BIG problem with my XL1S
 

Ok. Here's the problem I'm having with my XL1s.

After I shoot some footage and watch it in the playback, the video is all garbled and has a lot of large green blocks. You can sort of make out the footage behind it, but its just a total mess. This happened one time before, but the problem went away and it started working fine again.

ALSO, for the most part, in the viewfinder it looks fine, but sometimes it gets full of with little spots and horizontal lines. I think the issues are related because the video problem only happens when the viewfinder is having trouble.

The camera is just over a year old and I have have very few hours on it. Anyone else had this experience?

Please help me if you can!

Thanks,
Erik

What about if you view it on a TV/monitor? If it's the same on both the EVF and TV then it's probably clogged heads. This seems to be common with XLs and sending it to Canon for a service usually rectifies the problem.

I'll test that out and let you know what I find out.

Thanks!
Erik

Erik, I think you may need to get a Mini-DV head cleaning tape. I shot a class project with my GL1 one time after taking it on a trip to Europe. I showed the video and everything was messed up, looking just like what you described. So I went to the store for some tech support and the guy said that the heads were dirty and to buy a cleaning tape, and sure enough that solved everything!

If that doesn't work then send the camera in for service. That's pretty much all you could do at that point.

Sometimes a head cleaner will do the job if there is a little bit of break-up or excess noise. Give it a go but remember to follow the instructions for the tape to the letter as excessive use can do damage to the heads.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I ran a head cleaner tape through it. No luck. It didn't help at all. So I just took it into the shop. We'll see what they say about it.

Erik