Canon GL2 Horizontal Banding
 

I have a 3 yr old GL2 that is driving me nuts with sporadic bouts of horizontal ‘banding’ and interlacing. This situation only happens when I turn on the camera and begin to record a scene. It doesn’t happen during the middle of recording a scene, only at the beginning of a scene. When I play back the tape, what I see is 10 horizontal bands across the screen, and the new video scene can be seen in every other band (5 in all), while the last image I shot is interlaced in the other 5 bands. This effect will usually clear up in 15 to 30 seconds of footage.

I’ve had the camera in for repairs 4 times in the past year, and nothing has fixed the problem. They’ve replaced the recording drum and head assembly, they’ve reprogrammed the software loaded on the video processor chip, and they’ve cleaned and recalibrated everything. The only thing they haven’t done is replace the processor chip itself. One thing to mention; I only use Sony premium DV tapes in this camera. The last time I got banding the camera was fresh out of the shop and I was using a brand new tape.

I’m curious if there are any DV Info members out there who have experienced the same problem with their GL2 and what was done to fix it.

Thank you!

I've heared things about bad reactions on sony tapes with canon camera's..

I've only ever used Sony tapes in all three of my GL2s and have never had a problem.

Repairs By?
 

You did not mention who did the repairs. Was it Canon?

I get the occasional banding that you are describing, but mine can occur at the beginning of a clip or anywhere in the middle. There doesn't seem to be any reason behind it.

Could you post how much your various repairs cost you, and who performed them?

Canon GL2 Horizontal Banding
 

Of the four times I've had the camera repaired, Canon did the work two times. I'm up to about $700 in repairs now.

I tried a TDK tape this weekend and no problems yet....first time I've used a non-Sony tape in the camera since I bought it. Based on the feedback I received from another forum I posted on, it seems that Canon vidcams and Sony tapes aren't always compatible.

Ouch. Sorry to hear that. I haven't really heard that Sony tapes are bad for Canon cameras, but I've always used Panasonic and been pretty happy with them.

Hi
Somebody (did not remember who) recommended me to never use Sonytapes on Canon camera. I have used Maxell and Fuji (and sometimes panasonic) and never had any problem.

All the Best
Ronnie

Most of what people say about tapes is Internet legend, and not based on fact. What I feel reasonably confident saying is:

There are only a few companies that make MiniDV tape (other just relabel it),
all brand-name tape is good,
but some batches of tape are better than others,
a camcorder may show a slight preference for certain brands (mainly due to specifics of the record current setup, but this is not an assured thing from one camcorder to the next),
the tape lubricant incompatibility issue between Sony and Panasonic was resolved in the 1990s,
however cleaning heads when changing brands is still a good idea for other reasons (involving mechanical properties of the tape) ,
higher price tape usually is subject to better quality control so it should have fewer drip-outs but that is not always assured,
drop outs tend to be higher in the first and last minute or so of a tape,
avoid using LP speed if you can,
some capture problems will rest with the PC, not the camcorder,
it is tape, a physical product subject to manufacturing variations and tollerances, so you will eventually encounter a tape with some defects, and
if YOU find a brand/model of tape YOU like, feel free to stick with it, but do not expect others to like it as much as you do.

Amen Don!!

Canon GL2 Horizontal Banding
 

No doubt there is an element of 'internet legend' to the Sony tape issue. nonethless, I have experienced thehorizontal banding problem using brand-new Sony tapes in TWO of my Canon vid cams , a GL2 and an Elura (and I never re-use tapes). I recently switched to a TDK tape in the GL2, and haven't had any problems in roughly 30 mins of recording. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Tapes
 

Steve,

I have about 200 sony premimum tapes on the shelf, that is all I use. I have not experienced the banding issue while recording.

Interestingly, my camera shoots clean footage but in vcr mode the footage will show banding. the tape played on two other cameras in vcr mode and they do not show it. I have not bothered to send it in for repairs sense it shoots just fine and i use an 800 as a vcr player.

Better to make the judgement after 30 tapes, not 30 minutes.

Sounds like a marginally dirty head resulting in a slightly weaker recorded signal on tape and/or a reduced efficiency reading what is recorded on tape (but there could be other causes as well). A good cleaning might help.

Don,

I have always used a cleaning tape. After reading your post I thought, what do I have to lose, I ran the cleaning tape through the entire minute of the tape (they say only 10 seconds or you might ruin the heads).

Put it on the 54 inch plasma, NO BLOCKS or Bands!!


thank you for the simple comment, saved sending of the gl2!!!!

They say on those tape cleaning kits, and in the Canon documentation, not to overdo the cleaning in a short period of time, or you'll damage the heads. Doing the full minute seems like a bad idea even if it gave immediate (but temporary?) good results?

Cleaning tapes are a mild abrasive and can wear the heads at a rapid rate if overused. Follow the instruction with the tape, which usually is about 10 seconds, give or take, per application.

Did you ever get this issue resolved? I am having the same problem and would like to know what to tell the repair facility.

It is not a Sony tape related problem. I am using Panasonic tapes and it happens on them. I find it hard to believe that it is a head cleaning issue, as the video quality is pristine, it just isn't recorded on half the tape initially. The heads have been professionally cleaned and aligned, and I have used cleaning tapes. If there were a cleanliness issue, I would expect video quality to deteriorate randomly, not in a consistant patterned manner that is somewhat reproducible. It doesn't happen every time, but when it does it always happens the same way.

I've had it happen for periods of less than a second up to over half of a tape.

I found mention on a forum somewhere (I forget where) that this problems sounded like a bad head or a bad preamp. That sounds consistant with the problem, or a bad connection somewhere. But I have no way to verify that.

Thank you.

I too only use Panasonic tapes and am having the same problem. Mine started after a fall with the camera. I have cleaned the heads which seems to help at the time but it keeps comming back.

HI,

I normaly use a Sony Premium and all good. A weeks ago I used a maxell tapes and everything good, then I start to use a Sony Premium again but this time in LP but when I transfer it to my pc I saw the video all cutting up.

I don't know what exactly is... is the LP mode?

LP (long play, i.e., 90 minutes on a nominal 60 minute MiniDV tape) mode is known to be unreliable when played back on a different camcorder, and possibly even the camcorder that shot it at some point in the future if the camcorder tape path alignment is drifted even slightly. Thus the common admonishment to minimize use of LP mode fro important material, and to capture immediately from the camcorder that shot it.

The reason for this is the tape moves more slowly, so the recorded track with is narrower, and thus the tape path alignment is far more critical in terms of getting an error-free read of the data on tape.

Changing tape brands without a head cleaning may have made the LP speed issue worse if it cause some tape deposits in the mechanism to moe about and/or cause a partial head clog. A head cleaning might help.