I have looked everywhere and can't find anything about this problem, which leads me to believe I'm doing something stupid. Anyhow, I want to find the answer anyway. When I shoot with my XL1, regardless of light conditions (for the most part) I get a vertical stripe pattern. somethimes it is most noticeable in dark areas, but it tends to be noticeable overall, when I am shooting in room light (as opposed to daylight). I get the pattern whether shooting in auto or manual modes. I have the first generation XL1. Any help would be much appreciated.

There was a subtle vertical line issue with the very first batch of XL1's to ship to the US in late 1997. This was fixed by Canon in the next production run and as a sort of recall by Canon on units already shipped. I suspect there is a deiscussion of it in the Watchdog archives.

But your problem may be different. Can you describe it more priecisely?

It sounds like your reply is exactly what I'm dealing with. I bought this XL1 the first month they were out. What it looks like is if you were to shoot through a screen door, but all there was were vertical mesh and the screen is attached to the lens, so that the vertical lines are stationary, while the subject of the frame moves. It is just a pattern that is created by a series of lighter and darker pixels, which run vertically the entire height of the frame, (it actually looks a lot like the horizontal pattern which runs on the "DV i Community" logo at the top of this web site). It is less perceptible in full daylight, but still visible. It is most visible when working with lower light, or artificial light situations. It makes otherwise very nice video look poorly exposed, or grainy. does this help? I would really love to get the answer to the problem.

Thanks.

Does not sound like the vertical lines issue of late 1997. Can you posr a captured farme grab somewhere? And what is the gain setting for the footage in question?

Actually, you know what Don, this *is* the vertical lines issue of 1997.

I exchanged some e-mails with Tim last night, and as it turns out, he has an *early, early* XL1 from January 1998 which has never been in for service. Sure enough, Tim has a rare XL1 which was bought before the dealer recall of late Jan. '98.

Just this morning I spoke with Canon USA about his camera, and it should not be a problem to get this fixed with the noise reduction circuitry, which was implemented into XL1 production back in early '98. Additionally, he'll be getting the EVF hardware modification of April '98 and whatever software updates he needs.

Basically, Tim will have a practically new camera when it's all said and done. I was mildly surprised to hear about a first-run, unmodified camera this late in the XL1 lifecycle.

Hats off to Canon Service for taking care of him,

Ahhhh. I gfuess the 'screen door mesh' part threw me. Had not heard that descriptor before. Glad to hear it is under resolution.

I had the same problem on an xl1 that was dated april of 98. I sent it in 3 times and canon sent it back saying that it was normal. After 2 years my partner bought an xl1 and his was flawless. No lines in any shots. I called canon and ranted and raved and got really p***ed and told them I didn't appreciate the runaround. I then sent it back in and they completely replaced the circuit board where this problem originated. Finally a quality picture after 2 years!! I think Canon Sevice was pretty lame myself.

I was also told that the early xl1's that were "fixed" after this bug was caught still exhibit this problem slightly. They simply added a noise reduction circuit to filter out the noise but it "could" still be seen under just the right circumstance. In later build they actually eliminiated the source of the noise. That is why I demanded that they replace the circuit board with a new one...not just modify mine. It's kind of like treating the disease and not the symptoms.

Just my 2 cents.

Marty
Icicle Studios

I received my shipping materials today and am shipping out the camera. Chris, and those on the DVi Community have been very helpful in this. I am hopeful that I will receive my camera back "better" than new. I'd really hate to get into a runaround with Canon as it sounds like you did. I guess I'll know in a few days.