Why unload the cassette?
 

Page 18 of the GL2 manual says "do not leave the cassette in the camcorder after use.....". Why is this? I have never had to do this with other camcorders (Hi-8 or Digital 8).

This is for protection of the sensitive heads in your camera and
also to protect your tape. If you leave it there long you can
leave some stuff behing that you do not want on your heads.
Every camera that uses tape has this "feature". Some just do
not tell you about it.

I thought the camera unloaded the tape from the head when in "stop" mode, or is it left there and just the head stops rotating? VHS and Hi-8 actually retract the tape in stop mode, does mini-DV not do this? Does Canon really mean I have to remove the tape from the camera every day?

Well.. that is what I remember. I could be wrong ofcourse. I know
there was a discussion here on this board last year about the
same things and most people in the know agreed that you should
remove the tape if you want to avoid problems.

Why would you want to leave it in? I feel safer if it stored in its
little case in a safe place than in my camera. As soon as my shoot
is over I rewind the tape, remove it and put it in a safe spot
(even when travelling from location back to the place the gear is
stored). Unless I would have to do that in the rain or something
ofcourse :)

And, yes, Canon is serious. Why would you not go through this
minor thing to better take care of your expensive camera! This
is not a cheap device! You paid hard bucks for it. It deserves
all the care in the world, at least mine does.

I hope someone else in the know will chime in and tell you a little
bit more about the hows and why's.

This is the thread Rob is referring to.

Thanks so much for finding that, Jeff! Much appreciated.

Thanks Jeff and Rob, but this only makes sense if the tape remains threaded when the camera is turned off. I think the motor noise heard when going in and out of standby is the tape being retracted - I may be wrong. Does anyone know if the tape remains threaded when the camera is turned off?

Slack in the tape can develop wether the tape is threaded on the heads or not. I use to own a large video production company and we had a consumer division that did video repairs. We removed probably 100's of tapes that got stuck because of slack in the tape. When the camera is turned off, the tape is not fully retracted into the cassette shell. It is not on the heads, either. The tape is only fully retracted when the eject button is pressed. By leaving the tape exposed, you also subject the tape to greater risk of contamination (dropouts) from outside sources. In my line of work it is not worth the risk. However, for some, the risk is justified (news people, etc.).

I'm doing something in between. If I'm using the GL2 (or any of my camcorders) regularly, meaning more than once a week, I leave the tape in and the battery on. If I'm not sure when I'll pick it up again, I take out the tape and remove the battery.

I like leaving the tape in place because it helps eliminate time code problems.

I remove tape if not shooting the next day. It is the safe thing to do.

Eject! Remove the cassette!
 

Hi!
I am a new user of XM2 (cca 1 month) and my problem is: during recordig EJECT starts to flash and REMOVE THE CASSETTE. I remove the tape and insert it again, but I get the same message again. I tried to use different tape (the same brand/type) but no success. I read (in the manual) about safety mechanism that protects the tape (f.e. agains humidity). Is my problem connected to tapes? I use FUJI tapes. Well... when I bought the camcorder I used SONY tapes, later I switched to FUJI. I read some posts that FUJI is the best, but I didnt have this problem while using SONYs. What should I do? Should I use the cleaner? Btw, I dont intend to mix the tapes any more, if maybe this would be the cause of the problem.
Hope you can help me. Thank you in advance.

This is just my guess, Anton. But I don't think your problem has much to do with your tape brand. I suspect that there may be something wrong with the threading mechanism of your tape transport. Did you recently purchase this camera new? If so, it may be worth exchanging it for a new unit.

Another possible cause of the eject icon is if the tape is tight; i.e., too much drag in the play process. This could be caused by a problem cassette. Try some of your older tapes that worked before, (a Sony tape?) again, see if it also has the problem?

If known good tapes have the probelm as well, the taep tension sensitng stuff probably needs adjustment. If it is just one or two tapes, try FF and RW the tapes, see if this solves the problem.

With resepct to a few problem tapes, try them in other MiniDV machines. If they play OK, the XM2 may need adjustmet. Send a problem tape in with it so Canon service has a sample of the problem.

Thank you both. You helped a lot. I tried a Sony tape and it worked ok. Maybe I bought bad Fujis? I also tried to rewind the Fuji tape by hand - the tape mechanism was stucked, jammed. On all (10) Fuji tapes! Anyway my XM2 now works OK... on Sony's tapes :-)
In case of any new problems (hope not) I know where to find help. Thanks again.

You should have cleaned your tapes once or twice before switching tape brands. If Sony wasn't giving you problems, you should have stuck with with them. Fuji tapes are "dry," Sony tapes were always "wet," although Sony may have some "dry" ones now, don't know for sure.

http://www.dvfreak.com/tape.htm

Also, no matter what type of tape you use, if you shoot under humid conditions, the heads/tape will give you problems. Solution: take the tape out and let the cam and tape sit in a dry place for a couple of hours.