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Canon XL H Series HDV Camcorders
Canon XL H1S (with SDI), Canon XL H1A (without SDI). Also XL H1.

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Old February 11th, 2006, 11:51 AM   #1
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Connections and Power

What is the list of connections that can be safely connected/disconnected with power on? Which ones require power off?

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Christopher
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Old February 11th, 2006, 08:58 PM   #2
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Always power off the camera when changing lenses!

I personally recommend powering off the camera when connecting/disconnecting the viewfinder. I have not read this anywhere, I just think it is a good idea.

In my opinion, you should not have to power the camera off to connect any audio in or out, video in or out, or genlock, or HD-SDI.

Canon service has, according to one post on this site, told a Canon user to power off when connecting the Firewire. Personally, I do not think this is necessary.

To sum this up, if the connection involves power in any way, such as the lens, or the viewfinder, power off the camera.
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Old February 12th, 2006, 12:15 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Keaton
I personally recommend powering off the camera when connecting/disconnecting the viewfinder.
Someone posted that they blew a fuse disconnecting the viewfinder on the XL2 and had to send the camera for repair, so I'm guessing this should be done with power off.

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Originally Posted by Dan Keaton
In my opinion, you should not have to power the camera off to connect any audio in or out,
This sounds right, but I'm reluctant to connect/disconnect the XLR phantom power with the camera on. Any XLR experts on the list?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Keaton
Canon service has, according to one post on this site, told a Canon user to power off when connecting the Firewire. Personally, I do not think this is necessary.
Yes, I think you are right. It's my understanding that USB and Firewire were both designed specifically to address this issue. Even six pin powered Firewire should be safe to connect/disconnect without cycling power.

That said, I'm being extra cautious while soliciting advice from others.

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Christopher
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Old February 12th, 2006, 12:29 PM   #4
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While I absolutely and enthusiastically endorse powering down when removing the lens I have gotten away with not doing it more than once on the XL-H1. I guess I've been lucky.
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Old February 12th, 2006, 12:46 PM   #5
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found this in the manual

Page 65 ... "To supply a microphone with phantom power, set the +48V switch to ON. Make sure to connect the microphone first, before turning on the phantom power. Keep the microphone connected when turning off the phantom power."

I plan to observe this rule just to be safe. Are Canon being overly conservative here, or has anyone actually experienced damage when connecting XLR with the phantom power on?

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Christopher
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Old February 13th, 2006, 02:48 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan Keaton
To sum this up, if the connection involves power in any way, such as the lens, or the viewfinder, power off the camera.
Hello Dan and everybody else here,
The problem is usually if the connected equipment has integrated circuits and other active solid state components inside.

Generally, they will run outside of their specifications if their inputs are forced above or below its power supply. So, the power supply should be connected first. When you have a multi pole connector you never know which connection is applied first. It could depend on how you push the connector in, straight or a littled angled to any side. So much safer to have the power off while you connect it.
Careful electronic or mechanical design can solve this problem and that is, as far as I know, done for the Firewire and USB systems so they could be connected and disconnected wildly.
Another thing is that you never know how software is programmed. Some software will read the settings only when the unit starts up. Other will constantly check what is going on and accept changes after the boot is done.

I would definitely not exchange the viewfinder without turning off the camera.
The lens I don't know. It is easy to forget to turn the camera off when you are busy on a shot. I think it should be designed to not destroy itself but here we have to ask Canon.
An ordinary audio connector is no big problem because it does not involve power if it is not phantom powered. However, you can blow a speaker if the volume is high on an amplifier ...

I do not recommend to apply phantom powered microphones with the power on. The 48V power supply is a huge signal compared to the tiny sound signal.

Connecting such signals with power on is similar to drive in your car and put in reverse gear while rolling forward; It might take that abuse once or tvice but that doesn't say it is a good practise.

I'm sorry if this information was not just for an H1 but more general. /Johan

Last edited by Johan Forssblad; February 14th, 2006 at 01:30 AM.
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Old February 13th, 2006, 03:55 PM   #7
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Hope I'm not hexing myself here, but I connect & disconnect mics ALL the time with phantom power on and never have a problem. In the heat of a shoot, it's hard to remember to flip the switch...I rarely do.

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Old February 13th, 2006, 04:04 PM   #8
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Dear Kevin,

Sorry, but this is a very bad practice.

Many manuals and electrical engineering (technical) articles report that you should not plug or unplug a microphone with phantom power on.

Your equipment will be better off if you do not do this.
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Old February 13th, 2006, 04:17 PM   #9
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Dear Christopher and others,

I definitely endorse the turning off of phantom power while the microphone is still conected and turning off the phantom power before connecting the microphone.

It is not a good idea to plug in the microphone while the power supply is putting out 48 volts.

If you are about to plug in a microphone, and you discover that the phantom power switch is on, I would turn it off, and then wait a while before plugging in the microphone. This is to let the 48 volts drain down.

In our previous discussion I did not mean to infer that plugging and unplugging phantom powered microphone inputs was acceptable.

Sorry for any confusion that I may have caused.
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