I am having a difficult time understanding the nature of your problem, but my advice is to contact Canon Europa immediately and send it in to their service center for repair. That is your single best course of action.

Lock button is jammed
 

On the wheel of my A1, the playback position work fine, but I get no power on any record option, looks like the lock button do not depress on any of those recording positions.
I am in San Diego and shooting tomorrow....any idea what it is?

Yes, on the button you press for record at the back of the camera, you will see two options. One is lock and the other is standby. It probably slipped to "lock" by mistake, change it to "standby".

Many thanks, you are a Master and you saved my life. It works!

Canon xh a1 won't turn on
 

Hmm I lent my canon xh a1 to my friend, and it works on the dials that let you watch what you have recorded, but it won't start up when I put it on the A dial or the M, or AV I'm not sure why anyone know? Basically any dial that lets me record doesn't let the camera start up

Try switching the STANDBY/LOCK switch from Lock to Standby position.

Yep--that'll do it. Almost everybody new to a Canon camera has flipped that switch accidentally.

aha thanks guys!

this one should really be a sticky - it would save the heart palpitations it invokes when it happens to it seems almost everybody once

been there
trish

Happened to me at 3 in the morning during a 48 hour film festival. We had shot all of the footage we needed and we were about to start editing when I realized the A1 wouldn't turn on. After going 30 hours without much sleep I was completely lost. I think I tried just about everything and then pretty much broke down. I thought we were completely screwed until I realized the obvious. Total n00b moment.

It bit me, almost fatally, when I went with a flm critic to shoot an interview for an on line site with Billy Bob Thornton and Virginia Madsen. We got there an hour early, got our spot, set up some lights, and waited. While waiting we decided to do a couple of shots of the critic by himself talking about the event. Did that. No problem. It was all hand held, so I sat the camera down on the floor, stood around talking awhile, finally picked up the camera and--it wouldn't come on. PANIC!

But, just about everything that can go wrong has happend to me over the years and I figued it was something I had done. When it came on for playback mode, I knew there was some switch someplace that had moved. Then I found it. It took me maybe about 2 minutes, but it seemed like 2 hours. Definitely a heart-stopper.

bill-

i've read your posting about that red carpet interview on another site. in your very fine description of the "dos & don'ts" of such an event, i don't recall u discussing THAT moment of panic. it is heartening to know seasoned pros like yourself can still work around the edges of doubt. congrats for being so up front.

be well

rob

Wait until you hit that switch in the middle of recording... that really bites it. You lose a good 20-25 sec. I wish someone at Canon would have made this a little more difficult to switch, or inoperable while the camera was recording.

Rob, you know what the difference is between an amateur and a professional, don't you? When a pro screws up he catches it in time, and the client never knows.

bill-

i always thought a pro was not paid to try but to accomplish

by the way, your comment made me smile. thanks :)

be well

rob