Chuck, this was one of several things that irked me as well & forced myself to a remedy which involved drilling a hole in the cover, starting out with a small drill bit & working my way up to a 3/8" bit which was about right for the headphone plug on my headset. No more flappies :)

Bill

Split out from the "Initial User's review of the Canon XH-A1" thread at http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=78730 -- thanks for sharing this tip, Bill! Welcome aboard,

was thinking of doing the same exact thing..thanks for the bit size!!

Thanks Chris. Glad to finally be aboard. After days of being kept in the water my skin was all wrinkly :) Wait, that's an age thing :-\

I think the most nerve racking thing about that whole drilling process was making sure that 1st hole was in the center of the hole of the jack... numerous attempts at staring at the hole, swing the cover in place, etc., etc., repeat, repeat... until I was sure I was close enough & marked the spot. After the 1st drilled hole, I took the drillbit off and if I could close the cover & insert that bit through the cover deep enough to know it passing through the jack, I knew it was close enough & proceeded forward with this whole whacky method.

I preferred to work standing up so I could have more control, so I used my kitchen counter with the lens face down. I pulled the cover to the side for the drilling process (for obvious reasons), starting with, I think, a 3/32 bit using every other one after that, up to a 3/8 bit.

If anyone chooses to do this, make sure you clean the inside of the hole (I used an Exacto blade) so as not to leave any small dangling plastic pieces/dust that may come loose & funk up your jack or whatnot.

Regards,
Bill

Getting it lined up is never easy. Would have been nice if Canon marked the backside of this lid/flap thing with detents for this simple operation.

If you don't have a "Unibit" in your toolkit, get one! They're ideal for slow-speed plastic removal. They're marketed under different names but are a long, tapered bit with sequential cutting rings that are perfect for this task and are very precise when used s l o w l y. They also do a nice job of chamfering the edges.

http://www.irwin.com/irwin/consumer/...rwinProd100144

Too bad Canon didn't provide for a longer hinge point so this flap could be flipped under the body and snapped/velcroed open. It's all in the details.

Sounds like a mini hole saw. The hole is a good idea. I thought I'd just let the flap flop until it eventually comes off. On professional cameras I use, those flaps that cover up access ports always self-destruct after a few months, and I've never bothered to replace any.

Thanks Jay. I'll have to remember the unibit next time, but hope the "next time" isn't for something like this & hope developers think straight "next time" :)

Bill

What about using an X-acto knife to cut an X in the rubber so it still offers a little protection from the elements?

Yeah, that's a good idea. I have also seen them sold as "step drills".
If it's something that you will not use all the time some place like www.harborfreight.com would be a good choice. Most of thei tools I have bought would die quickly as a contractor, but for something like this that may not be used too often they are pretty good because they are cheap.

I think I'm gonna remove the caps altogether. They just get in the way.

I originally thought about something like that, but decided against it. Having to peel back the slits would seem to be cumbersome at best (to get the plug fully inserted) & eventually be worse than not doing anything at all.

Bill

Earphone Jack problem workaround
 

Some guys here already complained about the unsuitable placement of the earphone jack at the XH A1. In fact, mine went broken after some days of intense (but not extremly 'rough') ENG use.

I was lucky, because my repair shop fixed it on warranty, but the tech there admitted, that “this is a weak point” and that it might happen quickly again. So… what to do? If you’re doing ‘heavy duty shoot and run' , it can hardly be avoided to strain the earphone cable/jack sometimes. And I personally insist in controlling the sound all the time, especially when I'am working with wireless mics.

I figured out a solution that IMO is cheap and reliable. That’s what I did:

1) Drill a hole in the rubber plate, that covers the earphone jack, DV-In/Out, etc. ( To cut/drill a ‘clean hole’ into the thing turned out to be a little difficult. I bought a gasket that you can get for some cents from your home depot and glued it upon the hole – looks okay I think.

2) Make yourself a short earphone cable. Plug it -through the hole in the plate- into the camera and wind it some times around the rear part of the handheld.

3) Fix the cable additionally with some black Velcro at the handheld.

Now:

a) the jack is out of way – and flexible.

b) the rubber plate is closed , even if earphones are plugged in. Better protection against dust etc.

c) If you strain the cable, the pressure will not be transferred to the camera’s earphone jack itself. It’ll be ‘absorbed’ by the cable winded around the handheld. So, if anything goes wrong, you only have to fix a cable for some Euro/Dollar and don’t have to pay around 140 bucks (that’s what they normaly would have charged me) to get the cam repaired. Nervertheless, I think Canon should place the jack elsewhere and probably use a ‘big one’ – when / if a A2 will be released in a couple of years. ‘Mini-jacks ‘ suck!

Would like to attach a pic, but somehow I am not allowed to (?)

Did anyone find another solution for this (apart from ‘handling the cam smoothly', which is always a good advice of course)? And where do you use to fix a wireless receiver, when the hot shoe is ‘occupied’ by a headlight or anything?

Cheers
Jan

Hi Jan,

Thanks for this tip -- would love to see a pic. You should be able to upload one directly to this thread. Look for a "Manage Attachments" button below the text input area when you reply to a post.

There are a number of ways to mount a wireless receiver when the accessory shoe is already occupied. One of the best options is the Bracket 1. Hope this helps,

Thanks for the Bracket1 - Tip. Meanwhile I figured out another solution. I use a Beyerdynamic MCE 86 as Camera Mic and just fixed my Sennheiser G2 Receiver on the Top of the Mic. Therefore I use the shoe -not kidding- of a removable bicycle battery light. Works great and no interferences so far.
Don't made a foto of that yet. But I attached a pic of the earphone jack solution. Hope it works.

Yours looks better than my gasketless one :)

FYI, I have a G2 receiver as well & it's the perfect size to mount with velcro on the battery compartment door. I left mine in the shoe adapter clip that comes with it & just unscrewed the actual adapter. This not only gives a mountable surface for the receiver without actually having to place velcro on the receiver itself, but also places the receiver a little more away from the compartment door so it doesn't block the menu scroll wheel.

Bill