I just got this nifty little gizmo at Radio Shack... it's an active matrix monitor made for playing DVDs in cars, but the thing has awesome picture quality, and it accepts 16:9. It runs on 12 volts (I bought an adapter and long cable to use off the car, and one you plug into the wall inside). I also took the shoe mount off an old flash and now the monitor fits atop my camera. The whole rig was less than $200.00!

We all know that annoying piece of rubber that ships with the XL1 to secure the viewfinder to the body. Well, it's very common to lose track of this little do-hickey.

I found that the plastic ring that ships in blank cd-rom spindles (it's a little plastic washer) can be use in lieu of the rubber do-hickey.

Just remove the washer from your spindle, then take some scissors and snip it once. This allows you to slip it onto the viewfinder mount. Attach viewfinder (you might need some tweezers or paperclip to properly slip washer so that it's closest to tightening nut) and tighten. Now it won't slip and it takes a bit of effort to remove so chances of losing it are minimized. Also saves a trip to home-depot as we all have a spindle floating around somewhere in our studios.

Adrian

There's a similar tip on the Watchdog site at www.dvinfo.net/xl1.htm under User Tips, but I've never heard of it done this way before! Many thanks,

I saw that a while back.

As I have a junk drawer and little spare time, (home-depot is in the 'burbs and I'm downtown) hence I mentioned that "also saves a trip to the home-depot"

:)

Adrian

<<<-- Originally posted by Chris Hurd : There's a similar tip on the Watchdog site at www.dvinfo.net/xl1.htm under User Tips,

Can anyone tell me how I can keep my viewfinder from sliding back and forth after I keep tightening the adjustment nut? This nut seems to have a mind of its own. I tighten it almost to the point where I fear somethings going to break and the viewfinder stays in place for about a minute and then it starts sliding around again because the nut losens on its own.

A nylon or rubber washer on the spindle does the job nicely. Any hardware store should have what you need.

Thanks that sounds easy! I try it

I have this issue as well, but I don't know what a spindle is. Can someone describe in more detail?

He's referring to the EVF assembly mounting bolt. The stud projecting out of the front handle of the camera.

Thanks. I see what you all's be talkin' about.

There are two ways to do this. The "I have no idea/My camera is still under warantee" way or the "I'm good with the tools/My warantee has expired" way.

It first way is to get a rubber washer and make a cut in it. Split the washer and wrap it around the spindle/EVF mounting bolt.

The second way is to remove the EVF slide bracket and then the four screws that are in the end of the mounting bolt. Remove the mounting bolt being careful not to lose the locating pin and spring. Slip the washer opver the end of the bolt and put the whole thing back together.

Mine is done the second way and it works so much better than the after-thought piece of rubber that Canon used.

(USA clause)
If you decide on the second way, please take care, as I am not responsible for any ham-fisted operators or damage you may cause.
(/USA clause)

I was wondering if anyone out there has adjusted their viewfinder brightness (color viewfinder, that is) on the XL1s, by themselves. Bad idea? Called Canon awhile back about this, and they said it's not really something you're supposed to do at home.

Probably a bad idea, Josh. In the case of the b&w viewfinder basic calibration to SMPTE bars is fairly essential to ensure that you're getting proper contrasts, etc. But in the case of the color LCD, tinkering with the brightness may be asking for self-deception when judging shot exposures.

I judge exposure by Zebra bars. The reason I want to tinker is because I've noticed that when viewing through a monitor or even a TV, the picture onscreen always looks a tad brighter than the color LCD. Also, in darker situations, it might help a bit. I'm more worried about screwing up my camera than screwing up my judgment. Hah hahah.

I agree with Josh, the viewfinder is a lot darker then the signal
it is actually recording! Thats one of the reason I'm going to
look into a professional (small) broadcast monitor to accompany
me.

So I am I risking great damage by tinkering with it? It doesn't seem that hard. . .but a while ago killed a Game Boy by screwing around with it.

Great damage. Naw...nothing a few hundred dollars can't fix. Would it make you feel better if one of us tried it first?

