dv/ firewire port
 

it's taken me 2 months since i bought a used xl-1s to verify that the dv port (where the camera connects by firewire to a computer) isn't working.
yesterday i took the camera to a local repair shop, where they told me that the xl-1 is notorious for having a bad board and that it could cost me several hundred dollars and up to fix.
is this true?
what are my options?

any input would be greatly appreciated

First thing's first, I would ensure it's not working - how did you test it to find this out?
If it really isn't working, I would find out how much Canon charges to fix it and compare it to the local shop, if the local shop is way off, Canon may be a better choice - I've personally never had issues with firewire ports not working unless it was something to do with the device I was connecting to.
I don't know what the repair cost would be, but I doubt it would be more than 200-300 dollars, probably less, but again, I'm just guessing.
hope this helps.

thanx for ur prompt reply
 

i've used 2 different firewire cables
so it's not the cable.
when i connect my camera to my powermac i cannot get either iMovie nor final cut to recognize it.
so it's not the software.
when i connect the camera to my firestore fs-4 the "dv if" indicator flashes in my viewfinder
which means there is no connection.

i'll see what the repair guy tells me after he takes a look at it.
if he's way off (i asked him how much he thought it would be if it were in fact the board, & he told me over $500) i'll take it somewhere else.

thanx again.
ur response has not only given me a response to his initial "notorious for bad firewire port" diagnosis
but also a ballpark figure for when he gives me an estimate.
much obliged!

please keep in mind the figure I gave was simply a guess - if all they need to do is solder a connection, then it wouldn't cost much, but if on the other hand a board or something needs to be replaced, it could in fact be higher than what I stated.

Can you still contact the original owner and ask if he knew about it and if he ever successfully used the port? Perhaps it happened gradually from a lot of use in which case a connection is probably loose. If he has never used it, it could have been like that from the beggining.
If he's the original owner and the port has never worked, he may be able to work a deal out with Canon and get them to fix it - in my experience, they're usually pretty reasonable.

Me too
 

I too have the same issue with my XL1s..it worked fine for a couple of years and then one day...NOT recognized via FW on the Mac/the DSR-11/the Firestore or the Quickcapture. Upon further inspection I did find that one of the 4 TINY prongs on the F/W connector on the camera was bent. With a small tool, I was able to bend it back and now all works well. Hope that is all it is for you.

Scott

thanx andrew & scott
 

both w/ great insight

the original owner initially said that she used a deck to transfer data.
upon my bringing the dv port issue to her attention, she said that it was working fine when she shipped the camera.
which sounds a li'l fishy if u ask me.
don't think she's gonna be much help.
but i'll ask her anyway.

the cable fit quite well, so i don't think it's a pin prob.
but thanx for the tip anyway.

i'll get back when i have more to add.

thanx guys!

e

If parts are needed, you may find Canon turn around is much faster than local repair shpt, at least if you are in the USA.

The main problem with firewire jacks is they are small, and if the cable is pulled at an angle, it can break internally.

got it.
thanx don.
i'll keep that in mind.

My XL1S has the same problem. One day my firewire port just quit working. I sent it to Canon and they wanted $1000 to fix it (they said the board was bad)!!! I can do without the firewire port for that price.

wow, I agree - for 1000 bucks it would be cheaper to just buy a cheap little camcorder to use as a capture deck instead of getting the onboard firewire port fixed.

Yeah. I use my little consumer Sony TRV27 as a deck. Less wear and tear on my high end cameras anyway.

The only draw back is that I won't ever be able to use tapeless recording with my XL1S. I'll just wait until I upgrade to HD in the future to mess with that stuff.

so i called canon
 

they're responsible for the design flaw
they should be resposible for finding an economically feasible solution.
right?
wrong.
canon could care less about the fact that u have to replace the entire main board when u blow the dv port.
nor that refurbished main boards are unavailable.

i thought that by being resonable they might get a clue how unfair this situation is.
no luck so far.
i will keep u posted.

if the boot-up sequence between the fs-4 and the video camera isn't done in the right order, you will sometimes get that error message... try booting the fs-4 all the way up before turning on the camera.

thanx for the tip
but my worst fears were confirmed yesterday
when i went to the repair shop & they told me it's the main board
$1079 to fix
every repair shophas told me more or less the same
still hoping canon will do the right thing
by making refurbished boards available to its loyal customers
or am i dreaming?

e

I've not heard of Canon using reconditioned boards in repairs.

The camcorder firewire connector is a tiny (aka fragile) one. But I've not formed the impression that Canon is having an especially high failure rate relative to other machines considering the level of profesional use/abuse the XL series machines get.

Usually no warranty on used gear, especially if private sales (not through a dealer like B&H). And even B&H warranty on used video gear is short - about 30 days

Even if E-Bay/PayPal, there is no doubt a similar limitation on the time to complain about latient defects.

If you have not had any occasion to abuse the port while connecting/disconnecting, and it is not an issue with boot order, sounds like you may be stuck.

If it is just a broken jack, $1079 sounds a bit steep for what in the XL1 is one small board with not much on it beyond an IC, cable connectors, and jack, the DIF PCB, but it is probably a bitch to get to. THe repair shop might be jerking you around.

Good luck and I hope changing the boot sequence works for you.