XL1 / XL1S various posts

[Adrian Douglas]

The Canon light is good for an on camera fill light. I use it for that purpose and the only thing is it needs a bit of diffusion. I use some oven proof baking paper taped to the body of the light.

XL1 and Storm Sync Probs!?!

Somebody tell me I'm not alone ! I have shot 25 hours on XL1 for mega-documentary and bought a storm to cut it. If I capture an hour tape from XL1 via DV in - the audio lags by 6 or so frames. Tried Canopus UK and ini.file suggestions didin't work. If I go S-video or composite out of XL1 to Storm then it's fine.
Heard on a Canopus forum that Storm was designed for use with SONY cameras?! I used a DVCAM PD150 recorded tape as an experiment into Storm and it was fine!

yours pulling hair out and looking for a fix !

Craig Pancrack, Middlesbrough, England.

Turn key System: Windows 2000 Pro, Pentium 4 1.7, 512 RAM,75gb hd,StormSE Plus with DSR11 DVCAM deck ( and that didn't help either!)

[Randy Bank]

I'm currently having a problem with the ntsc video display whenever I plug the firewire into my XL1. I can view the picture and connectivity is fine, but I get thick, horizontal lines crawling up the screen. This happens with or without the computer on and only when the firewire touches my camera's firewire port. Any clues or suggestions?

[Vic Owen]

It sounds like you almost certainly have a grounding issue. You're probably seeing hum -- my guess is that there are conditions under which you could hear it, as well.

Make sure your computer and all peripherals are plugged into a grounded receptacle. You shouldn't need separate grounding wires; they just introduce ground loops. I'd also try a different firewire cable. If none of that works, then you could start isolating the computer and peripherals -- radio shack makes such a device.

These can be tricky to run down -- good luck!

[Chris Hurd]

The statement that the Storm was "designed for use with Sony cameras" is inaccurate. Actually all Sony cameras are compatible with Storm because Storm, while using Sharp chips, is based on the DVRex design which used Sony chips.

Canon's audio falls within the DV specification but is a bit off by a few decimal places. If you've made the .ini file change already, then the workaround is to capture shorter clips. Don't rely on the batch capture feature. You'll have to break each tape up into a series of shorter files. This method should maintain your audio synch.

[Eduardo Mayen]

Im shooting a scene where a character walks with the sun behind him, in a silohuette. Can i damage the camera in any way if the sunlight hits directly into the lens.

[Eduardo Mayen]

Im shooting a scene against a bright window. I want my character to be in silohoutte. Is there something i should know about grain or "noise" being in such extreme situations. Will lowering the gain to -3db, also help in this situation.

Solved it today by capturing in SEAMLESS CAPTURE as 6 x 10 min. clips. The whole tape captured in one go and seamless when assembled on the time line AND IN SYNC!!!

What ini.file codes do you know? I tried the following without any success...cap32to48=-1
canonaudio1=1
canonaudio=-1

?

Hello,
I will soon buy a second hand XL1S (Pal), and I would like to know what I need to check on the camera to be sure it is on perfect condition.
If somebody can write a check list, it would be helpfull.
I think for exemple, about checking CCD (dead pixel?).

Also, where are the serial numbers ont the camera and lens.

Thanks

[Eduardo Mayen]

Does Canon or other manufacturer make an attachment for the eyepiece that will have different aspect ratios. ie 1.85:1, 2.35:1

[Chris Hurd]

None that I am aware of.

[Chris Hurd]

The serial number for the body is in the main battery compartment, along with the date of manufacture. The serial number for the lens is on the lens back plate, where it attaches to the body.

The most important thing to keep in mind when buying any used camcorder is to immediately send it in for service and cleaning... in your case, send it to Canon UK. This is the best way to insure that it's brought up to scratch.

"Dead pixels" visible in the viewfinder may be a result of the viewfinder (acceptable) or the CCD block (not acceptable). You would need to see a recorded DV cassette to determine which is which. Again, a trip to authorized service is the best approach to take, if you can't buy new.

[Ken Tanaka]

If you simply want a silohoutte I would imagine that you would meter on the window, lock the exposure and shoot. Under reasonably bright daylight conditions this should give you the effect you want. You can shoot a 2nd take with the gain turned down and then decide which you like later in post. I'm not sure you'll need it but it's certainly a low-cost/no-cost experiment.

[Gerald Godbout]

Hi everyone, My company has purchased the XL1s Pal format and we are going to shoot music videos and Independent films with the camera. Now I've run into a snag, well more than one. First it took Microsoft a while to get me updates for all the video editing software I'm using and I still feel they don't work properly. But my MAJOR snag is that windows XP home edition that came with the computer does not find the patches need to let me import my video from the XL1s firewire. However when I take the camera home and hook it up to my other computer which is running windows 98 the camera works fine. So I'm thinking of changing Window XP to another Operating system, I don't want to use windows 98 so that leaves my with either windows 2000 or windows XP prof edition which I don't trust yet.. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm wondering if anyone else has had the same problem.

I am buying a Canon XL-1 this month and would like to be able to make a movie with a wide-angle lens and 16:9 view (ala "Rushmore"). What would be the best way to do this with current accessories?

My current plans are below

-for wide-angle lens, I plan to use EITHER use the Canon 3x lens OR the Canon 16x manual lens with a wide-angle adaptor?
CONSIDERATIONS:
- some posts say the Canon 3x lens has a soft focus?
- I think I read that the new 16x manual lens cannot take a wide-angle adaptor? Is this true?
- WHICH is better option, or suggest 3rd option.

-for 16:9, I plan to use 16:9 squeezed setting in Canon XL1.
CONSIDERATIONS:
- I don't believe there are any anamorphic lens that fit the 72mm Canon lens?
- I believe that video-to-film transfer companies prefer the squeezed mode to cropping the 4:3 image in post.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Phillip Ellett