Unable to set shutter speed

[Paul Mcevoy]

Can anybody help me?
My Xl2 is only four months old (purchased from a reputable dealer). I have taken great care of it since I have had it so there's been no banging it around or accidental drops.
I went to shoot with it yeterday and, no matter what I did, I could not set the shutter speed. The light stayed on no matter what I did to compinsate. I was already at the location that I had intended to shoot so I thought that I would just go ahead and try it.

When I got home, the footage was weird.The colors kept changing( It looked like the presets were cylcling through each other. One after the other the clor, tone, exposure, was changing).
I have tried everything to fix this. I don't want to have to send it to the dealership if it is just a matter of a small detail that I have over looked.
I did notice that this problem (Shutter is locked and light stays on) only happens when I am shooting in 24p.

Can any one help?

If my camera is broken do I get the dealer to replace it or just fix it?
Please help me. I am so depressed about this. I love my camera!

Thanks, Paul

[Rob Lohman]

Paul: first, welcome aboard (H)DV Info Net. Please use descriptive thread
titles in the future. I've edited your title to make your problem more clear.

It would be helpful if you could supply a bit more information. For example,
what program (mode) were you shooting in?

An idea could be to remove the main battery as well as the little battery that
you put in when you bought the camera. This is the backup battery that
keeps track of date & time amongst other things.

Removing that for a few minutes should reset the camera back to all of its
defaults.

[Paul Mcevoy]

Hey there Rob,
Thanks for the quick reply.
I tried every program (mode) but the light stayed on. I also did as you suggested and removed the back up battery but, no luck.
I contacted Canon but they just suggested that I ship it to them.It would take at least two weeks for them to look at it. I can't go without the camera for that long. I've already lost too much time (money).
Do you think the retailer will replace it if I bring it back there tomorrow (Monday)?
Have you heard of this problem before?
By the way, I'm sorry I didn't use a descriptive thread. I will in the future.
Thanks for your help, Rob.
-Paul

[Rob Lohman]

I don't own an XL2 myself, so I'm not sure you are having a problem or if
something else is going on. Trying to get as much information so other people
who do own this camera can tell you more about it.

Just to be safe; which light are you talking about? (I'm assuming the shutter
light in the viewfinder, just making sure).

If you do believe something is wrong and you are still under warranty I would
definitely take it back to the place you bought it. If you are lucky they have
another one there to see if that one operates in the same manner.

Whether they will swap it with another version you'll have to see and find out.
Never hurts to try though! ;)

[Paul Mcevoy]

Hey Rob,
Yeah, it's the light in the viewfinder.
I have a feeling that it has something to do with the frame rate choice.
The shutter problem happens only when I am shooting in 24p.
I'm pretty sure, at this point, there is nothing I can do about it. I've tried everything so I can only hope that the people who sold it to me can replace it.
Thanks for all of you help though. You've been great!
If you find out any more before tomorrow, I would appreciate it if you let me know.
I'll let you know how I get on after taking it back to the retailer. I keep thinking that the guy there will just flick a switch and, after looking at me like I was an idiot, will tell me it was nothing. I'll take that.
Thanks so much Rob.
Paul-

[Rob Lohman]

I don't think this is a problem, see:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=50126

[Paul Mcevoy]

Well done Rob!
I set the speed to 1/48 and the light went off.( as per Chris Hurd's suggestion)
There is one thing that I'm curious about though. As soon as I switch the setting, i.e Go from Av to A or Manual the Shutter speed defaults to a different rate and the light goes back on. It never did that before. The only way I can stop it from defaulting back out of 1/48 is by using the EXPOSURE LOCK. I never had to do that before, in any of the modes. Did I somehow change the default shutter speed at some point? If so, how do I change it back to 1/48 and keep it at that so that I don't have to use the exposure lock?
Thanks so much for figuring it out. You're a genuis.
I'm not sure what the protocol is on this forum but would it be okay to contact Chris to ask him about the default speed thing?
Thanks so much!
-Paul

[Rob Lohman]

I'm not sure on that. I'm hoping someone else who does know will read this
and respond.

