Hey guys,
I've had my GL2 for a couple months now, and I believe it is time it should go in for a cleaning. I don't really understand how this works though, do I just take it back to the store I bought it from or something and they will clean it for me?

What are you wanting to clean? - Heads? Body? What exactly? How much/many hours do you reckon' having done? You seeing any warnings about needing to clean heads? Is your footage pixelating or blocky? Have you dropped your camera headlong into a pint of beer? Have you played Rugby with it on a sandy beech?

Hmm . . ?

Couple of months - don't seem a long time . . depends on usage.

Grazie

Indeed, two months is not very long. Unless you're using the camera very heavily in very dusty places or you're seeing a specific problem, an annual cleaning would be more than adequate.

The process to get a routine cleaning and adjustment starts by contacting the Canon service center nearest you.

Ken? - I was wondering why Glen feels the need to . . rather saying what to do about it . . . Cart before horse?

C'mon Glen . . er . . tell us!

Grazie

I took my GL2 to a beach on windy day. I couldn't barely keep the lens clean for more than 2 minutes before it was cakes with sea spray and sand.

I tried to clean it on my own but maybe I should take it in for service, eh? I've put in about 100 hours of recording and about 200 hours of playing.

Graham, what do you mean Cart before horse?

I believe I need my heads cleaned, when you send it in don't they just clean the entire thing for you? I've had hte camera since August, and I've put around 400 or so hours on it already. I use it a lot for school, In the beginning months I was also using it as a player... which I know is a bad idea. I've gotten the dirty head message twice, but all I did was pop in the cleaner to clean the head, and everything was fine. I've used the camera extensively for weddings, short films, performances, and special events. I've never don't any sending in and stuff before, so any help would be great! Thanks you guys, whenever I'm lost, I always know where to go.

The Horse & Cart thing?

Well, it is an old British saying meaning doing something the wrong way around. You hadn't heard of that saying? Well, my apologies.

We could have been guessing as to what usage you had had AND we didn't know if you had had a WARNING - we could be giving replies without knowing - yes? (Cart & Horse) And also here, and until you mentioned the "amount" of work you do - which you hadn't said - AND that you had already got a HEAD clean message - which you hadn't said - I was left with the impression that you were going to do something the "wrong" way around ( Cart & Horse ) that you hadn't yet had got a reason to do! Possibly resulting in incurring unnecessary expense BEFORE you might need it. Hence the saying, as I understand it, of putting the cart before the horse - yeah?

However, now that I KNOW the extent of your activity with your camera AND you appear to be happy with what is going on - meaning you can film, capture and off-load to pc - I, personally, wouldn't bother. But it's going to be your call - I don't have your budget - yeah? You sound you are very careful with your camera - that's a good thing!

So, Glen, what do YOU think will/might happen if you don't send it in?

Best regards,

Grazie

Don't I have a warrenty on it that allows me to get free cleaning?

Pass! - I wouldn't have thought so. G

The standard Canon warranty only covers repairs, not cleaning. If you bought some kind of extended warranty coverage when you got the camera, it may include cleaning. You'll have to check the terms.