XL1 / XL1S various posts

[Don Palomaki]

UV filter is mainly for front glass protection, but can introduce issues if it get dirty. Especially in bright sun and dusty locations.

A polarizer often helps with sun refelction control.

Lots of threads here on both - try the search for more discussion.

[Nic Maguire]

Again thanks Don

Originally Posted by Don Palomaki

UV filter is mainly for front glass protection, but can introduce issues if it get dirty. Especially in bright sun and dusty locations.

A polarizer often helps with sun refelction control.

Lots of threads here on both - try the search for more discussion.

[Michael Sweeney]

just a quick question. is it bad to take the lens off with the camera still in record mode? i accidently did 2 times without realizing it. i hope it didn't damage anything.

thanks,
mike

[Lorinda Norton]

I've read that it's not good to take the lens off with the power on--period. If you got lucky and your lens is okay, burn it into your mind right now: POWER OFF BEFORE REMOVING THE LENS. :)

[Daniel Stone]

I have an XL1s and a GL1, both of which I use to capture to my G4. Recently my XL1s' firewire stopped working (tested it on several computers). The same day, my GL1 firewire stopped working, too... and "DV in" blinks on the screen.

I'm going to have it repaired but I'm wondering... is my G4 frying the cameras' firewire ports? Other things plugged into my G4's firewire seem to work fine. It's just a little convenient that they both went on the same day - one right after another - you know?

Also, there's a place I found on Google called Video One Repair. They claim to fix the XL1s. Anybody ever used them? (www.videoonerepair.com)

[Djee Smit]

Maybe the firewire cable broke the firewire on your camera. I had this problem recently, 1 of the 4 pins in the cable was bended en broke one of the four pins in my camera and was therefore unusable

[Jarrod Whaley]

Do you mean Vegas Movie Studio?

I use the full version of Vegas, but I assume that VMS has audio envelopes too. This is what you want to do. Select the track in question and go to "insert / audio envelopes / volume." A purple line will pop up on your audio track. Double click on it to add points, and then just adjust as needed.

[Devon Powell]

Once again I come along to show the vast ignorance that I have when it comes to digital video.

I play it safe always so I would like to know in simplest terms, several things.

1. What is IRE and what so the numbers (80, 85, 90 ect.) mean to me?

2. What are my options to fix the stripes without messing up the rest of the picture?

3, What is the best setting for the Zebra stripes?

I am shooting it Black and White, if this makes any differance at all.

I have about a year to plan but I want to get on it now and learn all I can so any help you could give me would be awsome.

[Don Palomaki]

IRE = Institute of Radio Engineers, now part of the IEEE. They were responsible for the standard.

It is an arbitrary unit describe the amplitude characteristic of a video signal, where pure white is defined as 100 IRE with a corresponding voltage of 0.714 Volts and the blanking level is 0 IRE with a corresponding voltage of 0.286 Volts.

For broadcast NTSC, black is 7.5 IRE, but most MiniDV camcorders set black at 0 IRE per the Japanees standard. Obviously electrical signals may go above 0.714 volts (100 IRE), and you get whites that are "whiter than white," meaningless in a normal video system, and prone to cause interference, especially with audio, in an analog broadcast TV system.

The zebra IRE setting is the point in image brightness (as read from the video signal) at which you see zebra in the viewfinder. The stripes are in the camcorder, not on tape, so ther is nothing to "FIX" otehr thatn perhaps adjust esposure to avoid blown out highlights where you see extensive zebra. Thus they can serve as a warning to the shooter of possible over exposure and corresponding blown out highlights. Use this as a guide to acchieving the image effects you want. (After all, maybe you want to blow out the highlight)

Experiment with IRE settings and shooting to find what works best or you.

[Eric Holloway]

Does anyone know what wind sock I could use to go over the stock xl1s on camera mic?

I was looking for something inexpensive such as the products by windTech.

[Per Johan Naesje]

Eric, I use Rycote Mini windjammer, see link:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...lue=366276_REG

I use it for my XL2 but it should fit perfectly for your XL1S too. I'm very pleased with it.

[Eliot Mack]

As the title says, I'm figuring out the pitch of the gear on the zoom ring of the manual servo 16x lens. The larger Canon lenses seem to use 0.5M metric gears, and this looks close to that, but I haven't found a hard spec even on the included instruction sheet.

Thanks,

Eliot

[Lankester Merrin]

Hi everyone I am new to the forum so please be gentle! ;-)

I own an XL1S and I have read through pretty much every post on this forum and on the net concerning the 16:9 issues (shooting with an anamorphic lens, true widescreen on XL2, etc...). However I don't think I've answered my question yet. Although I own it, I am not the operator for my films but I do the editing (as well as act, write and produce them).

THE HISTORY:
We filmed a feature 2 years ago with this camera in 4:3 but we framed for widescreen with the white bars that are activated through the camera's menu (I believe from what I read this is called "shoot and protect"?) and I added the black bars in post during editing. We also used the "frame mode" for a film look and then I tried to add a film look in post but that did not work (I'm guessing because it was already down to 30fps?).

THE GOAL:
I want to shoot a new feature and of course like everyone (and because I now own a 60" Widescreen HDTV) I really want to shoot widescreen. I have no intentions of transferring to film but I do want the film look and to make a widescreen DVD to distribute while keeping the best quality. My budget does not allow me to purchase an anamorphic adapter for now but not ruling it out either.

THE QUESTIONS:

I read about the widescreen feature preserving more vertical resolution, even if they aren't as good as using an anamorphic or a true 16:9 CCD. But no one mentioned anything about the format itself.

1) Putting aside resolution and that debate, does the widescreen function of the camera actually frame 16:9 correctly? Will I see a 16:9 image on a widescreen TV and be able to putput a widescreen DVD?

2) Do I absolutely need the Optex or Century Optics anamorphic adapter for the framing to be correct?

3) If I shoot and protect again, is there a way to still end up with a 16:9 image or create a widescreen DVD so that it won't output black bars on the sides as well as the top and bottom?

4) If I do purchase the anamorphic adapter, can I still use my 16X manual zoom lens or wide angle lens? Does this anamorphic adapter just go over these?

5) Can I mix frame mode with 16:9 or am I better of filming at 60fps and adding a film look in post instead?

Sorry for the long post and sorry if some questions sound stupid from a newbie. I just cannot find the answers to my quite simple questions!

[David Slingerland]

We in europe shoot on PAL in the states you shoot on NTSC. But for an american website it should not be a problem now would it? They can use pal material also or not? I think its not but just checking for sure....

greetings

[Djee Smit]

pal and ntsc are telvision systems. computers don't work that way. (I believe)