Can someone tell me if something is wrong with my camera?
 

I was bowhunting in IL this past weekend. When my camera man filmed my intro Sunday evening I remember seeing the red light so I knew when to start talking. We fimed several minutes of footage in the field that evening. When we got back to camp we hooked the canon xl-1 up to a tv to view the footage but didnt see anything there? I rewound the tape (which had 14 minutes of footage on it prior to that hunt) and the counter stayed blank as if it wasnt even there? After about 15 minutes the first 14 minutes showed back up on the counter but the video had lines all across the screen. 10 miutes later the video from Sunday morning showed up but still didnt have the evening intro or footage. It was in the high 20's but wasnt that cold. Any ideas?

First thing is to test out the camera again right now. Use a head cleaning tape for 10 secs tops.

Use another tape - preferable re-using an old one that you know is good. How does that look and sound?

Then take the dikki tape and play it in a VCR or another camcorder. Still blank?

tom.

your right will start with that tonight.

Yes, definitely run some tests after cleaning the heads.

In my experience, as long as you don't get an error warning message in your viewfinder relating to a tape malfunction, you shouldn't be dealing with any issues that would suggest a need for repair of the tape transport system. I know the "error warning message" is a vague description, but it has been so long since I've seen one I can't quite remember what the message actually says.
However, I believe the manual specifically notes the camera will function normally down to 32˚ F (0˚ C). Below freezing it is a crap shoot. You could be dealing with an operating temperature issue. When I have to shoot outside in below freezing conditions I tape chemical hand and foot warmer packets to the bottom of the camera, the tape compartment, and wrap the camera as much as possible with an insulating material. I use a thick hand towel. If I found myself in this kind of situation more often I would invest in one of those custom made camera covers.

My XL1 behaves similar as Frank's on a cold days. The strange thing is that sometimes it works without problems at -20Celsius and sometimes goes wrong at "only" -10Celsius... Another observation is that the begining of a tape seems to be much more sensitive for a frost than lets say mid-part of it.