hour count trick at DVinfo.net

Brian Doyle · September 26th, 2005, 09:37 PM

Does anyone here know how to find out the hour count on a GL2 camera? How about a XL1s and a xl2? I know that most cameras have a hiden trick to tell the time the camera has been used.

Boyd Ostroff · September 27th, 2005, 03:25 AM

Brian, I've removed your cross-posts of this same question from the XL1 and XL2 forums. Sorry, but we don't allow cross-posting at DVinfo, please see the following for more info:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/announcem...ouncementid=23

Thanks for your cooperation.

Don Palomaki · September 27th, 2005, 04:09 AM

Your question comes up periodically. I do not recall reading of a successful answer for the XL1 series or the GL series and it is not shown in the service manual for the XL1. You mgiht try a search of each of the forums.

Chris Hurd · September 27th, 2005, 06:12 AM

There is no trick that I'm aware of for any of the Canon camcorders, plus, Canon Service will not divulge this info. Prior to selling my XL1, I sent it in for one last cleaning and final check-up and I asked 'em to please report the number of hours that were on it... the answer back was simply "we don't provide that information, sorry."

Steve Olds · September 27th, 2005, 06:56 AM

Can't supply,Don't supply or will not supply. Maybe they don't have a way to tell. Unless ....they use this hidden hour meter for warrany and for their own use. The world may never know. Steve

Brian Doyle · September 27th, 2005, 06:37 PM

First sorry for cross posting. I was unaware that it's not done here. Second maybe there is someone out there who works for cannon who will be our deep thoat about how to do this. I can't believe that cannon wouldn't hide a way to check the hours. I think it also only helps them if people know the hours on a camera. If you think about it. If you're looking at a used camera with 100 hours that sounds like a lot even though it may not be. I wonder how many sales cannon lost to people who bought used cameras instead of the new one they would've had known the hours on the used camera.

Chris Hurd · September 27th, 2005, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Doyle

First sorry for cross posting. I was unaware that it's not done here.

Dang. I gotta figure out how to make this more obvious:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/announcem...ouncementid=23

Let's see, where's that code for blinking text?

Boyd Ostroff · September 27th, 2005, 07:14 PM

The sony "pro" cameras (PD-170, PDX-10, HVR-Z1 and HVR-A1) allow you to access this data from the menus. But on other Sony cameras you can read the internally stored statistics using a special wired remote control which plugs into the LANC port.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=16815

You can get one here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost....42&postcount=5

Unfortunately, I don't think it will do anything for you on a Canon camcorder...

Don Palomaki · September 27th, 2005, 07:27 PM

Before fussing too much about cross posts, the question related to three different camcorders, and thus could have had three different responses were the internals different. Would anyone have fussed if only one was mentioned in each post (the one for that forum)?

On lack of a run-time counter: Given that warranty is based on date first purchased, not hours, there is no need for the hour meter for warranty purposes. To be meaningful, the hour meter would have to count all time the heads are spinning on the tape; i.e., record, playback, and pause.

But hours only partly correlate to wear, that will also depend on the tape used, how often it is cleaned with a dry cleaning tape, the environment in which it is used, etc. There is no specific time-based maintenance requirement as with many systems, especially commercial systems that may operae 24/7.

September 26th, 2005, 09:37 PM	#1
Brian Doyle Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Booklyn NY Posts: 95	hour count trick Does anyone here know how to find out the hour count on a GL2 camera? How about a XL1s and a xl2? I know that most cameras have a hiden trick to tell the time the camera has been used. __________________ Brian Doyle XL1-s Bogen 503 head Sony wireless Adobe Premiere 6.0 Matrox RT2500

September 27th, 2005, 04:09 AM	#3
Don Palomaki Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,488	Your question comes up periodically. I do not recall reading of a successful answer for the XL1 series or the GL series and it is not shown in the service manual for the XL1. You mgiht try a search of each of the forums. __________________ dpalomaki@dspalomaki.com

September 27th, 2005, 06:12 AM	#4
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	There is no trick that I'm aware of for any of the Canon camcorders, plus, Canon Service will not divulge this info. Prior to selling my XL1, I sent it in for one last cleaning and final check-up and I asked 'em to please report the number of hours that were on it... the answer back was simply "we don't provide that information, sorry." __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

September 27th, 2005, 06:37 PM	#6
Brian Doyle Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Booklyn NY Posts: 95	First sorry for cross posting. I was unaware that it's not done here. Second maybe there is someone out there who works for cannon who will be our deep thoat about how to do this. I can't believe that cannon wouldn't hide a way to check the hours. I think it also only helps them if people know the hours on a camera. If you think about it. If you're looking at a used camera with 100 hours that sounds like a lot even though it may not be. I wonder how many sales cannon lost to people who bought used cameras instead of the new one they would've had known the hours on the used camera. __________________ Brian Doyle XL1-s Bogen 503 head Sony wireless Adobe Premiere 6.0 Matrox RT2500

September 27th, 2005, 07:27 PM	#9
Don Palomaki Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,488	Before fussing too much about cross posts, the question related to three different camcorders, and thus could have had three different responses were the internals different. Would anyone have fussed if only one was mentioned in each post (the one for that forum)? On lack of a run-time counter: Given that warranty is based on date first purchased, not hours, there is no need for the hour meter for warranty purposes. To be meaningful, the hour meter would have to count all time the heads are spinning on the tape; i.e., record, playback, and pause. But hours only partly correlate to wear, that will also depend on the tape used, how often it is cleaned with a dry cleaning tape, the environment in which it is used, etc. There is no specific time-based maintenance requirement as with many systems, especially commercial systems that may operae 24/7. __________________ dpalomaki@dspalomaki.com

September 27th, 2005, 03:25 AM	#2
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	Brian, I've removed your cross-posts of this same question from the XL1 and XL2 forums. Sorry, but we don't allow cross-posting at DVinfo, please see the following for more info: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/announcem...ouncementid=23 Thanks for your cooperation.

September 27th, 2005, 06:56 AM	#5
Steve Olds Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Rolla, Mo Posts: 116	Can't supply,Don't supply or will not supply. Maybe they don't have a way to tell. Unless ....they use this hidden hour meter for warrany and for their own use. The world may never know. Steve

September 27th, 2005, 07:14 PM	#8
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	The sony "pro" cameras (PD-170, PDX-10, HVR-Z1 and HVR-A1) allow you to access this data from the menus. But on other Sony cameras you can read the internally stored statistics using a special wired remote control which plugs into the LANC port. http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=16815 You can get one here: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost....42&postcount=5 Unfortunately, I don't think it will do anything for you on a Canon camcorder...