Hello Exeltooey,
With regards to high noise in these images, they are several thing to consider. Now, you already say that this happens in either bright or dark conditions so what I would ask yourself is this: do you notice the grain when you playback the footage, say on a TV or computer- or do you only see it when recording through the LCD panel?
If you notice it only when recording, it's possible that you are just seeing the pixels that make up the LCD panel. If playing back recordings causes this to occur as well then you would want to clean the heads on the camcorder. You can do this with a dry head tape cleaner and run it through for the amount of time specified on the cleaner's package, usually 10-15 seconds. If you use a variety of different tapes, try and use only one brand and stick to it.
If the issues persist, then your best option may be to actually send the XL2 into Canon for an evaluation. Service can be set up through our Service website at your convenience.
You can also Contact Us at technical support directly if this is an urgent matter.
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