Will HDV footage shot on the XL-H1 (various frame rates: i, F1 & F2) play back in an XL-H1A?

We just bought an XL-H1A and I can't get my old XL-H1 tape to play back. :(

Any help would be great!

Chet,
The XHA1 should be able to play back the XLH1 tapes if the alignment of the two machines match up. Do tapes made by the XHA1 play back correctly on itself? If they do but the XLH1 tapes don't then I would suspect one of the cameras is or was not aligned properly. Do you still have the XLH1. If it plays back its own tapes will it play back a tape from the XHA1?. This is one of the hardest things to check for when you only buy one camera new to make sure it is aligned to the rest of the world and it happens just enough to be a problem. Try and get a third machine to see if the tapes work so you can get an idea which machines are slightly off standard.
There also may be a menu setting which is telling the XHA1 to play back in a particular format which could cause the problem but I don't know that for sure. HTH

Chet,
The XHA1 should be able to play back the XLH1 tapes if the alignment of the two machines match up. Do tapes made by the XHA1 play back correctly on itself? If they do but the XLH1 tapes don't then I would suspect one of the cameras is or was not aligned properly. Do you still have the XLH1. If it plays back its own tapes will it play back a tape from the XHA1?. This is one of the hardest things to check for when you only buy one camera new to make sure it is aligned to the rest of the world and it happens just enough to be a problem. Try and get a third machine to see if the tapes work so you can get an idea which machines are slightly off standard.
There also may be a menu setting which is telling the XHA1 to play back in a particular format which could cause the problem but I don't know that for sure. HTH
Hi Daniel,

Thanks for your reply. I'm not quite sure how to decypher your message since you mention the XHA1 quite a bit. I've never used an XHA1. Only an XL-H1 and an XL-H1A.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "alignment." How do the cameras get "misaligned"?

I no longer have the XLH1. Only the XL-H1A.

Hey Chet,
Sorry I switched models on you. A little dyslexia and Canon's camera naming system caused the confusion. The XL and XH series have the same recording/playback capabilities. Alignment is about where the signal is actually recorded on the tape and not all cameras align with each other on playback of recorded signals. (Just think of a computer printer which grabs the paper a little differently as it feeds so the margins on the paper come out differently than the computer screen.) You can have perfect recordings from the old XLH1 which don't playback on the new XLH1A. Either camera or both can be the problem. A more robust deck might be able to play back either tape properly or maybe not.
Misalignment can occur in tape machines starting from the factory or as a result of bumping,movement, and the aging process. In DV and HDV this is relatively easy as the tape path is so small so little changes can make large errors on playback.
Most people who buy these kinds of cameras only discover the issue when they give someone else a tape to playback on a different machine or if they play an old tape which used to work and no longer plays back on the machine which recorded it. The signal on the tape is fine but it just isn't lining up with the playback machines heads.
The big problem comes is if you have a lot of tapes recorded with the misalignment. The best thing to do is usually copy them to a correctly aligned machine but there is no way to actually determine this except by trial and error. You also can completely digitize them and keep the media so you never have to play the tape again. Good Luck

Daniel,

No problem on the model numbers. I understand completely. Thanks for expanding on the information.

I was provided the Canon support 800 number by the Canon rep in my area so I called. They wanted to know what error the new XL-H1A was showing when attempting to play the footage. So, I put the tape back in and hit play. Wouldn't you know it...it played perfectly. I have no idea why it didn't work last night. So, the only two things I can think of are: It didn't play last night because it was the first time the camera was turned on. OR The tape just needed to be ejected and re-inserted.

Anyway, the tape shot using your XL-H1 is now playing just fine on the XL-H1A.

Thanks again for the help.

Chet,
Glad it is working now. It sounds like the alignment is fine if it plays back the old tapes. Definitely run the camera a bit to see if it is solid. At least now you know it should work