View Full Version : XL1 tape drive problems..


Thomas Weilguny
November 22nd, 2006, 02:28 PM
my very well-used (2nd hand) XL1 has been acting up lately. It´s hard to label, hence not much luck finding anything through search.
What happens is that occasionally when recording, the tape will rewind at half-speed, with the playback visible in the EVF. When it started, this went on for a few seconds, then everything was back to normal. Now this has increased in frequency to the point where recording is pretty much impossible.
Removing and re-inserting the tape temporarily helps, so does switching to a new tape.

Since I´m out of ideas I´ll probably have to bring it in for service, but if anyone knows this problem or has experienced something similar I´d appreciate the insight.
An unrelated thing: there seems to be a slight bit of underscan present (in the the output material, it´s not visible in the EVF or on a monitor), is this normal?

Lorinda Norton
November 23rd, 2006, 01:08 AM
That sounds weird, Thomas...at least, I've never heard of it. You're right, though; you don't have a choice but to send it Canon.

As for the second question--yeah, that's normal. :)

Don Palomaki
November 23rd, 2006, 07:13 AM
Is one of the record search buttons shorting?

The active portion of the image is about 704 pixels wide, with an 8 pixel black band on theleft adn right side. That is a DV standard, and is only visible on a monitor with no overscan such as a PC.

Thomas Weilguny
November 24th, 2006, 08:19 AM
thanks for the info! I don´t know about the buttons, nothing I could tell without opening the body up.
I brought it in today for a repair quote, I just hope it doesn´t get too expensive...

Thomas Weilguny
December 14th, 2006, 07:22 AM
update: the main PCB is damaged, apparently some corrosion... no idea how that crept in, but since the repair quote is for over thousand euros we´ll probably be looking for either a new body or a new camera altogether...

damn.