The light just tells you if the shutter speed is not what Canon would recommend
for that mode.

In aperture priority and full auto mode the camera will control shutter for you.
In shutter priority and manual mode you get to set it yourself.

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Paul Mcevoy

I tried every program (mode) but the light stayed on.

There's nothing wrong with your XL2. Don't send it in for service, unless you just want the peace of mind you'll get when they ship it back saying it's working perfectly. From the way I'm reading this, it appears as though you're thinking of the shutter light in the viewfinder as an indicator of a problem. Don't look at it like that. When it lights up, it doesn't mean there's a problem with your selected shutter speed. It's only a signal that the shutter speed is out of the factory default setting. Now "default" doesn't always mean "right." There's nothing wrong with shooting out of the default shutter speed, in fact there are an uncountable number of situations where you should be shooting out of the default shutter speed. The only problem with those red EVF indicator lights is that there's no way to turn 'em off. I wish there was. Just ignore that light and you'll be fine.

in 24P mode: default shutter is 1/48
in 30P mode: default shutter is 1/30
in 60i mode: default shutter is 1/60

Hope this helps,

[Paul Mcevoy]

Hey Chris,
Thanks for your advice.
I'm still wondering why the footage was so bad. It looked as though the camera was scanning through the presets because the colors were changing (the camera was locked down) and so I assumed that it was because of the shutter speed. I can't think of why else the footage would look like this. I shot at this location before (indoors: florescent lights) and didn't get this kind of result.
The only thing I can think of is that the first time I shot the scene I may have had it on maunual (I know that the last footage was shot using the Ap setting). Could that be right? Would shooting it in manual prevent this color changing? And what about the exposure lock? Should I have it on? Would this stop the color shifting? So many questions!!!
Sorry for being so nuerotic about this but I just want to know what it is that I am doing wrong. I really appreciate your input Chris.
Thanks so much, Paul

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Paul Mcevoy

I can't think of why else the footage would look like this. I shot at this location before (indoors: florescent lights) and didn't get this kind of result.

Say no more Paul. Yes, you have found out that running a shutter speed that is not an even multiple of 60 (in the US) will cause this effect under fluorescent lighting. If you want to shoot 24P under fluorescent lights, you need to go to 1/60, 1/120. The problem is really magnified if you are using auto white balance.

The technical explanation is a bit lengthy, and has been discussed here before in the XL2, and other forums. I would advice doing a forum search to pull up some of those older threads.

-gb-

[Paul Mcevoy]

Thanks Greg,
I think I was using the AUTO white balance as well as letting the camera decide the shutter speed by shooting in AV.
I just finished reading an old post by Chris about Av, Tv and Manual settings using the exposure lock. I think I will try the TV with exposure lock when I return to this hellish florescent place and see if I still get that color shifting problem.
Whenever I have shot outdoors with natural light the image has been amazing (zoomed in with a wide open aperture) so I was devistated when I saw the footage from the indoor shoot. Thanks for the advice. I will remember to white balance and not use the auto and set the shutter to 1/60 or 1/120.
One last thing.
I was reading about this Blue Barn preset thing. I guess because it was an old posting the descussion was about how these presets are available only if you have a PC and not a MAC. Is that still the case.
There was much debate about trying to achieve the same effect (Quality) as the PANASONIC. In particular I was interested in the attempt to recreate the Amile look. Is there somewhere I can go to get the preset specs ( in words/numbers) so I can manualy try this AMILE preset?
Does that make sense? In other words, I don't have a PC but I am willing to manualy set the preset if I know what each specific setting is.
Oh! I'm sorry, one more (last) thing. Does the presets effect any of the settings like Shutter speeds e.t.c?
Thank you so much for all of your help, Greg.
All the best, Paul

[Greg Boston]

The preset files are in plain text format, you can open them with any text editor. The Bluebarn presets manager application simply parses those text files and feeds them to the camera automatically but you can achieve the same thing by manual entry of the parameters. The other thing it does is give you a graphic window for creating presets and then loading them rather than fumbling through the preset pages on the camera itself.

-gb-