I've had a Canon GL-1 for about 9 months now. Video-wise, it's been a rock solid purchase. It's a DV camcorder with most of the internals of the Canon XL-1 (best out on the market today; they've even been compared to TV studio cameras), you just can't interchange lenses.
I've taken it to Greece, Italy and Costa Rica, shooting everything from the regular tourist crap to fast action shots hanging off of ropes and zip lines in rainforests. Works like a champ. The color and clarity is simply amazing, along with the options you've got to play with. The only issue I've had with it was fishing offshore in Costa Rica. I took it on our swordfish boat and tried to do some video of the fishing action and film a school of dolphins that we ran into. The ND (neutral density) filter seemed to really throw a fit with the sun's reflection off of the water. The subsequent video looks underexposed part of the time, then overexposed others. I did have a CPOL filter on the front of the lens, which may have led to the problem. I've had some similiar issues with waterfall shots, though and didn't have the CPOL filter on it at the time, just a UV/haze filter (you should ALWAYS have one of these on the front of your lens. Saves you from purchasing a new camera if you bang the lens into something. A $30 filter is MUCH cheaper to replace).
In every other lighting condition (even shooting through glass at museums) the thing simply scares you with the level of detail and clarity it provides. I've got some closeups through glass of some ancient flintlock pistols from Castle St. Angelo's in Rome. You can see individual nicks and grooves in the scrollwork on the barrel, not to mention the slighest bit of oxidation around the hammer!!! Like I said, the level of detail and clarity it gives is ABSURD. The color stays true, as well. I've played with cheaper camcorders from Sony and JVC and have had color wash in certain lighting conditions.
If it helps, I was looking in the $700-$1100 range. After tinkering with these (Sony, JVC, Panasonic) for a while and ending up totally unsatisfied, I finally started looking a bit higher. After playing with the GL-1 for about an hour, I was sold.
They aren't cheap, but they are one heck of a camera and should have a good shelf life. You may also want to check out the Elura model line as well. They're pretty good for the money.
