Remove The Cassette

Todd Clark · March 19th, 2007, 08:22 AM

Am I missing something? Why would you try and load a tape in play or record mode? I would not think that would be possible.

William Boehm · March 19th, 2007, 01:21 PM

i have used a gl1 for 6 years and never, never had a load problem. occasional drop outs..but i never cleaned the heads...used in se alaska, mountain biking, skiing, backpacking...beat it up, fell on it over the handlebars on a bike filming while descending a gnarly trail in bc. cant speak highly enough....however i had a burned pixel, and 5 trips back and forth with accumulative damage, tracked that the shipper wasnt packing it right..only giving one wrap of paper. last time lens was broken, microphone boom broken. i contacted customer relations at canon in new york...and they replaced it with a new gl2. i traded up with a canon dealer in seattle to an xh a1, and have nothing but raves.

i use only panasonic tapes..with the exception of using sony a couple times in the gl1. i now use the panasonic amq, the same cut as the sony high end tapes but for less price. had used the xh a1 in terrible weather on vancouver west coast last week and we experienced a lot of rain. the camera got wet, condensation, even though i did my best to prevent it. operated flawlessly with no error messages. it is a great camera so far, and operated in difficult marine conditions. wether those effects are accumulative i do not know. but i cant say enough about the quality of this camera.

Brad Tyrrell · March 19th, 2007, 02:43 PM

Interesting.

I actually never intentionally tried to reload tape while any of my camcorders where in play or record. I seem to remember accidentally trying it and one of the machines just refusing to open.

Anyway, I unintentionally did it with the A1 this week and got the error message. Turned it off and reloaded. Works fine.

Except for this thread I probably would have assumed that this is normal.

Wrong?

Nick Larsen · March 19th, 2007, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd Clark

Am I missing something? Why would you try and load a tape in play or record mode? I would not think that would be possible.

While I can't definitively speak for Steven and his problem, I assume by play and record mode, he simply means the camera is on (Not currently recording or playing, but simply in standby, such as in Tv with the tape stopped). No one is talking about trying to insert or remove tapes while the tape is running.

Nick Larsen · March 19th, 2007, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Man, I apologize for asking you that question, but you'd be surprised how many people miss that step.

No problem at all, when I diagnose computer problems over the phone and need to make sure the power cord or something else simple is plugged in, I always tell the individuals to unplug it on both ends, then plug it back in. As many individuals just say, "Well OF COURSE it is plugged in, I'm not that dumb!" At which point they see a power cord laying next to the power outlet...

Brad Tyrrell · March 19th, 2007, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick Larsen

While I can't definitively speak for Steven and his problem, I assume by play and record mode, he simply means the camera is on (Not currently recording or playing, but simply in standby, such as in Tv with the tape stopped).

Me too. But.... my A1 only takes tapes without exception when the dial is turned to "off". Is it broken or working the way it should?

Nick Larsen · March 19th, 2007, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brad Tyrrell

Me too. But.... my A1 only takes tapes without exception when the dial is turned to "off". Is it broken or working the way it should?

So say you are in Av mode but not recording, if you open the door to the tape mechanism, it doesn't eject the tape? That seems kind of odd, as if you needed to do a quick tape change, it would be a pain to have to turn the whole system off, reload, then start up again.

My A1 will eject and load tapes when the dial is set to off, or any of the other recording modes. But the problem I am having with the tape being rejected the first time happens in all modes as well.

Brad Tyrrell · March 19th, 2007, 05:40 PM

I can eject from a recording mode, but when I try to reload without going to "off", the A1 tells me to take the tape out. I just turn it off then load and things are fine. I thought it was my fault for not turning it off.

I haven't really experimented, kinda didn't want to break something.

Nick Larsen · March 19th, 2007, 06:51 PM

Yeah, you are fine to open the door no matter what the mode. If it wasn't ready to eject the tape, it wouldn't let you. In the manual page 23 at the bottom it also mentions that it will eject/load tapes no matter what the dial is set to.

However, your issue seems similar to mine. If you would, do as you have been doing, and after you load a new tape and it says to remove it, simply close the door a second time and see if it accepts it.

Steve Wolla · March 19th, 2007, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brad Tyrrell

I can eject from a recording mode, but when I try to reload without going to "off", the A1 tells me to take the tape out. I just turn it off then load and things are fine. I thought it was my fault for not turning it off.

I haven't really experimented, kinda didn't want to break something.

