Optura Xi Odd capture
 

Hey I have been getting some odd capture results with my Xi hoping someone can offer some idea of what may be causing it. Seems intermittent I am getting some kind of digital corruption to the tape. Best way to describe it would be interlacing I guess.

Can someone give me an idea of what it might be? I guess I hope you have seen this before. Could it be bad tape, or do I have a problem on the Xi somewhere

You should be able download file here, only one file there

http://webpages.charter.net/mmeglen/

thanks Mike

Strange (and fortuitous) timing for this question: I just received my new Optura 60 this morning. I was looking at the documentation that came with it. I see on a blue info card a picture that is exactly the same as the image in your posted video (interlaced images). The card says this could be due to dirty video heads (even slightly dirty), and recommends you clean the heads using Canon's cleaning kit.

Hope this helps!

Yup Dan's right, that looks like dirty heads. Get a head cleaning tape. If the problem persists, send the camera back.

Try to stick with one brand of tape, and pick a brand of tape that also manufactures a head cleaning tape. If you use Fuji tapes, like myself, the Sony head cleaning tape works just fine.

Thanks Michael and Dan,
I went to the local drugstore, not a camera shop here for about 50 miles, in NV. I got a cleaning kit thinking that might be it.

Another question in your experience how often should I clean, since this started occuring sometime between 50 minutes and 90 minutes of actual capture use. And maybe about the same of read (playback to get video to PC)

Though it was brand new in box when I purchased maybe it needed to be cleaned before I tried running any tapes.

Any ideas?

My first purchase of DV's were the JVC tapes, I might switch to the TDK's. Is it really important to use only one tape through the Camera?

Thanks,
Mike

I went a year and half before I got the dirty heads message. And I only got it because I re-used a particular scratch tape about 20 times. After using the head cleaner once, I haven't needed it since, that was 6 months ago.

Some people recommend using the head cleaner right before really important events, others recommend only using a head cleaner when you encounter dirty heads.

Hello eveyone, first time poster here. I've been lurking here for awhile because I am really interested in the Optura Xi and the high resolution 16x9 it can do. I just watched Mike Meglen's clip linked above and I have a question. At the very end of the clip when the image clears up, is that really what Optura Xi video looks like? The reason I ask is because the color and dynamic range look like what I expect from a 1-chip camera, about what my old Sony TRV-400 Hi-8 can do. I realize this clip is half DV resolution (352x240) but I really expected more from the Canon RGB Divic, etc.

I shot professionally years ago with Sony 3-chip Betacam SP cameras, dockables and BVW-300/400 one piece types and I guess my expectations are way to high. I don't mean to put anything down, I'm just beginning to realize I may have to spend alot more than I thought I would. I've also been reading about the Sony PDX-10. Would it be closer to 3-chip Betacam type quality?

half-size, mpeg compression downloaded on the internet doesn't do the Xi justice. But if you shoot "home videos", yes, most camcorders will look like that. If you take the Xi into a professional environment, the results aren't that far off from the Canon GL2. You can check out a still shot comparing the Xi to Sony's HDV FX1 camera at my site. Just be warned that I color corrected the footage, so it has been manipulated

www.pseudofilms.com/compare

Xander,

The links to your video files are broken. Let us know when you fix them.

Dan

Late reply
 

I know this is a late reply to the original problem of interlacing video on the tape, but in case anyone views this post if they have the problem, here is a possible cause for that other than dirty tape heads:

When I was using Canon GL2's at school in an environment where a lot of different people use and re-use the tapes, I noticed that the same problem was linked to the audio recording format. Through a deck I was importing footage that had been recorded in 12bit (don't know why 12bit was being used in the first place), but all of a sudden a new scene started that was recorded in 16bit. The timecode on the deck started to switch back and forth between the 12bit and the new 16bit footage (it would show 12bit and 16bit on and off on the screen), just showing that the overlap between 12bit footage and 16bit footage was somehow not uniform on the tape. My recommendation: always make sure you stick to one audio recording format on a particular tape (usually 16bit) -- and also keep your tape heads clean.

Don't know if that was the problem in this case but just dropping some trial and error tips. : )