After mooching around for some time and discovering that there seemed to be no XL1/XL1s owner's club in Europe or the UK, I managed to get an email through to Canon UK.

For the benefit of DV Info Net's members here in the UK, here's what Canon had to say about servicing and the subject of an owner's club:

"To arrange a service for your camcorder contact our service centre direct on 0870 241 2161. Your camcorder does not require an extended warranty to be serviced by us. A charge will be incurred on out of warranty products.

An XL1s owners club is not something Canon Uk are currently participating in.

Regards

SD/3002"

Oh well...back to being a "poor relation" again I spose!

If only they realise how many people would sign up for it. Why oh, why oh, why. Canon would benefit really well, not only with an UK club but also a World club.

Any way, thanks for the info,

Ed Smith

Yeah same old story...our distant cousins over the pond get all the benefits while us Brits dont get any extras. I hope they soon see the error of their ways and realise that us in PAL land are just the same of the americans. Why not a Euro Club if they are frightened for lack of numbers in separate countries?

Well if any of you lads hear of anything of a Club in future, make sure to paste it in here!

Somehow I doubt Canon UK would start this up by themselves. Maybe if people got together and present them with a ready-made proposal (probably best to base it on the US model and show how successful it has been), they might consider it.

Does anyone know how the US club got going - Canons own idea or initiative from the owners that then got the corporate backing?

It is a real shame.

I actually don't live too far from their service centre. I hand delivered my Ixus last summer when it stopped working and walked through their service department. It looked very tidy and professionally laid out, which inspired confidence. The turn around time was quick too.

Still, would be nice if there was some sort of owners club.

I remember this from last year, as always i'll be interested in a UK owners club

Regards

Nick