Hello,

I am having a problem with my XL1s.

We were shooting in a nightclub that was very loud, very smokey (smoke machines and cigarettes) and had lasers firing all over the place (including occassionally into the lens).

We have shot in this environment before, however, I don't think it has ever been as smokey or as many lasers light shows going on.

After about 30 minutes of seting up, we shot a few minutes of footage here and there, and all of a sudden there was no picture showing through the viewfinder, (the display items still showed but black instead of the picture).
Now this problem has happened once before, (at a previous gig) but after giving it a rest for 20 minutes or so all was good.

So during the night, I gave it a rest for a similar time, it worked again, but seemed to be darker on the same setting, I recorded for about a minute or two and the picture diappeared again and went to black, recording continued and the display items continued.

I think it was the lasers that caused something to happen to the ccds or something similar because of the fact that the lens and viewfinder should not be directed at the sun. My friend thinks it was the smoke that caused this. We have taken it home and tried it again in clean, smoke free environment and the problem is the same, it records for a few minutes with the picture looking normal then disappears and no picture is received.

Also, we can't find the manual, but there is now what looks like a remote control symbol with a cross through it in the viewfinder on the top - right hand side. Haven't seen this before.

By the way, we haven't got an Australian warranty, because we purchased the camera from a singapore electronics supplier for about half the Australian retail price.

Any ideas?

First: a quick glance at the CanonDV.com website shows you can
download/view the manual here (http://consumer.usa.canon.com/app/pdf/dv/INS_XL1S_E.pdf).

Second: the flashing icon means your backup battery is either
empty or missing. Get a new one:

" Replace it with a Panasonic CR2025 battery; these are inexpensive and easy to find at most discount stores "

Third: sounds like either something the camera does when the
battery is empty (so replace the one above and try again) or
perhaps heat/moist related. Might be time to send your camera
in for a checkup if the problems still persists after you replaced
the backup battery.

If you don't have warranty Canon will charge you for looking and
fixing your camera.

Lastly I don't think the lasers can cause any harm. Why? Because
they are certified to use in a place with lots of people in them
where they can regurly shine in anyones eyes. Therefor they
cannot be powerful enough in my humble opinion. I've done some
shooting with my XL1S in a disco as well and alot of still photography
with a digital camera without any problems whatsoever.

Thanks for your respone Rob.
The backup battery didn't help. My friend had turned the sensor off in the menu, which made the icon appear.
I sent the camera into Canon and should find out today what the problem was. Thanks again

I sent the camera into Canon and should find out today what the problem was. Thanks again
I'm using an XL1 which has had this problem intermittently over the last few weeks. Specifically, when powered on, the on screen displays come up, but there is no image from the lense (and, yes, this is not about forgetting to remove the lense cap!). If I power down and wait long enough, the image has (so far) always reappeared.

So, Mark, if you're still around--can you give us an update on what Canon did with your camera, and whether it fixed it, and maybe even what it cost?

Thanks!

I'm curious to hear whether your country's Canon office will even repair a grey market camera. I have been told that they do not and that one must send the cam back to Panasonic in the country of origin(!)