I was checking a newly aquired XL1s against one I already had. I was trying to see how closely they matched up when shooting video. Both are fairly new to me and I don't have a lot of time with either of them. I set the newer one up at the same settings as the other, and ran some footage.

I found that I had one set on 16x9, and that was not what I wanted. I thought it curious that I did not see the guide bars in the viewfinder. Upon checking, I found a very strange thing. When the cameras were set to 16x9, the bars went off and when they were set to 4x3 they came on. This is just the opposite of what they are supposed to do. I double and triple checked everything and figured out that both worked backwards. If set the mode to 16x9 the bars went off, when set to 4x3 the bars came on. This was confirmed by the readout in the viewfinder. When the viewfinder said 16x9, there were no bars, when it did not say 16x9 there were bars.

I ended up shutting off the bars themselves, and just going by what mode I had set. But, of course I don't have framing bars for 16x9. Has anyone else had this problem?

Very strange!

Mike

It could be I'm understanding your problem wrong, if so, just ignore this post ;-)

The XL1 doesn't have 16x9 bars, only a 16x9 mode, the XL1S has.
iIf you put it on 16x9 you get a 4/3 image that is stretched out.
If you want the 16x9 bars you have to put it on 4/3 but go to the viewfinder menu, and there select 16/9 bars.

So, it could be I just misunderstood your post and you think: yes I know all that!
If so, just ignore it, in the case it isn't, hope it helps.
Best regards,

When the cameras were set to 16x9, the bars went off and when they were set to 4x3 they came on. This is just the opposite of what they are supposed to do. Sorry, but no, that's *exactly* what they're supposed to do. The guide bars allow you to compose a 16:9 image even though you're shooting in 4:3 (this is called "shoot and protect" and it's one way to do widescreen). When you switch to 16:9, the bars aren't needed anymore because you're using the full height of the frame. Everything in the viewfinder looks "squished" like a spaghetti western, and it's another way to shoot widescreen. Rest assured your cameras are working properly! Hope this helps,

Chris,

Thanks very much for the explaination. Makes sense now. I read the manual and could not find anything to explain this to me.

Thank God for you and this forum!

Mike

There is much discussion about what to use, but I would vote for the bars. It's much easier to compose and frame your shot.

Good luck!