Darn tootin'! Of course, I did that thing where you attach a rubber grommet behind the wheel that adjusts the viewfinder position, and that worked out fine.

I did that when I first got my XL-1. I shot a Butoh dance performance, the woman was painted all white, and in the viewfinder I had a nice contrast on her skin, but when I got home, it looked a little overexposed on the TV. So I thought it might be a too bright viewfinder.

I set up a video mixer and put some color bars on the tv, got the tv sort of balanced and looking good, then I turned on all the light in my living room, ran the living room footage on the tv while in camera mode, then I turned the screw for the brightness until the viewfinder and tv looked about the same. I didn't use studio lighting or a pro monitor, I should have done that. If you put a small mark with a colored marker to mark the position of the orginal setting of the screw, you can then turn it back to where it was, plus you need a reference point since the brightness adjustment screw isn't marked, I forgot which way is brighter or darker.

I've had my camera serviced a couple of times, don't know if they have adjusted the brightness to factory specs, I'm guessing they haven't because my footage is still coming out great.

My friend's xl-1s footage is running a little over exposed so we'll have to adjust his viewfinder as well, we did a two camera shoot of a fashion show and my footage came out well exposed but his came out a little over exposed, although in his viewfinder, he said it looked perfect.

If Canon doesn't want us to adjust the viewfinder ourselves, then they shouldn't have put the control for it out in the open like that. Adjusting it was a pretty simple decision for me, I don't do super critical work that has to be within broadcast specs, and if I did happen to screw up the camera, it's just a 15 min walk to the Canon service center and I can drop off the camera and get it put back together in a couple of days.

But in the end, if you don't feel comfortable adjusting it, then don't do it, you can figure out how much it needs to be adjusted for and then just underexpose all your shots by half a stop or whatever setting you come up with. And having an external monitor will solve all your problems.

Thanks. Like I said, I judge exposure with zebra bars. I make my image as bright (according to the bars) as possible without blowing out too much of it. A hot spot in the hair maybe okay, one that covers half a face, nah ah.

I did it too. I'm getting ready to shoot at night, so I set up lights and played around. I had a nice dark, low key, night scene in my viewfinder and on my tv it came out very bright (more like day). . . I turned the brightness all the way up. It helped, but it's still darker in the viewfinder. My solution: separate monitor.

Hey, wish I could get a monitor! I will likely soon be shooting a lot of spur of the moment stuff in darkly lit areas, where I'll be moving around with the camera. Having a monitor in these situations is not possible.

Or you should put the monitor inside a thing/place that can be
closed or around the corner or something through a cable.
Ofcourse that might need you to walk around, or get a camera
operator or video observer person....

Took the plunge and adjusted the viewfinder brightness myself. No problems. . .picture is brighter. I didn't turn it very far, as I didn't want to push my luck. Also did not realize ahead of time that increasing brightness decreases contrast. Have I done myself more harm than good? Perhaps.

So Brightness = Brightmess.

FWIW: there are three additional internal adjustiments on the EVF; i.e., R-Brightness, B-Brightness and Contrast.

What do you mean? That the user has control over? All I've found is the EVF color in the menu.

The internal are service adjustments, not end-user adjustments.

On cleaning my viewfinder objective I saw that there appears to be a neutral density gelatin filter, on the inside facing the lcd screen - that scratches easily.

It is held in place by an easily removable metal ring. Removing this would certainly increase brightness without having to make any other adjustment.

Does anyone know what the purpose of this gelatin filter is?

Regards.

Most accurate answer from me: no, I don't know with certainty what it is.

Speculation: It's either an anti-reflective film or has something to do with the sun burn problems that the original XL1's had. That is, sun coming through the viewfinder for moderate amounts of time would fry the lcd. The film might well block certain wavelengths of incoming light to help protect the lcd.

Ken

I think you are probably right! - this must be the miraculous 'modification' that Canon came up over the original design.

Regards.

So removing this = bad idea?

Removing anything = bad idea. Everything's there for a reason. The smallest part is probably the result of hard-fought engineering and manufacturing battles. If something wasn't absolutely needed it wouldn't be in the camera.

