1. My component output cable (the one on the back) has loosened through being used on a 12 day shoot and now won't transmit all three colors unless I jam it in really hard and hold it there. Has anyone else got this problem? Unless there is another solution I guess I'd better return it to Canon. What a drag. Advice please.

2. In addition, some pixels died - but were revived by rebooting the camera. It only happened a couple of times, but it makes me wonder if this is going to be an ongoing concern, or if it will get worse. Any thoughts?

3. Is my DP mad, or is it impossible to pull focus and zoom at the same time on this camera? Or is this particular camera at fault. If this is a problem feature of the XLH1 then I'm kind of annoyed that I didn't find out about this before. It was a damned nuisance.

4. Despite the above issues, and the fact that I can't yet digitize into FCP at 24f, the camera was superb. We used a Dell 24" monitor on set and the quality of picture is truly astonishing to me - this is my first digital movie after eight 35mm features. I never want to see a film camera again. In the celluloid world, when you want to change the camera position by two feet, one has to convene a soviet, 12 crew members have to be called in, a major break called and nervous breakdowns ensue. With this camera, the operator picked it up and moved it. Just like that.

Any advice is appreciated. This is a great site.

Best wishes,

Harry.

Your DP is not mad (although he might be angry). It is not possible to pull focus and zoom at the same time with any XL series auto lens.

I recommend replacing the component video cable. You don't nheed to go through Canon for that part. The D-terminal at the camera end is an industry standard connector. I think it's a good idea to attach that cable with some kind of stress relief, such as wrapping it around a pan handle or something similar. The weight of the cable by itself probably puts too much stress on the D-terminal.

Thanks for the advice. I'll get hold of Canon and try to prise a free replacement cable out of them. We did in fact use the stress relief you mention, so it shouldn't have gone wrong. I imagine this comes under the warranty.

And I'm furious about this wretched thing where you can't pull focus and zoom simultaneously. What a wacky idea. What's wrong with these people. I'm astonished that this idiotic design flaw went into an otherwise very used friendly machine.

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Best

Harry

For the record, all of the XL series auto lenses have had that particular "feature" since late 1997. Hopefully Canon will offer a manual HD lens sometime soon, similar to the 16x manual lens for the earlier XL2 and previous camcorders. On that one you can pull focus and zoom at the same time.

Welcome to DV Info Net,

Harry - I would advise (like Chris has mentioned) that you get the Canon 16 X Manual Servo lens (or earlier 14 X Manual lens). In tests they both provide very good performance on the H1, and when (or if) Canon brings out the updated HD version this Autumn, it should be no problem to sell the SD version if you feel the need to update.