just got my new XL last tuesday. and i love it. its the coolest thing in the world. i love everything about it.

although everyone was right and it is very big and kind of heavy and my pack to accomodate it is big too. so that part is definitely its downfall.

but the picture quality is great.

i haven't used it for any real projects yet but have some things scheduled for july and august. so i'm real excited about getting out there and really seeing what that thing is made of.

does anyone know of any lcd places around. ive found a bunch but not finding quite what i was hoping to get. i want something that is about 3.5 inches so its no bigger than whats on like the GL or panasonic. and i want it to attach to the shoe on the front of the cam where the EVF and mic component go. i don't plan on using the mic really for anything immediate. does anyone know of anything that would satisfy that?

i will hopefully have some stuff up in the next 2 months so i will post some stuff then to get some feedback.

thanks for everyones help the last 2 weeks. it really helped in my decision.

cheers. J.

Check B&H and Markertek for LCD monitors. Citizen makes one that might work for you. I bought a bigger 5" one a year or so ago and it was a piece of crap, totally useless outdoors. For a recent shoot in which my camera was mounted on a jib that went up 10 feet, I was away from power and couldn't use the normal monitor, so I bought a little LCD TV from Radio Shack for $150. It worked great for my purposes, though I had to get a BNC to RCA adapter then RCA to mini.

Hi,

What's a basic lens set for video?

Does it make sense to just get the P+S mini 35mm with the Cooke lenses for video as well? Or is that too heavy for handheld shooting? Wondering because I'm planning on getting those eventually but not for about 9-12 months.

Hello all,

Sorry in advance if this topic has been covered. Although I didn't find anything in my search.

I'm looking for suggestions on a vid light for the XL1s. I will be using it for fill on interviews with people when i'm doing the "run-and-gun". I have full Arri kits for nice studio setups.

I'm currently looking at Fezzi micro-fills.

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks,
Jason

See http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12154 for starters.

I saw this post from a few weeks ago, and have just bought a 35-350mm lens, and now need a support system for it.

The lens is much heavier then the standard xl lens, so I would hate to bump it for fear of breaking the ef adapter.

Michael

Hello, I have a parabolic microphone made by Telinga and I have used it for recording birdsongs on a Sony DAT-recorder. Now I want to connect the microphone to my XL1. The microphone has a 3,5 mm miniplugg(stereo). I prefer to use the line-input and skip the onboard mic-amp. Is there any preamp on the market that I can use? 3,5 ministereo in and RCA-line-out. Beachtek produced a preamp before, but I can´t find it on there web-site.
I use an EOS 100-400 IS L - zoom with adapter for shooting birds. To match that I will use the parabolic mic on a separate tripod.

Thanks

Ulf Widén
Sweden

It might do the trick. Several people have asked for pictures of my support. I have design several over the years. If you know someone with a machine shop you can have a bracket like mine made for well under $100. You can down load the pictures from my .Mac iDisk here. (http://homepage.mac.com/WebObjects/FileSharing.woa/wa/default?user=jtdonald&templatefn=FileSharing5.html&xmlfn=TKDocument.5.xml&sitefn=RootSite.xml&aff=consumer&cty=US&lang=en)

The jpegs are in a folder called bracket for XL1

Please take a look at the July issue of American Cinematographer. In the article, "All the Rage", DFF Dod Mantle, discusses shooting the film "28 Days Later", and how he used eight Canon XL-1 Mini DV cameras with 35mm film lenses. He secured Canon EC (6-40mm) and Canon EJ (50-150mm) lenses to the camera bodies with a PL to XL-1 Adaptor. Though he did not use our mount, I do believe he recognized the quality that can be obtained using the XL1 with 35mm motion picture lenses.

As you know 35mm motion picture lenses can be expensive to rent or buy. That is why we have been working upon converting the Russian Lomo and Konvas 35mm lenses to a PL mount. This is a cost effect Solution for the Independent Filmmaker.

