo in stock, but they can get one for you. these stores also rent video equipment so you can try before buy if needed.