Following a second warning that my heads were dirty following a cassette cleaning, I decided to take my XL2 a local repair shop that came highly recommended. Upon diagnosing the problem, they told me the heads were irreparably damaged and needed to be replaced. Assuring me that only authorized Canon parts would be used, and in the interest of time, I let them do the work.

Now, I cannot capture at all. My tape "deck" (an HV20 that's always worked flawlessly) can't read any of the info off freshly shot tapes -- even though it's all there. Occasionally it'll pick up an image, but time code remains frozen. Older tapes are no problem.

Even when I try to capture from the XL2, my editing program detects time code breaks and discontinuities, often freezing the image in mid-capture, even if there's no evidence of anything wrong while observing playback through the viewfinder (pic & time code both look okay!).

What's going on here? Did I make a big mistake going anywhere other than Canon for service? The guys that did the work insist I bring the camera back, but I'm not sure I would trust them again. Meanwhile, I can't capture anything. Please help!