Also take a look at this music video titled "he war" by Cat Power. The director used a PL to XL-1 adaptor to shoot it. You will need Real Player to view the video.

http://www.cissme.com/bgroup-us/rm/matador/catpo/video/ole427-2-07_rvh.ram

Thanks
Barrett

Does anyone know if the wake-up button(On) is working like the one at XL1 so I can turn it back to standby mode? Any suggestion which model works best with XL1. I mostly shoot in manual mode and manual focus.

Thanks
Ulf Widen

I own a canon XL1s, I am not happy with the "infinite" focus ring of the standard lens.

I am looking in to purchasing the 16X manual lens.

Is there a way to mount, say a Fujinon tv lens on the XL1s?

Is there an adapter out there that can do this ?

Walter,

There are no adapters for mounting Fujinon or Canon 1/2" lenses to the XL1. The main problem is the zoom drive/handgrip mounted on the lens will not fit due to the handgrip on the XL1. There is actually a 14x Fujinon lens that has been modified to fit the XL1 as well as a Canon 14x manual lens, and if you put that into our search function you will find a couple for sale for around US$800-1000. This lens is not as desirable as the Canon XL manual lens but it can be had for half the price.

Without wanting to sound like a plug, it is one ;-) I had been looking for info on this combo for the XL1 but couldn't find much. So I spent the cash, bought two Hytron 50 batteries, an Ultra Light 2, a charger and the mounting plate to install it on the XL1.

I've been using it for 2 months now and like it a lot. You can read all about it on abcdv.com, complete with pictures.

Enjoy it!

Why do you want to skip the camera's pre-amp?

Thanks for your reply. On the parabolic microphone I use a special made DAT-mic which is very quiet and free from noise. Usually on consumer or prosumer products the preamp is one part which is not optmal made. A noisless preamp with high dynamic range and portable is costly and difficult to made, due to the low signal input. For normal record there is not an issue, but in a nature environment there it's "totally silent" it becomes an issue. Unfortunatly there is few places left to be silent now.

Okay, I got over my connection problems...thanks to Nathan. I can now hear the sound with the wireless system hooked up. The audio monitor shows I'm getting sound, I've tried all different settings....my problem;;;during playback (on TV) I don't have the wireless sound, only the sound from the on camera mic.

Any thoughts.....anyone?

Thanks for your time.

Mike Murri

Well, believe it or not I have it all figured out. Solution, when playing back on the TV plug audio into (L) RCA on Audio 2 and the other audio (red) into Audio 1, with video in 1 as well.....and I'll be...sound from both sources!

Amazing how when you do the correct thing it all works. I just wish there was an idiots guide to Audio. I'm starting to understand how involved this all is. Wow.

mm

I thought I'd save a lot of $ buying a canare RCA-XLR 1.5' cable, instead of a couple hundred dollars on an MA-100 or 200. My ME66 produces a bit of a hiss, partially due to the AA battery inside the capsule I'm sure, but does anyone think this was a bad idea?
Is there anything special about the wiring inside MA units that help with sound quality? To me, they don't look like anything special, but if they will help with sound quality I'll consider one.

My xl1s is telling me in the view finder to check lense what does this mean
I tried another lense on it and it still gives me the same error
I tried my lense on another cam and it works fine\

James

One of my cameras from a shoot yesterday that was getting its audio feed from the house sound board. During capture to my NLE I noticed the audio sounds similiar to an old cassette that starts to drag. The video looks just fine....
The feed I was using was coming from a generous amount of signal processing equipment before it got to my camera. I'm almost sure it had to do the house feed. Testing later showed no problems feeding a audio source to the camera...playback sounded perfect. Thoughts?

Hi all,
This is my first post on what looks like a potentially very useful board.

I hope i havent missed a more obvious place to put it but i did search:).
I have placed this post on the pd150 board also.

I will soon be in London learning filmmaking, while there i intend to buy a good quality dvcam for experimentation, and short film making while i train.

I HAD saved towards a XL1s, based on the knowledge of its use in 28 Days Later but a friend of mine then reccomended i go with the PD150, utterly complicating a perfectly simple plan:)

Now without starting a war :), i ask for arguments from both camps so i can make a decision.

Thanks in advance for any answers.

Nemed Phoenix
Lateral Filming.

