Hi,

Are any UK members aware of a decent repair shop, preferably in the south (I am near Farnborough/Bracknell/Basingstoke) that might be able to help me with a rapid turn around repair?

The tape release mechanism on my XL2 keeps sticking and it sometimes takes 5 or 6 minutes of flicking the switch before something happens and it releases the tape. Weird.

Trouble is I am inundated with work at the moment so the thought of sending the camera off to Canon for weeks fills me with horror!

Any ideas? (or even DIY repair suggestions, as the cam is out of warranty).

Thanks in advance.

Ian . . .

I had exactly the same problem. The tape would not eject at the first flick of the switch.
No matter how gently or forcefully you try.
I set one of my custom keys to "VCR Stop" and whenever I activated it the tape would then eject at the first flick.
I kind of lived with this workaround for quite a while as no service agents seem to be around my place.
Then on a day I had to strip the camera ( firewire board came loose - pics elswhere on this forum) and since then I don't have that problem anymore.

So I can't tell you what the problem is, but just the workaround that worked for me.

Hope this helps

Hi Björn,

Many thanks for your reply.

I don't seem to have a VCR Stop option in my Custom Keys menu. Accessing it in VCR mode, VCR Menu -> System-> Custom Key 1 (or 2), I then only have the following options: Time Code, TV Screen, Data Code, Audio Level and (None). I had a quick look in a few other places but couldn't find VCR Stop as an option anywhere!

Where did you find it?

Interestingly, my firewire board is also loose (as is the phones out minijack) - is it a majorly scary job opening up the XL2?

Thanks again,

Ian . . .

Hi Ian,

You have to be in Record mode not VCR mode. Then in the menu under "System" I've set custom key 2 to VCR Stop.

It's not majorly scary to open the cam. How skilled are you with tools? I'll guide you through the process. ( I give no guarantee however !! LOL)

The firewire board is secured with 2 screws and my guess is that one of the is rattling somewhere in the body. Be carefull as it could just happen that the little bugger might short out if it is wedged between circuit boards.

Fantastic! The work-around seems to be working for me and I am delighted. Many, many thanks.

Now, do I have the courage . . . . . ?

Let me think about that for a bit!

Thanks again Björn, really appreciated.

Ian . . .

ps, still very interested to hear of any trusted UK repair shops.

I recently used the Canon Service Centre, 130 Centennial Park, Elstree, Herts, WD6 3SE (0844 369 0100) as I was uncomfortable taking a pro camera anywhere else. They contacted me with a quotation within 24 hours of receiving it, then the camera was ready 5 working days after I had paid, and the work they carry out/parts used are guaranteed for 6 months.

Thank you Julian. Sorry not to have thanked you sooner but the email notifications are down at the moment so I didn't realise there was a reply.

Did you send the camera or take it in to them? What was the cost like?

Any chance you could email me at ian@videoit.uk.com to let me know? Oh hang on, if notifications are down then you won't know this is here. Damn!?!

Cheers,

Ian . . .

Well it only took a few weeks to pluck up courage but . . .

I meant to add that all is well now!

Still want to get it serviced properly though. This was just an emergency repair before flying to the States to shoot a corporate.

Thanks for the morale booster Björn !

Ian . . .

Well done Ian !

It's now time to strip my other XL2. Same problem as with all other cams. The firewire PC board is becomming loose again.

I wonder if I should do a step by step instruction leaflet and post it here. (and then while I'm at it also strip one of the XL H1 - just for good measure)