I got my XH-A1 out of the box and familarized myself with the controls. I recorded a few seconds of video. It rattled a bit internally when turned off. A couple days later when I went out to use it, it worked for a couple minutes and then stopped working at all. The only thing that works is playback and maybe remote control. The lights don't come on when the control knob is set to any record position.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Did you buy it mail order? Sounds like damaged in transit. What does your dealer have to say?

Have you tried the switch by the record button? This is a standby switch.

Agreed. Ten bucks from my PayPal account says its the standby / lock switch.

Ok....so here's my story....I got the camera shipped from a New York store and the Canon box wasn't padded, inside the outer box, except for an air bag underneath the inside box. There was 4" of free play for the inside box to slam around. There is something loose in the camera, when I turn it sideways I hear it. When I turn the camera on, the noise goes away. I'm assuming this is the image stabilization powering up. When I turn it off, I hear a click. The outer shipping box shows some damage.

I called Canon and talked to 4 tech reps over a few days time. Some say the camera should be silent. Some say there is a slight noise. Someone else I know who has this camera says it does make some powering up noises.

I took it out at night and shoot some footage. I observe the operation of the standby/lock switch. The camera stops working. It's very dark outside. I think of the 1.5 foot long crease in the side of the box, the way it was packed and think I should take the advice of several people and send it back anyways. I put it back in the original box without doing anything further, like checking the switch again.

I then called another Canon tech and asked him if there is something on the camera that will cause the no-record problem (after I have packed up the camera) and he says "There is nothing on the camera that will make it not record other than the control dial."

Obviously he was wrong, because it does work. I unpacked it and checked. Thanks! However, I still am cautious because of the way it was shipped, the internal noises which may or may not be a problem and have already ordered a replacement.

Guys, when you shut off your camera, do you hear a click? Also, when I record and move the camera around, like upside down, it records some clicking noises on tape.

What has your experience been? What would you do?

Update-some of the clicking I hear on tape is coming from the adjustable eyepiece, which rattles when I jiggle the camera. The focusing mechanism is sloppy and I'll bet $10.00 from my PayPal account that everyone else's is too.

if you're that unsure, send it back anyway if you can. you'll sleep better at night. may be a hassle now but you might be glad later.

Guys, when you shut off your camera, do you hear a click?

When powering down, mine sounds more like a faint clankity clunk & figured it's normal. No other issues.

Bill

So now I see the Standby switch is a known culprit (re: "a1 standby problem" i created a moment ago).

Larry, our A1 doesn't make noises like you say, especially on the tape. That sounds suspicious to me.

If you hold an A1 by the top handgrip, completely powered off, and shake it a little, you'll hear a little bit of noise like something's loose inside. That's normal. It's related to the OIS Lens Shift mechanism. It isn't nearly the type of "clunk" sound associated with the Panasonic DVX100, but it's there and it's normal.

Rotate the camera and you might hear something that sounds like a tiny little screw rolling around. That's not what's actually happening, but it sounds similar. I have no idea what that is, but every A1 I've held has that sound. Whatever it is, it's not a tiny little screw rolling around.

There's also a little bit of noise when the camera is turned on and again when turned off. Again, it's the OIS mechanism going through a self-test on startup and a parking position on shut down.

If I were you, I'd get complete peace of mind and return the camera for a refund... and then buy another A1 from one of our sponsors (http://www.dvinfo.net/sponsors). They know how to double-box properly.

The replacement arrived today. It was packed exactly the same as the first one, the inner box was laying on an air bag with no padding at all around the other 5 sides. Of course, customer service said they would take care of the problem. Oh, the single air bag had less air in it-nearly none, so the inner Canon box was actually resting on the outer box, meaning there was no padding at all.

It seems to work so at this point I will work on doing a shoot for a contact I made today and try to forget about all of this.

Rotate the camera and you might hear something that sounds like a tiny little screw rolling around. That's not what's actually happening, but it sounds similar. I have no idea what that is, but every A1 I've held has that sound. Whatever it is, it's not a tiny little screw rolling around.

There's also a little bit of noise when the camera is turned on and again when turned off. Again, it's the OIS mechanism going through a self-test on startup and a parking position on shut down.

You guys have GREAT ears! I rotated my A1 around and heard nothing! I had to shake it (gently) to hear the noise you're talking about. It does make the normal start up noises, but I have to put my ear right up to it to hear those.
I got mine from B&H and it had about 7 feet of those little linked airbags in the outside box. Those guys know how to pack!

I got mine from B&H and it had about 7 feet of those little linked airbags in the outside box. Those guys know how to pack!

Don't tell that to another poster on here who tells a different story ;)

Bill

I finally got the refund on the first one from JR computer world. They didn't refund the shipping cost as they said they would. Another phone call.