Bars & Tone Placement issue///Beware
 

Does anyone else think the placement of the output/bars are horribly in the wrong spot?

I have tripped over this several times already when filming (thankfully not on project) when feeling for the gain switch..

Run & Gun shooters beware..

I take it there is no way to customize that toggle is there?

I can't find any way to disable it in the manual. But for telling it apart from the other switches, I'll bet you could find or make some sort of toggle extension to put on the one you use the most. (gain?)

I was surprised at this as well. I'd think it not to be normal to be in the middle of shooting and need easy access to this. they should have put it under the LCD...

Take a small piece of gaffer tape and an Xacto knife, and cut a little slice of tape to fit over that switch.

I did the gaffer tape trick already. I cannot understand why the bars are there? The should have put a 24f/30f.60i switch. It is a very silly design choice

ALSO, is there any way to add the optical stabilizer on/off as a custom key. I have checked and rechecked this many time with no luck, and confusion on whay it wouldn't be added.

My only guess as to why Canon would put that switch on the outside of the camera is because higher-end cameras also have an external color bar switch. But for such a small camera and tight area, they shouldn't have. Perhaps a firmware update to disable the color bar switch while recording can be released?

The gaffer's tape idea is a good one for now.

Adam is correct. The switch placement is a standard location. However, on the Sony 350, the area directly around that switch is raised which makes the toggle more recessed. IOW, you have to work to move it and you can tell by feel that it's the bars output due to the raised area.

-gb-

I also was surprised that this function was wedged as a toggle switch between two other commonly used toggles on a small camera. The XH cameras are larger than the GL2, but still relatively small and that button is in a relatively tight space and not recessed enough to be entirely safe from errant fingers.

This is one control the extensive Custom Functions menu doesn't include. If it is possible, I'd be in favor of a firmware upgrade for those whose style would cause inadvertant switching from "camera" to "color bars."

Failing that, here's an idea to make it useful. My personal habit is to run 30 seconds of color bars at the start of each tape, and then run 5-10 seconds of floor or wall or something boring at the end of each taping session so that when I re-insert the tape on a subsequent shoot, I can back up a couple of seconds and be sure to not have a break in timecode. I could have shot color bars, but with previous Canon cameras it took several button presses to switch to and from color bars...me being inherently lazy, that was just one button press too many at the end of the day. The trouble is, when the next shoot comes 'round, I'm alway that little bit fearful of screwing that up and taping over the tail end of the last shoot. This simple toggle makes it totally practical to flip the switch to color bars for 10 seconds at the end of the day, and when it is time for the next shoot, just back up onto the last color bars. That also makes it really easy to see the major scene breaks when capturing or scrubbing the timeline.