Hi, I have an XL1s that I got about 4 years ago that I have used for various video projects. However, I am still no expert with this camera - I have always been somewhat technically inept.

Anyway, I noticed that in my recent shoots the footage has often been somewhat blurry and a bit washed with light. This is not the crisp image that I expect from the XL1s.

I need to know how to get my camera in tip-top shape - whether this means that I need to clean it, reset some of the settings or whatever. I just want to get it back into the condition it was in when I first got it. I am shooting a video tomorrow and the footage needs to look sharp.

Any help or suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

Start with a good and proper lens cleaning. Follow that with a head cleaner tape (follow the tape mfgr's intructions). If viewing these 'blurry' images through the viewfinder, make sure that you have the diopter adjustment properly set for your eye. I like to do this by putting the lens cap on and adjusting the diopter until the character overlays become as clear as possible. That tells me that the viewfinder optics are now set for my eye to see the clearest image at the focal distance from my eye to the focal plane defined by the lcd display. After all, the character overlays never change, the image through the lens does and may not be in optimal focus while you set the vf.

Good luck with your shoot,

-gb-

Thanks. I have been adjusting the diopter before shoots and generally the image looks to be in focus in the viewfinder during the shoot. It's when I view the footage later that it appears out of focus etc.

Also, if I shoot in automatic or manual modes, what would be your suggested settings to start with? Thanks.

Peter

Hi Peter,

I may have read your post incorrectly, but it sounds like maybe you haven't used your camera in a long time. (?) If that's right, did you compare with footage you shot a long time ago and find it to look more blurry and washed out? I ask that because the XL1s isn't exactly known for a "crisp" image, and I wondered if you remember it being more crisp than it was.

In manual mode if you can ride your AF button you should always be in focus--unless the back focus has gone out on the lens. When I can't look for specific settings (for specific conditions) that people have posted in various threads here I just leave the camera settings at default. For the "washed with light" problem you may want to adjust down your brightness in the camera. I don't--I just make the adjustment when I edit--but if you have time to test first, maybe you'll like it better. Also, if you're using a UV fiilter for protection there's a chance you've been catching reflected light.

Good luck!