The big plus of an XL1 over the PD150 is its interchangable lenses. However, the PD150 has a built in LCD and XLR connections, things you must pay more for on an XL1. Picture on both of them is great. The PD150 is about 1/2 the weight of the XL1, something else to consider. If you are doing run 'n gun/guerilla film making, the PD150 is easier to carry and conceal.

Also consider the Panasonic DVX100. It may be better suited to the indie film maker, since it has more of a film look than the other cameras.

The MA-100/200 provide a balanced input that can result in cancellation of common mode noise. They also provide about 6 dB of gain relative to a simple unbalanced input.

Are you using the MIC setting? If so, you may have more gain then you need. The ME-66/K6 combination has a high output level, around -35 dBV give or take., an d may be happier at MIC ATT setting.

The interchangable lens system on the XL series is certainly becoming more important. There are a number of other lens options available for the XL series that no other camera can meet in its price range.

However, if you do think you will never purchase another lens for the system, then maybe you might want to look at the PD-150 or DVX100. These cameras are both lighter and attract much less attention as an XL-1.

The great news is that all these 3-chippers are excellent and will produce both excellent video, as well as, audio.

Maybe the guy running the sound gear had some flange effect added to the mix.

Don,
Actually there was a slow flange effect being added to the mix...however the goof was on my part (new item to add to my checklist). It turns out the channel I was getting inputting the feed to had the FX send cranked a bit and the FX was set to one of the flanger effects (pretty lousy sounding one...LOL). When I frist discovered the problem, I tried replicated everything (to isolate the problem) the best I could...except I fed my mixer from a different channel (with no FX send)...and I therefore assumed it the problem originated from the church's sound mixer....
Thanks for the response....
Mark

After using the DXA-4 for a few gigs now (with my Behringer mixer), I have had the best luck with setting the -4 for mic input and setting the XL1s for the mic w/att setting. This seems to allow more flexibility with -50 pads....
Mark

Means that the body does not fully sense the presence of the lens. May be caused by poor electrical contract in the lens mount, or the mount not being fully rotated and the lock engaging fully.

Tonight I was playing back some footage on my XL1. I rewound the tape and started playing it, but nothing came up - no time code, no picture, just the blue screen. I put the tape in another XL1 and it worked fine. Then I tried another tape. The time code showed up, but the screen was still blue. Everything worked on record mode, just not playback mode. So i put in a tape cleaner. This seemed to fix the problem, but I have a shoot this weekend and am wondering if this camera is going to be reliable. Has anyone ever had this problem before or know what happened - is it just a dirty head? Do you think the tape cleaner fixed it? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Annie Cheatham

If it's working now, the problem was dirty heads.

http://www.dvfreak.com/tape.htm

Hi, I am a fairly new user who likes to shoot in frame mode instead of interlacing.

Am I right in thinking that easy recording mode will only allow you to record as the interlaced version?

If so, once the footage is imported into premiere, I cant get ti to de-interlace!! The footage looks really bad with fuzzy lines etc.

Can someone kindly point me into the right direction? Thanks!

Can anyone tell me what the pixel aspect ratio is, when shooting electronic anamorphic on the Xl1s? 1.2?

Hello all and please pardon me if I am hashing over old territory here.

As the XL1 has an electronic viewfinder, then you are certainly susceptible to other than WYSIWYG, correct?

I am shooting a project in anamorphic 16x9, PAL, over here in Thailand. I have never used this function on an XL1 before, and I am seeing a few things in post that perhaps somebody can easily clarify.

On my computer screen and television monitor, I am seeing the edge of the boom. On my Sony MiniDV player, I am not seeing anything. Is the 16x9 still somewhat cropped, or are you displaying everything it captured?

Its not a huge issue as its such a small piece of boom, I can crop it out and do a minor stretch, but if I don't neeed to, then why bother and take chances with the image.

Any information, answers or suggestions would be appreciated.

Regards,
David Fisher
A~T~8 Productions
Bangkok, Thailand

The EVF is not not a production monitor by any stretch of the imagination. It does not show everything the camera is seeing as you have just discovered.

According to Vegas:

1,2121 NTSC
1,4568 PAL

All,

I am going to be shooting an relatively dark bar scene with my XL1. Since time is short, I am considering renting a second camera to speed the process.

