Yet Another GL2 Horror Story

Thomas Hartz-Olsson · November 16th, 2005, 02:00 AM

I don't know about the law in the US (?), but here in Denmark, when you've had your product in for RMA three times with the same problem you can demand to get your money back!

Jean-Francois Robichaud · November 28th, 2005, 12:09 PM

Well, another one for the record:

After 6 months of use, the REMOVE THE CASSETTE problem started appearing frequently on my GL2, mostly during rewinding. I brought it to the Canon-licensed service center here in Montreal (AMT Acadien). 3 weeks later, I got the camera back, after they changed the tape drive: it took them a while to get the spare part from Canon.

The next day I shot 4 tapes for a show, and the problem did not appear. Note that I did not rewind the tapes in the GL2. I'm crossing my fingers, hoping the problem won't reappear, but I'm going to play it safe: I don't intend to ever rewind tapes in my camera. I'll always use my Maxell rewinder instead. However, because I capture my logged footage in batch mode, the camera sometimes has to rewind a bit during the batch job, and it's often in this situation that the problem occurred in the past. I'll be looking to buy a cheap, used camcorder for capturing.

My camera was still under warranty, so the repairs were free. When I picked up the camera, I did notice that the store copy of the invoice said $350 (canadian).

Bob Benkosky · December 13th, 2005, 09:00 PM

Well, My GL2 was ok for awhile, but now the Zoom on the grip is sticking and causing the top zoom button to not function properly if it gets stuck. I try my best to not use it at all but sometimes you can bump it by accident and then I have to bang it around a bit to unstick the zoom grip.

I do think maybe these cameras weren't made too good and if I knew about all these horror stories I might have went a different way.

I'm not sure I even want to send my camera away to a service center now after hearing all these stories. Too bad I have so many things fitted for the GL2, like the wide-angle lens and steadi-cam. I've also already shot a bunch of footage that still needs polishing.

At least the camera works but it's not fun to have something this expensive broken in any way shape or form.

You guys think I should just sell it or try to get it fixed?

How much might this zoom grip cost anyways? Has anyone had this problem?

December 13th, 2005, 09:15 PM

Well, I do have one camera that has a zoom problem (thanks for reminding me...lol). It seems to zoom on its own sometimes... like if I start a slow zoom and stop with my finger, the camera keeps zooming all the way in... or out. Other times it works fine. Nothing wrong with the button at all, I don't think. Anyway, if the camera is still within its one year factory warranty period, they'll fix it at no charge. If it's no longer in warranty, it will cost $250. They have a steamlined charge for regular maintainence... if you just want the heads cleaned and the camera refurbished back to 'new' factory standards... $250. If you need a new LCD because yours stopped working... $250. Whenever you send it in for a repair of a faulty camera part (the button in your case), they do the refurbish process as well during the same visit.

As a side note, I've found Canon to be very efficient with minor problems like these... it's the ones that they can't duplicate (like the shut-down problems) initially that take time to get fixed by sending it in over and over again.

I think though that they've finally agreed that some of these 'mysterious' problems exist now, like the shut-down problem, that they've become even more efficient in addressing the problems.

December 13th, 2005, 09:00 PM	#33
Bob Benkosky Major Player Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Lake Park, Florida Posts: 202	Well, My GL2 was ok for awhile, but now the Zoom on the grip is sticking and causing the top zoom button to not function properly if it gets stuck. I try my best to not use it at all but sometimes you can bump it by accident and then I have to bang it around a bit to unstick the zoom grip. I do think maybe these cameras weren't made too good and if I knew about all these horror stories I might have went a different way. I'm not sure I even want to send my camera away to a service center now after hearing all these stories. Too bad I have so many things fitted for the GL2, like the wide-angle lens and steadi-cam. I've also already shot a bunch of footage that still needs polishing. At least the camera works but it's not fun to have something this expensive broken in any way shape or form. You guys think I should just sell it or try to get it fixed? How much might this zoom grip cost anyways? Has anyone had this problem? __________________ http://www.veoh.com/channels/filmmaker My clips and films.

November 16th, 2005, 02:00 AM	#31
Thomas Hartz-Olsson Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark Posts: 63	I don't know about the law in the US (?), but here in Denmark, when you've had your product in for RMA three times with the same problem you can demand to get your money back!

November 28th, 2005, 12:09 PM	#32
Jean-Francois Robichaud Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Montreal, Canada Posts: 142	Well, another one for the record: After 6 months of use, the REMOVE THE CASSETTE problem started appearing frequently on my GL2, mostly during rewinding. I brought it to the Canon-licensed service center here in Montreal (AMT Acadien). 3 weeks later, I got the camera back, after they changed the tape drive: it took them a while to get the spare part from Canon. The next day I shot 4 tapes for a show, and the problem did not appear. Note that I did not rewind the tapes in the GL2. I'm crossing my fingers, hoping the problem won't reappear, but I'm going to play it safe: I don't intend to ever rewind tapes in my camera. I'll always use my Maxell rewinder instead. However, because I capture my logged footage in batch mode, the camera sometimes has to rewind a bit during the batch job, and it's often in this situation that the problem occurred in the past. I'll be looking to buy a cheap, used camcorder for capturing. My camera was still under warranty, so the repairs were free. When I picked up the camera, I did notice that the store copy of the invoice said $350 (canadian).

December 13th, 2005, 09:15 PM	#34
Guest Posts: n/a	Well, I do have one camera that has a zoom problem (thanks for reminding me...lol). It seems to zoom on its own sometimes... like if I start a slow zoom and stop with my finger, the camera keeps zooming all the way in... or out. Other times it works fine. Nothing wrong with the button at all, I don't think. Anyway, if the camera is still within its one year factory warranty period, they'll fix it at no charge. If it's no longer in warranty, it will cost $250. They have a steamlined charge for regular maintainence... if you just want the heads cleaned and the camera refurbished back to 'new' factory standards... $250. If you need a new LCD because yours stopped working... $250. Whenever you send it in for a repair of a faulty camera part (the button in your case), they do the refurbish process as well during the same visit. As a side note, I've found Canon to be very efficient with minor problems like these... it's the ones that they can't duplicate (like the shut-down problems) initially that take time to get fixed by sending it in over and over again. I think though that they've finally agreed that some of these 'mysterious' problems exist now, like the shut-down problem, that they've become even more efficient in addressing the problems.