XL1 / XL1S focus hunting backfocus problems

[Rob Ketting]

I was shooting some footage with my XL1s at a hockey game through plexi glass and I noticed on play back the the lower left and right corners are out of focus.
The image was quiet distorted in those areas but the rest is fine.

Is this just a normal occurance because of the plexi? or do I have to set up my camera better? Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks

[Ash Greyson]

Got a grab you can post???



ash =o)

[Tristan Howard]

For some reason the 16x lens for my Canon XL-1S camera stopped zooming and became unfocused one day when I turned the camera on. It worked fine just the day before when I used it to videotape a nesting quail hen. Anyway, I was wondering why this lens won't zoom and shows a blurry out of focus image. I was also hoping maybe there was some way to fix this without sending the lens to a repair dealer, which is what I think I'll probably do. I used my 16x lens almsot exclusivley for wildlife and outdoor scenery. I thought maybe it had been jarred too much from me carrying it in a backpack or maybe my brief shots of a setting sun had damaged the lens, though I make sure I never get full-on bright shots of the sun because that can mess things up. Anyway, if anybody has any input on this issue I would appreciate it.

Regards,
Tristan Howard

[Jack Smith]

Before getting too excited(I'm sure I would be) you may want to try removing the lense and cleaning the contacts very carefully.If you do alot of outdoor stuff the camera has posibly been exposed to some harsh enviroments and a little clean of the contacts may work.

[Ian Thomas]

Hi Tristan

The same thing happened to my XL1s, the len's wouldn't focus or zoom

Had to send it to canon for repair, the len's was ok but there was a faulty ribbon in the camera what ever that is, but thats what canon said and it fixed it and worked fine

Ian

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Ian Thomas

there was a faulty ribbon in the camera what ever that is

They were referring to a ribbon cable. They are typically flat plastic with individual embedded strips of copper that make up the 'wires' in the cable. They tolerate flexing much more than standard cables and because they are flat, they take up less real-estate.

-gb-

[Waldemar Winkler]

Originally Posted by Jack Smith

Before getting too excited(I'm sure I would be) you may want to try removing the lens and cleaning the contacts very carefully .If you do a lot of outdoor stuff the camera has possibly been exposed to some harsh environments and a little clean of the contacts may work.

I would second this idea. Many years ago I had a Panasonic camera shift all colors to green a few hours before I was to document an important speech. After a couple hours of troubleshooting to no avail I called Panasonic's tech service line (you could actually talk to a tech specialist then). I was advised to remove the lens and clean the contacts. The tech further explained that to save space and weight the metal body of the camera frame was used to carry the negative side of electrical connections (just as automobiles have done for years). Because many components within the camera use such low voltages even a thin film of grime and dirt residue can alter electrical resistance and cause camera components to behave erratically.

Cleanin the contacts and metal faces of the lens mount make the colors return to normal.

If the camra has not been serviced for a year or more, a visit to a repair center would be worthwhile.

[Tristan Howard]

Thank you all so much for the useful information.

[Josh Bass]

Hello. The to-be-unnamed place where I work has an XL1s that has a fairly screwy stock lens. I don't know if it has other issues, but the back focus is definitely screwed up (won't hold a critical focus). Anyone know how much that repair generally costs?

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Josh,

In case you decide not to fix your XL1s lens, I have a slightly used XL2 20x lens for sale.

[Josh Bass]

I'm not the one in charge of the decision. . .I'm thinking if it's a reasonable enough price, I might be able to convince them to have it done. The fixing, I mean.

First of all when i move camera left to right i see a blur when i stop it comes into focus. I see this in the view finder even without recording. i have tried it stab on and off. When i record i get what i see in view finder. I bought the camera used called canon they said no record of service

www.kbvideos.net/blurtest.wmv
Got another wedding june 9th

[Cole McDonald]

go to manual mode, learn to focus by hand...the auto focus is what is doing this to you. Easy mode won't let you focus manually, AF will always be on and annoying you. The more trust you put in machines, the more they will rule your life...Ray Bradbury was sooo right.

[Simon Duncan]

I have noticed recently that my camera is starting to loose focus even on auto mode. It tends to just breath in and out of focus from time to time.

I haven't had my camera serviced so I am wondering if a service will rectify this problem.

For example what might be causing my camera to loose it's focus like this even in auto mode. I have noticed this on static interview shots I have done even when the talent is center since I understand that when on Auto Focus the camera uses the center of frame as its focus point.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Don Palomaki]

Auto focus needs reasonably prominent contrasting vertical edges. Drift and focus hunting can be induced by a combination poor light (less than 50 lux) and/or lack of contrasting vertical edges in the focus zone of the image, or if there are changes in the dominant contrasting vertical edges in the focus sensing zone of the image. Any of these could cause auto focus to struggle.