If you have no suitable protection for the viewfinder outside - then yes it is probably asking for trouble.

However you can buy a self closing eyecup that replaces the existing one from Optex in England - you press your eye to open it and when you remove your eye it closes - it was infact designed sepcifcally to protect the evf pixels when film in bright sun.

Regards.

I think I know the answer to both of these questions but will ask them anyway.

I have an old XL1, one of the first UK issues, with which I have always been delighted and have found no reason to replace as yet.

Question 1 - (probable answer - send to Canon for complete service)
My viewfinder has developed burnt-in red, green and blue pixels which do not affect record or playback but are obviously a bit of a nuisance. What could have caused this?

Question 2 - (obvious answer - dispose of sensibly and replace)
One of my many batteries, which is old but not excessively over used, shows up as being discharged by the camera and a battery tester but will not accept a charge as the charger indicates that it is fully charged.

Sorry to be so boring but I am curious and will ask more interesting questions in future.

Best wishes, JL

You're definitely on the right track, John... you've correctly answered both of your questions. Good luck,

I would say your view finder deteriorated as a result of age, heat, shock etc. Direct exposure to sun light can cause severe damage, but even indirect sun light can cause the Vf to get very hot. Batteries just get old and won't hold a charge. Heat is the worst enemy to batteries.

the FU-500 viewfinder is housed on a rail and is secured in place with a screw knob. The knob always comes loose. I enjoy getting creative with my angles, and that means I twist the camera at times. The viewfinder always seems to slacken, and flops around. Very annoying.

Any ideas? I wonder if the ahrdware store has a similar knob, but with rubber washer around it to 'bite' the railing a little.

I got this one daddio. It's kind of complicated. I asked for a rubber grommet, at a local hardware store. The one I used was to thick (not circumference-wise, but the other way, know what I mean? Anyway, I cut it in half (not into semi circles, but two thinner, whole circles know what I mean?) and put one of those between the wheel that you use to tighten and loosen the viewfinder slider (sure that's not the right term) and the little piece that juts off the handle. You have to do some unscrewing, so if this makes you nervous, don't do it. Anyway, the bastard stays in place now.

See also the "Cheap Trick" on this page (http://www.dvinfo.net/canon/tips.php).

Hello there. Looks like a great forum. Nice to be a part of it.

I have an XL1S (PAL). There is a flashing "CP 2" message in the viewfinder that I cannot get rid of.
I ave tried Custom Preset menu options to no avail.

Anyone have any ideas.

Thanks in advance

Bob, the flashing CP2 message indicates that you have selected Custom Preset #2 but it has not been activated. Press the Custom Preset Select Switch (second button from bottom behind red sliding door) to select the desired preset or to turn presets off completely. Use the Custom Preset On/Off switch (bottom button behind red sliding door) to activate the selected preset. This is explained on page 70 in the NTSC manual but I don't know about the PAL version.

Thanks Ed.
It was in the PAL manual (Page 68).
Those cycling menus get me all the time.

Thanks again.

Bob Glover

I was wondering if there was an option on either the XL-1 or XL-1S to see the black bars on the top and bottom when shooting in 16:9 mode. Right now it just stretches it. Thanks.

Nope. Sorry.

Get an external monitor that has a Vertical hold knob.

Then you can compress the picture on the monitor and it should look normal and have black bars on top and bottom

ya, I have a monitor that has underscan button that allows me to do that, but for some reason I thought there was an option to do it in the viewfinder. Thanks though.

What exactly would it take to rig an external monitor through the viewfinder out? Im thinking if I could find the cable used for the viewfinder, then I could experiment with riggin it up. I would very much like to avoid using a viewfinder, as I rarely do run and gun stuff, but I would like to be able to get the zebras on screen. Any input would be awesome.

Stephen

Information on the pin-layout can be found here (http://www.dvinfo.net/canon/articles/article29.php)

Be careful if you are going to make cables etc. yourself!

thanks, ill get to work. Im not sure ill be able to do anything with it, but that is more than I was expecting to get.

Stephen

Where did he get the cable? Is it possible to get it from Canon, or is it a standard?

Stephen