It should not be doing that. It should be able to load tape in any of the modes.
When you close the cassette tape well, be careful to close it by only pushing on the corner of the door mechanism closest to you. On mine it's marked with a yellow tab.

John Brinks · March 20th, 2007, 02:25 AM

This appears to be yet another problem with the A1... man this thing is having real problems, if it was not for the price, i do not think canon would be selling any!

Someone mentioned how cheap cams never seem to have problems... and i would have to agree. my first camcorder was a $500 JVC which i had for five years before it was stolen... and i never had even the slightest problem, and i did not take care of it very well either, i used it in the rain without a cover, and dropped it on the beach several times and it never so much as gave me the slightest problem!

Yet my *very* expensive a1 has been one headache after another

sigh

Brad Tyrrell · March 20th, 2007, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Wolla

When you close the cassette tape well, be careful to close it by only pushing on the corner of the door mechanism closest to you. On mine it's marked with a yellow tab.

Well... I have found that if I slide a condom over an unused cassette and throw it over my left shoulder before a shoot, everything works great. The tape loading problem goes away and I don't even get dropouts.

(Special Attention: NEVER change brands of condoms - has something to do with different types of lubrication)

Bill Busby · March 20th, 2007, 08:08 AM

Brad, that cracked me up.

I noticed earlier while on here something about this "eject tape" notice in the VF from a thread I stumbled on in the XL1 forum I believe. I'll try to find it & will post the url. But from what I recall, it mentioned something about that's just another of Canon's way of telling you there's a headclog, etc.

Bill

*edit* Ok, so it wasn't just about head clogs.
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...ght=eject+tape
also http://tinyurl.com/258pm6

Steven Glicker · May 1st, 2007, 10:09 PM

Sounds like I'm not the only one... To clarify, I'm able to load a tape when the power dial is set to the 'off' position. When it's in another position it will successfully load a tape maybe 1 out of 5 times. If I try to shut the door (load) a second time it works maybe 1 out of 5 times. Generally I've been setting it to the 'off' position to load tapes. (Have not yet sent it in for service but plan to).

Nick Larsen · July 24th, 2007, 07:35 PM

After about 2 months, and a great deal of headache, my problem has been resolved. Here's the full problem:

Frequently, when I load a tape into the XH A1, it will take the tape halfway in, display "Remove the Cassette" then reject the tape. It does this in all modes, off and on. It does it with the included Canon tape, as well as other Panasonic and JVC tapes. I've even experienced the problem without a tape in the mechanism. When you close the door a 2nd time however, the tape will be accepted every time.

Their initial reaction was to suggest that I had been improperly closing the tape mechanism. However, the problem existed from the first tape I loaded into the factory fresh camera, so I knew it had nothing to do with my actions. I am always very careful where I press and close the tape mechanism, and have owned several Canon's before this, thus I knew I wasn't to blame. The problem ended up being a faulty tape loading mechanism.

First time I sent it in, they returned it, saying they replaced some lever, but the problem still existed.

However, on the 2nd trip back to the repair factory, they replaced the entire loading mechanism, and now it works like a charm.

I was somewhat boggled, as no one seemed to be experiencing a similar problem. So I just wanted to post my results for anyone out there who is occasionally getting rejected tapes and who knows that they are loading the tapes correctly. It may be a faulty tape loading mechanism, which should definitely be replaced while the repairs are free.

March 20th, 2007, 08:08 AM	#43
Bill Busby Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 959	Brad, that cracked me up. I noticed earlier while on here something about this "eject tape" notice in the VF from a thread I stumbled on in the XL1 forum I believe. I'll try to find it & will post the url. But from what I recall, it mentioned something about that's just another of Canon's way of telling you there's a headclog, etc. Bill edit Ok, so it wasn't just about head clogs. http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...ght=eject+tape also http://tinyurl.com/258pm6 Last edited by Bill Busby; March 20th, 2007 at 09:30 AM.

