The new XLH1 mic is like its predecessors except that it now includes a switch to go mono. A welcome addition in my opinion. You might be able to obtain one directly from Canon if that interests you.

-gb-

My XL1s is chewing up my tapes
 

I bought an XL1s (PAL) last year on ebay in UK, up to recently I was having no probelms.
Recently the camera is chewing up tapes but only on playback connected by firewire to my editing computer and under computer control.

The first message us usually on the camera "eject the " when I eject I see nothing wrong with tape and try again and get the message again If I continue the tape then is seen to be out the cassette and chewed up.

This mostly happended first with tapes I had shot last year, I was advised to do a head clean more often and to use only Sony Mini-DV tapes. Now more recently bought tapes are getting chewed.

I am based in Kaduna Nigeria, and don't have any reliable technicians around that I know of, to help solve the problem.

Can anyone out there advise me.

Arthur Brooks (Commercial Video Producer)

Good Day, Arthur!

I can't say that what I am about to suggest will work. But, it seems to me that your tape is hanging up on a piece of dirt/tape, on your tape rollers.

Now, Canon, says only to use a "dry" cleaner tape in your machine.

Think carefully about my suggestion, before proceeding: With a cotton medical swab dipped in tape head cleaner, clean the areas that come in contact with the tape, other than the heads. Allow to dry over night.

I had a similar problem with my XL-1s, and this seemed to correct it.

I had a similar problem a couple of months ago.

My XL1s was purchased brand new and was only 14 months old (not heavily used either) when it developed the fault. When rewinding the tape, the message 'REMOVE THE CASSETTE' would flash up in the viewfinder. Sometimes the tape was OK, but more often than not, it was de-spooled out of the cassette and chewed up.

I sent the camera away for repair and it was found that the idle gears were faulty and had to be replaced. Cost about £90 GBP. Since repair everything has been OK.

Sounds like your XL1s may need a service/new parts.

XL1s Lens Cleaning
 

Forgive me if this is a revisitation of the blindingly obvious, but what o most of you guys do to remove deposits from the surface of the lens - I'm talking here about the more stubborn deposits, dried liquid splashes, soot ! (I kid you not from a roadside shoot), rather than dust which can be blown off with an air-spray / light brush. I'm wary of wiping the marks too vigorously for fear of scratching or marking. Any tips on popular cleaners, cloths or other techniques.

Sorry if this is pretty basic, but I've had mixed responses from the suppliers / dealers I've talked to about this. Cheers

Try lens cleaning material from a good photo store, same stuff used on high quality photographic gear.

Note; a UV filters can keep stuff of the front glass of the lens, but does add additional glass, reflections, etc, unless it is a very high quality coated filter. Thus use one onlty when necessry. Use a deep lens hood to reduce the chance of stuff reaching the lens.

lens extender?
 

most of my shootings are in a theater/ studio setting, and i am most of the time zoomed in all the way.
have not used the digizoom feature of the xls-1.

been thinking of getting the 1.6 lens extender.

i wonder if somebody could share their expirience please?

did i say that right?

thanks

Karl;
Your not getting much response (unfortunately). So I will give my limited experience. I do not own the 1.6; But have friends that do. There is a degradation in the quality of the image. Sometimes not noticable, probably dependent on the lens used and the lighting. It isn't the most highly recommended piece of equipment.

7200 mah batt
 

plan to buy some extra batteries, and saw at b&h the canon: bp-970g,
7.2 v, 7200 mah. retails for about $ 175 a piece.

what i could not find is the run time.

just wonder if anybody has some info, and could help out please

thanks and a happy new year

greetings

The manual for the XL1s rates the 3000 maH BP930 for 1:55 (115 minutes) and the 4500 maH BP945 for 2:55 (175 minutes) of record time. On that basis we might expect a 7200 maHr battery in new condition to be rated for something around 4:40 (280 minutes). However, if you look at the run-time tables in the XLH1 manual, it implies the BP970 might give more, perhaps around 5:30 (330 minutes).

The run-time ratings generally reflect optimal (lowest power consumption) set-up. Actual run-time will depend on battery condition, and camcorder shooting conditions; e.g., connected powered accessories, which lens is used, shooting mode, etc. Time spent in pause counts against available run-time.

can I use the XL1 to XFER video from VHS?
 

I was wondering if anyone knows how to transfer video from VHS to the analog ports on the back of the XL1?

PLease CC response to funkaholickz@hotmail.com

1. It's best if you do a search, the topic has been covered many times.

2. People don't mail eachother solutions here, because others other people with the same problem couldn't find any thread anymore with an answer, because all the answers would have been in mails...
We want questions and answers to be available for everyone.

Best regards,

Xl1s video pixelation & audio dropouts
 

A contractor shoots a job with his Xl1s, gives me the tape...I put it in my DSR11 and experience severe drop outs. Check out an example at the following url

http://www.altairproductions.com/Dir.../AVP/index.htm

Now here are the particulars.
-Xl1s w/only sony PR tapes used. Tape was new out of case w/wrapper.
-all decks cleaned before tape insertion
-We have not had this problem with tapes from his camera before this
-captured over FW from DSR-11 VTR unit
-When played from OUR XL1s and captured from composite RCA connectors it works just fine
-We have tried the tape in 2 DSR-11 vtr's 2 PD170's and an XL1 and GL2 ALL have the SAME problem using F/W but the XL and the GL captured fine using the composite jacks. Also got the problem when trying to capture from our Xl1 thru the svideo jack.

I have NOT tried it in the contractor's XL1. He claims that he never has a problem and that he captures all his footage from the XL1 using a GL2. The other day he brought over a tape of an interview he did using HIS XL1 and Viola...we had the same trouble.

I am wits end here...has anyone seen/heard of this before? Got any ideas?

Thanks
Scott

The original XL1 does not accept analog video input, only audio.

Analog output have a error correction/masking effect that may not be present during a DV transfer. Also, playback is typically more sensitive to dirty heads than recording.

If the playback issue persists with a lot of different machines and with other tapes, the XL1 may have an tracking error, needing alginment. Try capture from the XL1 used to shoot the tape - if it is OK, voila.