Color LCD viewfinder

[Bryan Coleman]

I spoke to a Canon repair technition, who said if I can find the offer in print they might honor it.

Thanks Chris. While I have your ear, I'd like to thankyou for Watchdog, which I have been a lurker at for years. And now this community board is great also.

Thanks for all your effort.

[Chris Hurd]

At the Irvine, CA facility, get ahold of Chris Canada and see what he can do for you. Mention this board and my name. No guarantees they'll do it for free but worth seeing if you at least can get a discount. Good luck,

[Bryan Coleman]

I'll contact him and see what he can do. Many thanks Chris

[Steve Nunez]

It looks as if I have somehow broken 1 of the small fingers (behind the slider mount thingy-
if u remove the mounting plate screws you'll see the 2 protrusions) that help align the viewfinder level horizontally and there doesn't seem to be an easy fix- my viewfinder now drops slightly to the left-
upon close examination it seems as if a whole new body would be necessary just to correct this problem- has anyone had this happen to them and is there a repair or Canon suggested fix........to replace the whole body to correct the droop caused by such a small protrusion (grain of rice sized).....I know the 4 screws can be tightened really tight and as horizontal as possible- but eventually even a slight bump will shift the viewfinder downwards- please tell me there's a replacement piece.......

worst part is- my cam is really babied and i can't think what caused this piece to break.....my cam has been tainted.....but I hate this droop....any suggestions??

[Jeff Donald]

I'm confused about the location of the broken piece. Would the Lightwave system isolator help?

Jeff

[Steve Nunez]

Here's a photo of the broken tabs and affected viewfinder mount......

www.jewelusions.com/brokentabs.jpg

real bummer.........doesn't seem like an ez fix is possible- anyone have any ideas?
(don't even know how it happened)

[Chris Hurd]

Steve

You MUST send this camera to Canon Service in Jamesburg, NJ. There is no other alternative. Contact info is on the Watchdog > The XL1 Skinny.

[Steve Nunez]

Chris,

what do you think Canon's response might be? The camera still works 100%- it's just the droop that kills me..being that the tabs are broken on what appears to be the main body- I can't see any other alternative to replacing the entire unit-- what do you think Canon will say? I'd hate to pay $1800 because of 2 grain-sized broken tabs...

...also how did the show go? Did you enjoy your visit up north?
(so sorry I couldn't make it- thankfully my daughter is feeling just fine- again big apologies for cancelling last minute like that- felt really bad!)

On with the show.....

Hello All,

This is my first post and I must admit up front that I'm definitly a rookie when it comes to the XL1 and film editing. So please excuse my ignorance.

I'm learning to shoot corporate video for my company. One of the things I'm often called upon to shoot is instrument displays or computer displays. One of the problems I'm experiencing is that when I frame an instrument or computer display in the viewfinder (so I'm only seeing the area of the display) I'm not really seeing what will actually appear during editing. When I capture the video there is always a larger area than what I see through the viewfinder. I know I can do cropping but it's important to have the video of the displays fill the entire 704x480. I could zoom in more, but this would be kinda guessing.

Any help would be appreciated,

[Ken Tanaka]

Hello Doug and Welcome.

Well, here's the deal. A full frame of DV video is indeed 720pixels x 480pixels. The resolution of the XL1's standard (color) viewfinder only enables it to display approximately 80% of that area. This is pretty standard for color LCD viewfinders, btw, and one reason why you do not find them on professional cameras at this time. To see the full frame's contents while you are shooting you will need to do one of two things.

1. Buy the high-resolution b&w viewfinder for your XL1. It sells for around $1,500 and is a professional-grade Ikegami viewfinder that shows the video frame wall-to-wall.

2. Use a high-resolution, professional monitor while you are shooting. You are looking for a unit that can display the "underscan" area of the frame. Prices on such monitors can vary. For lightness of weight and low-power try Panasonic's high-res color LCD which shows the full frame, also.

But, before you spend thousands, take stock of your skills and your goals. Practice, practice, practice to get an eye for your frame and to become adept at using your tools. Also, if your material will mainly be displayed on conventional consumer televisions your viewfinder is actually showing you what viewers will see. Standard tv's clip-out 15-20% of the frame around the borders. What's left is often called the "action-safe" area of the frame, basically what your viewfinder is showing. So what you see on your computer is absolutely not what you'll get on a tv. (Presentation on the Web or other computer-related targets is a different story.)

Practice and study-up! "Kinda guessing" accurately is what separates the pro's from the putz's.

There's a red blinking symbol in my viewfinder that kinda looks like a guy in a boat with a line through it.

What does it mean?

Thanks in Advance.
Flynn

[Ken Tanaka]

Sounds like a "No Tape" error. Check with your manual.

It appears directly to the right of the no tape error.
-Flynn

[Chris Hurd]

It's telling you that you need to replace your date/time battery, a Panasonic CR2025, about 75 cents at WalMart.

I found it in the manual.

Sorry to waste your time
Flynn