July 24th, 2007, 07:35 PM	#45
Nick Larsen New Boot Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 15	Success! After about 2 months, and a great deal of headache, my problem has been resolved. Here's the full problem: Frequently, when I load a tape into the XH A1, it will take the tape halfway in, display "Remove the Cassette" then reject the tape. It does this in all modes, off and on. It does it with the included Canon tape, as well as other Panasonic and JVC tapes. I've even experienced the problem without a tape in the mechanism. When you close the door a 2nd time however, the tape will be accepted every time. Their initial reaction was to suggest that I had been improperly closing the tape mechanism. However, the problem existed from the first tape I loaded into the factory fresh camera, so I knew it had nothing to do with my actions. I am always very careful where I press and close the tape mechanism, and have owned several Canon's before this, thus I knew I wasn't to blame. The problem ended up being a faulty tape loading mechanism. First time I sent it in, they returned it, saying they replaced some lever, but the problem still existed. However, on the 2nd trip back to the repair factory, they replaced the entire loading mechanism, and now it works like a charm. I was somewhat boggled, as no one seemed to be experiencing a similar problem. So I just wanted to post my results for anyone out there who is occasionally getting rejected tapes and who knows that they are loading the tapes correctly. It may be a faulty tape loading mechanism, which should definitely be replaced while the repairs are free.

March 19th, 2007, 08:22 AM	#31
Todd Clark Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Parma, Oh Posts: 172	Am I missing something? Why would you try and load a tape in play or record mode? I would not think that would be possible.

March 19th, 2007, 01:21 PM	#32
William Boehm Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Bothell, Washington Posts: 195	i have used a gl1 for 6 years and never, never had a load problem. occasional drop outs..but i never cleaned the heads...used in se alaska, mountain biking, skiing, backpacking...beat it up, fell on it over the handlebars on a bike filming while descending a gnarly trail in bc. cant speak highly enough....however i had a burned pixel, and 5 trips back and forth with accumulative damage, tracked that the shipper wasnt packing it right..only giving one wrap of paper. last time lens was broken, microphone boom broken. i contacted customer relations at canon in new york...and they replaced it with a new gl2. i traded up with a canon dealer in seattle to an xh a1, and have nothing but raves. i use only panasonic tapes..with the exception of using sony a couple times in the gl1. i now use the panasonic amq, the same cut as the sony high end tapes but for less price. had used the xh a1 in terrible weather on vancouver west coast last week and we experienced a lot of rain. the camera got wet, condensation, even though i did my best to prevent it. operated flawlessly with no error messages. it is a great camera so far, and operated in difficult marine conditions. wether those effects are accumulative i do not know. but i cant say enough about the quality of this camera.

March 19th, 2007, 02:43 PM	#33
Brad Tyrrell Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Morristown, New Jersey Posts: 249	Interesting. I actually never intentionally tried to reload tape while any of my camcorders where in play or record. I seem to remember accidentally trying it and one of the machines just refusing to open. Anyway, I unintentionally did it with the A1 this week and got the error message. Turned it off and reloaded. Works fine. Except for this thread I probably would have assumed that this is normal. Wrong?

March 19th, 2007, 05:40 PM	#38
Brad Tyrrell Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Morristown, New Jersey Posts: 249	I can eject from a recording mode, but when I try to reload without going to "off", the A1 tells me to take the tape out. I just turn it off then load and things are fine. I thought it was my fault for not turning it off. I haven't really experimented, kinda didn't want to break something.

March 19th, 2007, 06:51 PM	#39
Nick Larsen New Boot Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 15	Yeah, you are fine to open the door no matter what the mode. If it wasn't ready to eject the tape, it wouldn't let you. In the manual page 23 at the bottom it also mentions that it will eject/load tapes no matter what the dial is set to. However, your issue seems similar to mine. If you would, do as you have been doing, and after you load a new tape and it says to remove it, simply close the door a second time and see if it accepts it.

March 20th, 2007, 02:25 AM	#41
John Brinks Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Phoenix Az Posts: 69	This appears to be yet another problem with the A1... man this thing is having real problems, if it was not for the price, i do not think canon would be selling any! Someone mentioned how cheap cams never seem to have problems... and i would have to agree. my first camcorder was a $500 JVC which i had for five years before it was stolen... and i never had even the slightest problem, and i did not take care of it very well either, i used it in the rain without a cover, and dropped it on the beach several times and it never so much as gave me the slightest problem! Yet my very expensive a1 has been one headache after another sigh

May 1st, 2007, 10:09 PM	#44
Steven Glicker Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 52	Sounds like I'm not the only one... To clarify, I'm able to load a tape when the power dial is set to the 'off' position. When it's in another position it will successfully load a tape maybe 1 out of 5 times. If I try to shut the door (load) a second time it works maybe 1 out of 5 times. Generally I've been setting it to the 'off' position to load tapes. (Have not yet sent it in for service but plan to).