Douplicating tapes help - quick!
 

I've got my XL1s hooked up to a buddies mini DV camecorder and need to make a copy of a few tapes. I figured it would be no problem but for some reason can't figure it out.

I've got it playing fine on the tv from his camcorder then I switched the audio and video cables into the back end of the XL1s (audio/video) ports where it says "audio 1 in/out" and the video port of course as well. I have all three white, red and yellow hooked in but am not getting signal in the viewfinder.

Is there some setting I need the XL1s on to have a line feed to be able to record from this cam to my cam on line or something. I have it set to "VCR" but have tried other settings with no success. Is it just impossible to make duplicates this way?

Help! I need to get this out tonight!

Nevermind I figured it out! You have to hit rec/pause button for it to display then hit play to start recording....kinda weird!

trying to find accessory for audio
 

I have the XL1s and I have a M185 receiver from lectrosonic - it's got a plug that comes out of it to hook into the small microphone port near the front of the camera, but I want to plug it into the XLR port....where can I find the adapter to do this that will keep it in stereo?? I think the jack is the 1/8" jack, or whatever the Canon on-camera microphone jack size is...it fits in the same jack. Any suggestions??

Do you mean the R185 receiver? (The M185 is a transmitter).

If so, and although I've not used one, per the manual you should be able to connect an RCA cable from its RCA connector to the Audio1 inputs on the XL1, use a "Y" adapter to feed the same signal to the left and right inputs. And be sure Audio1 is set for line level signals. If the receive is mounted on the camcorder you should be OK with the unbalancd output for the short distance. Cables available at Radio Shack, etc.

Pretty good. I am not much into rap, but the video looks nice.

Does the xl1s have native wide screen? If not how did you get it, thanks.

XL1s Question...
 

Hello all,

My XL1s has been doing something funky lately. After I shoot with it for about 30 mins to an hour it starts blinking in bold red letters "REMOVE CASSETTE TAPE" (or something to that effect). It keeps me from recording and I have to turn the camera off and turn it back on to see if it will let me record again. Usually it won't let me keep the tape in there unless I change out the battery. For some reason every time I change out the battery it lets me go back to recording and stops telling me to eject tape.

I was wondering if there is possibly something seriously wrong with the camera or if this is more of a simple fix. Do I need to go get it checked out or is there someone out there that knows exactly what it's doing?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Aaron

It may be detecting that the take up reel isn't moving and it's saying to remove the tape so that the tape doesn't end up all over the insides of the camera. Since it has separate indicators for dirty heads and condensation, this is the only thing I can think of. Could be belt slippage or a weak motor (which may explain why it needs full battery voltage to operate).

My suggestion is to get on the phone with Canon service and follow whatever advice they may have for you.

What on auto for Turkey hunting (white balance)?
 

Just shot for 4 - 15 hour days as my very first paid shoot. It was grilling to say the least. I kept everything on auto. The guy I was working for said he'd had another guy running a beta cam and would be constantly performing manual white balance. He was asking why I wasn't. Anyway, should I have bothered doing it? We shot from break of dawn to dusk, mostly outdoors. When action happens, it's fast. A lot of the time we set up in complete darkness. Sometimes we set up on roosted birds and could barely move so as not to spook them. Should I be doing auto or manual white balance in these situations? What about daytime or dusk shooting?

Manual white balancing is alway considered the best.
Having said that, I think the XL1s has a great automatic white balance that I hardly feel the need to put it on automatic...

Played around with it this morning and my manual was just about the same as auto white balance. Will it make any difference with regards to having a back lite bird? One morning we were on a bird at daybreak. I doubt I'd be able to do much in the sitation but how would I fix the back lite problem in the moment?

can't capture mix
 

Hello - I've recently purchased a used XL1 and am having an audio issue with the "mix" mode. I am trying to mix sound from the onbaord mic and a lavalier using the beachtek plate that was included with the unit.

I can only capture the "audio 1" channel on the Vegas Video 5 system I'm using whether it is the lav or the onboard camera. I believe it's a capture issue becuase I get levels during recording and playback on the camera and can hear both mics through headphones.

If I've left out any important info just let me know. I have a shoot coming up that will require both mics to be active so, any help is greatly appreciated.

Dukaos

You can't capture 4 channel audio directly using Vegas 5 and for that matter most NLE's can't either.You can capture using other programs though.Also you can do 2 captures .... 1st with audio 1, 2nd with audio 2 ,then sync them.see this thread for more info http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...hannel+capture
or do a search as there are quite a few threads about this.

Thanks, Jack, that clears up quite a bit of mystery for me - especially why I could hear the mix on the tape, but was unable to capture it. I'll check out the link and learn more. Until next time...

xl1s viewfinder magnifying glass problem
 

The colors on my xl1s LCD screen, watching throught viewfinder, are more darker and blue. I was thinking that the problem is in LCD screen, but after take off magnifying glass, everything was ok. So, looking through magnifyng glas, without screw it on wiefinder, everything is still ok, but if I spin it little bit over LCD in my hand, colours start changing end become darken blue. Any idea?

small lcd screen?
 

hey all...

I'm wondering if anyone out there's rigs have lcd monitors attached... wondering what you use using to mount it... power it... and wondering 'bout any problems / settings for optimal operation.

I'd like to get a small (<3") lcd screen mounted to my XL-1s