Camera not seen, Firewire port problem

[Jim Ross]

My Xl1s suddenly cannot be seen by my PC. I tried different cameras and have no problem, so it doesn't seem to be the firewire cable or the PC port. Also the "DV IN" is flashing in the viewfinder while in VCR mode with or without a cable plugged in, and I don't recall this in the past.

I checked the archives and saw a few posts about bent pins causing a malfunction. I have inspected the Firewire port and can see no damage, and wiggling the connector doesn't cause any response either.

Any suggestions as to the problem, or where to get it fixed? Or do I just send the puppy back to Canon through my retailer?

jim@hi5productions.net

[Lorinda Norton]

Hi Jim,

Here's the info for Canon Service; I'd give them a call if I were you.

Canon Factory Service
Attn: Video Service
100 Jamesburg Road
Jamesburg, NJ 08831
Tel: 732-521-7007

[Jim Ross]

I have gotten email after email from people with the same problem I have, asking if I solved my firewire port problem. The answer is No, and Yes.

No, my Canon still will not mount to the PC. The Firewire port is fried. The only option I have found for my rig, and for you, fellow XL1s owner who is most certainly reading this searching for a fix for your own rig, is to have it repaired. Plugging that firewire puppy in with the camera on may not fry it on the first time or the 100th time. But one time, it's gonna happen. And now it happened to you. Sorry dude. Or dudette.

The "fix" price I found was $1,500. Yeah, like that is gonna happen. Kind'a like spending $2 grand to rebuild that '72 Pinto engine, right?

The Yes part is that I partially solved my dilema by buying a $150 mini-DV camera at BestBuy. I got a discontinued unit. I didn't care, I need the deck. It sits here on my edit bay and it is used for only one thing- to dump tape shot on my Canon into my AVID.

Now I may be wrong, and I am inviting debate here, but I figure that since DV is just 0's and 1's that quality of transfer would not be an issue. That the little unit will transmit to my PC the same data stream of gazillion bits and bytes just as my Canon would since the chips do not enter into playback just the acquisition. Again, just an assumption. I certainly don't see a difference.

Granted this won't help if you want to firewire so you can use Ultra2 or DVRack or something along those lines.

The real fix came last week, when we got our new Panasonic HVX200 . . . . And you better believe I turn that puppy off before plugging it in!

Take care, keep shooting.

Jim

[Don Palomaki]

The "fix" price I found was $1,500. Yeah, like that is gonna happen. Kind'a like spending $2 grand to rebuild that '72 Pinto engine, right?

Well, the '72 Pinto may be a collectible by now and worth restoring, if it hasn't totally rusted through. The XL1 has not quite reached that point yet.

Using a cheap MiniDV camcorder as a capture player is common option for shooters, and firewire capture loses no information as long as the player can read the tape.

In a few cases folks have found it has helped recognition to connect and then turn on the camcorder before you boot the PC. Another test would be to see if you can exchange information with another camcorder via firewire. If so, the problem is in the PC, possibly a changed driver that does not speak Canon XL1.