Hi,
New to the forum. Have a 3 year old XL1, used mainly in an educational environment. Recently, I notice some blue flash frames on the recorded tapes. I also see a blue flash in the viewfinder when turning the power dial from auto to green square.

It also seems that the image quality has deteriorated in 3 years despite using a cleaning tape. The image looks 'soft' or 'muddy' especially in low light, but also in normal room light conditions.

The white balance also seems not to be functioning to snuff. When I white balance in a tungsten room, I still get much too warm colors.

Probably time to send it in for a tune-up, but any comments on these problems would be appreciated. Especially worrisome is the soft image which to my mind could only be a lens or lens alignment issue.

Any idea how much a good servicing would cost?

Thanks,

Ken

Howdy from Texas,

<< Any idea how much a good servicing would cost? >>

No way to tell without sending it in for an estimate as the price will vary from camera to camera depending on what it needs. Service center contact info at www.dvinfo.net/xl1.htm > XL1 Skinny. Hope this helps,

Ken,
welcome to the forum, always cool to see another Japan member. What part of Japan do you live in?

I took my XL-1 in for repairs over the summer, had a new head put in and had it cleaned as well and they charged me about 25,000 yen. It only took about 4 working days. I went directly to the service center and gave it to them personally. Luckily the one here in Osaka is only one subway stop away from my house. I was sort of bummed out they threw the old parts away, not like Sony where they give you all the worn out parts, I'll ask them next time to save the parts for me.

Also, ask to speak to the staff who will actually repair the camera, the reception staff said yes to stuff I asked like checking to see how many hours have been recorded by the camera, but when I picked up the camera, the repair technician said it wasn't possible to check that on the XL-1. Still don't know who's right, lots of times people here will not admit to not knowing the answer, one person will say yes and another no to the same question. Next time I'm writing down names and will quote the replies when the responses differ.

When was the last time you took your camera in for a check up? I seem to send it in every 8 months or so now.

Thanks for the reply.

I live in Kanazawa, Ishikawa-ken. I need the 'big green' around here. Skiing is awesome, too (soon!!!)

I haven't used the camera all that much, so it will be the first time to have serviced. 25,000 yen is definitely doable, especially with a new head! Were you experiencing similar problems? Thanks for the info. Yeah, Sony is good at saving parts if simply to prove that they did what they said they did. My only problem is that they recently closed the Canon service center here. I'll probably have to send it to Osaka or Nagoya.

What kind of video work do you do? If you want to reply off the list (probably better not to bore others), send to zootsuit_jp@yahoo.com

Cheers,

Ken



<<<-- Originally posted by chorizosmells : Ken,
welcome to the forum, always cool to see another Japan member. What part of Japan do you live in?

I took my XL-1 in for repairs over the summer, had a new head put in and had it cleaned as well and they charged me about 25,000 yen. It only took about 4 working days. I went directly to the service center and gave it to them personally. Luckily the one here in Osaka is only one subway stop away from my house. I was sort of bummed out they threw the old parts away, not like Sony where they give you all the worn out parts, I'll ask them next time to save the parts for me.

Also, ask to speak to the staff who will actually repair the camera, the reception staff said yes to stuff I asked like checking to see how many hours have been recorded by the camera, but when I picked up the camera, the repair technician said it wasn't possible to check that on the XL-1. Still don't know who's right, lots of times people here will not admit to not knowing the answer, one person will say yes and another no to the same question. Next time I'm writing down names and will quote the replies when the responses differ.

When was the last time you took your camera in for a check up? I seem to send it in every 8 months or so now. -->>>

ken,
the last time I had it repaired, it was recording fine but on playback the picture was all messed up, like a very dirty head, it ended up being the playback head.

Down here I do all kinds of video, anything that comes my way, from the regular stuff of weddings and fashion shows, Butoh dance performances, music videos, club promotional videos to the underground stuff of S/M shows, gothic events,metal-noise bands, tattoo & piercing events. Lately been mostly doing underground stuff.

How long have you been here in Japan? I've been skiing only once in the 12 years I've been here, but a bunch of us are talking about going next year.

If you go to Tokyo give John Locke and Adrian Douglas a call, same thing if you come down to Osaka, we'll go out for a drink.

so far I've counted 6 Japan XL-1 users, any more of us out here?

Hi Ken,

the cleaning of your camera's head frequently is _not_ a good idea imo.

Cleaing tape works like sandpaper and takes between 4-10 hours off you head life each time.
If you've been cleaning often, it doesn't surprise me that your heads are worn out.

If you can stick to one brand of tape, I think you can go a LONG time without problems.
I have also heard that if you mix tape brands constantly you *may not* have any issues.

I have most definitely found that using Sony for lots of hours then putting in a Panasonic gave me a clog within 5 minutes.

I have gone over a thousand hours with my XL1 using Sony Premium.
Haven't cleaned the heads since its last visit to Canon repair 2 years ago,
but it is time for a check up.

Ken if you haven't sent your camera in for a service and you are having problems then the bill is likely to be higher than ��25 000. I sent my XL in to Canon in Tokyo last year with noise on playback and it cost me ��40 000. The replaced the drum assy, including the record and playback heads as well as did some lens mods like replacing the focus ring and a few bits and pieces.

One thing I would like to add, to Canons credit, I had the noise problem show up again about a month ago and sent it back in to Canon. I told the rep the story and when I got my camera back 3 weeks later(instead of the 6 it took last year) the bill was ��0! Canons warranty on service and repair is only 6 months and they replaced the drum again under warranty, which in Japan as you know is almost unheard of as rules are not to be broken.

As Rik said if you head up this way drop me a line and we can organize to hook up for a beer. My wife and I are heading off to Nagano snowboarding on X-mas eve for a few days but have been thinking about coming down your way. What resorts do you recommend that have both intermediate terrain and something challenging?