My question is can I rent an XL1S? Will they match enough in a lower-light situation? Or should I try to find an XL1?

Thanks in advance.

You can call Sennheiser and get the adapter you are looking for. It is a 1/8 inch female to two RCA plugs. It will cost you $2.80 plus $3.50 in priority shipping. Don't talk to their sales department, they are absolutely clueless! Go straight to technical support and ask for Jason. Phone - 860-434-9190.

The cord is about 5 inches long.

In my experience (I own both cameras) the XL1s performs better in low light. You can match the color and exposure, but the XL1 will always show more noise (grain). If they need to match exactly, get another XL1.

hello-

I'm fairly new to the game, but i'm gaining interest fast. I thought I might upgrade to a better camera than my sony handycam, the choices were pretty clear; Xl1 or maybe dvx100. Originally the Xl1 was my first choice, but then I heard somewhere that there are no 16:9 anamorphic lenses campatible with the xl1, just the 16:9 mode. (which simply crops?) Is this statement true?

Thanks

-Alex

I got my adapters at Radio Shack. However, the Sennheiser unit is well priced.

it isn't true. the xl-1 is able to be used with anamorphic adapters. optex has something like that or you can theoretically add any lense to it that has anamorphic attachment or is native anamorphic, that has nothing to do with the xl-1 (you could theoreticallly use a anamorphic adapter and the internal 16/9 to get ~2.35:1 image

I believe you will find some caveats WRT anamorphic adaptors on the XL-1. There's a fair amount of vignetting as you are adapating a smaller lens. Century said they were working on another model for the XL-1(s) but not sure if it was ever released, and it was VERY expensive. Of course anamorphic adaptors have lots of limitations even under the best circumstances.

However, read the article in American Cinematographer about "28 Days Later". They shot with the XL-1s and printed to 35mm film. They cropped the footage in post and didn't use anamorphic adaptors. I saw this film in a theatre and was very impressed with the quality. They used PAL cameras however which offer somewhat higher resolution.

what is an ideal sutter speed to be shooting at for typical shots. And do people/networks preffer a specific f stop.

shooting with:

16X
3X
EOS 35-350

thanks

The usual shutter speed for NTSC video is 1/60 of a second, it coincides with the number of fields per second. The aperture used will be determined by the amount of light in the scene. Use the zebra bars and adjust the aperture until the bars are almost gone. View the video and look for highlights with no detail. If the video is unsatisfactory, repeat the exercise, adjusting the aperture to suit you taste.

We will be purchasing a Canon XL1S within the next 2 weeks. Does anyone know if there will be a significant discount at the WEVA Convention (Wedding Event & Videographers Association) in Las Vegas at the end of the month vs. buying online (probably B & H.....currently $3539 +s/h)?

What about accessories? lighting? audio? at WEVA.

You might save $100 or so, but not much more.

Using ~1/60 will probably give the most video-like look.

Ideal shutter is what gives you the image effect/look/feel you want. The shutter spped is a compromise with aperture, gain, and the control you have over scene lighting.

When I play back footage recorded from my XL1 there appears to be a one pixel white dot in the upper right of the shot (as reference: just below and to the left of the ten second digit if viewed with the display on). The artifact is always in the same place and is unaffected by zoom or focus, so I know it isn't the lens. I've ruled out media as well since the same tape was used on a Sony camera with no such artifact.

I've dusted the areas where the lens meets the body, but this does nothing. Does anyone know what could cause this?

Thanks from the new guy.

It could be a hot or dead CCD pixel. Just a guess.

Couple of questions.....

Using head cleaning tapes on the XL-1 and GL-1....

....how often?

I realize they can damage heads, but when horizontal lines interrupt an important shoot, you don't know until it's over.

Experiences from users?



OK....we've got 2 XL-1's and 3 GL-1's and somebody ran a wet cleaning cassette (Sony) through these cameras a number of times after they were acclimated to a dry cleaning cassette (Panasonic/Canon).

So.....stripes over video everywhere.

Do I need to send these in to Canon to be cleanedcorrectly or is there a way I can handle it myself?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.