Cassette problem - help!!

[Erik Palm]

After just one test tape, my XH-A1 gave up on me. I could not change the cassette. Instead "remove the cassette" started to blink. Also when there is no cassette, the red cassette symbol starts to blink and the camera cannot be used.

Today I missed a great film opertunity, instead I had to return the camera to the shop.

This is extremely dissapointing for a professional grade camera. I work professionally and feel that this camera lost its credibility. Even if I can get it fixed - when will it happened again?

Anyone with a similar experience? Advice?

/Erik

[Chris Hurd]

Identify the cassette brand and product name or number please.

[Billy Griffin]

simply return the camera and get a new one! I've had no issues with tapes, so perhaps you've just got a bad deck. Lots of people forget that there's more to the "camCORDER" than the camera... there's all the little delicate parts of the recorder as well. Maybe it was damaged during shipping or something. Again, I'd just exchange it for a new one.

[Erik Palm]

I went to the store, and when I tried again the camcorder worked. The people at the store said the malfunction was because I closed the tapemechanism pushing the black lid instead of the metal cassett holder.
The one hour rest must somehow have restored the camera. I don´t know why a new camera should need a rest.

I have worked with five different Sony PD cameras closing the tapemechanism pushing the lid, but with Canon you obviously need to be more careful. I find this a bad design for a professional camera where your gear have to be robust, when you work fast. I hope it continues to work now, I keep you updated if it does't.

In conclusion - Canon has a sensitive tapemechanism that you have to be very carful when you insert a tape.

[Khoi Pham]

There is a big yellow sticker on the side that said push, and that is where you should push, each manufacture is different, you shouldn't expect Canon function to work the same as Sony, but I think Canon A1 tape transport is more robust than Sony PD, VX and FX and Z series and also much faster in loading and FF or RW.

[Greg Boston]

It's really not that sensitive or non-robust, Erik. It's designed to be shut by pushing the inner door. The outer door will not exert pressure on the inner door. Every mini-dv mechanism I have been around has an inner door that has to be closed first, before the outer door. The inner door always has a message 'push here' or 'close here' to indicate the proper placement of pressure by your fingers.

And speaking of working fast, I never found a hindrance working with the newer style transport that was on the XL2. I could pop a tape, insert a new one, and be rolling again in just under 10 seconds.

Since your camera is brand new, you should run a head clean cassette right away. Many camera owners, myself included, have experienced a dirty head message on new cameras after just one or two cassettes. Running a head clean at the outset seems to eliminate this issue.

Don't worry about the camera, just operate it the way it's designed to be operated and I'm confident that it will work well for you.

-gb-

[Larry Vaughn]

I had the same problem. My Optura 30 has a sticker like the XH-A1 that says don't push on this part. To me, that means keep away from the whole thing.

In fact, by pushing on the outer door, you are pushing on the side of the inner plastic part, because there are metal ears on the door that do just that. Actually there is the word PUSH, gray in color, molded into the gray plastic, upside down when looking at the camera from the side. I've never pushed on that push part until today and it has always worked fine.

So I loaded the XH-A1 the same way and was having a problem. Page 23 of the manual tells you how to load the tape and there is also a drawing.

I did push on the Push Here sticker and everything worked fine. At least it does so far.