stand-by problem
 

On the XL1, is there a way to keep a video signal when it goes into standby? I would like to be able to see video in the veiw finder, and an external monitor...even though my 5-minutes of having it on pause is up. We are planning to use it to stream live video on the internet, yet we still would like to roll tape as we please.

This subject has already been discussed in great detail on the Watchdog. Go to http://www.dvinfo.net/xl1.htm and choose Articles Menu > Camera Head > Standby Mode Explained

Long story short, you'll need to move up to the new XL1S which enables you to turn off the standby feature. The article mentioned above, however, does include some work-arounds. Hope this helps,

The problem with leaving a camera in pause mode with tape loaded is that over time the tape will wear in one spot and may start to shed the coating. Not great for heads. If you really want to use the XL1 mainly as a live camera with long periods of tape pause, maybe use a separate DV recorder connected via firewire to the XL1

If you want to use the camcorder to act as a camera only, load a dv tape in the transport and close the outside plastic door without pushing in the tape loading (metal) machanism. This will fake out the camera. It will remove the no tape icon in the view finder and since the heads are not spinning, it will not shutdown after 5 minutes.

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