Daniel,
It's in standby. I had an XL2 and now have an H1, and don't think i've ever put any in "lock". I wish it were that simple, but my gut feeling is there's something wrong with the camera. I think I'll send it back to Canon before risking using it at another wedding. I was really curious to see if anyone else had the same problem.
thanks
Bruce S. yarock
www.yarock.com

Well, I'd say it was a main fuse problem, except that it 'came back to life'. So yeah, sounds like a trip to Canon is in order. At the very least, you'll be buying some peace of mind.

Man, I HATE unreproduceable errors like that.

Try reproduce the error by doing a lot of shooting around the home/studio (perhaps using a similar setup, but not on money shoots, to see if you can reproduce the problem. If you can't, it is unlikely Canon can either.

These problem that go away mysteriously tend to be something like a piece of dirt under a contact, a wayward external controller, or a simple but easy to overlook under pressure operator error as suggested above. (BTW: Did you try the reset button when it happened?)

Just a thought, the act of making some external connection to the machine, perhaps to the firewire or lanc port, while the camcorder processor was in a very specific transient state may have cause the internal processor to hang - a bit like can happen with a PC, and a reboot was needed. Many devices prefer that connections to I/O ports be made while the device is in a specific state - typically off.

Don,
I tried all of the batteries this am, and had no problem. I'll try your idea and do some extended shooting around the house and see if it happens again.
I couldn't hit "reset" because the camera was dead (unless I'm missing something...Is there another "reset" button?)
The only thing I had attached was a 10 watt Canon light on the shoe. Since I was flying it on the indicam, my hands weren't even touching the camera.
back to the drawing board...
Bruce S. yarock
www.yarock.com

I Have that Problem
 

EXACTLY the same thing happened with my XH-A1 – I was shooting soccer in SD – maybe 15 minutes into the first tape with 5 or 6 stop/starts of the button when the LCD went totally dark. My first thought was that I had switched it to lock, but I had not. I quickly changed batteries, but it would not power on. I went back to the original battery which was fully charged before I started, and it still would not work. Then a miracle occurred, and everything worked. It happened again 10 minutes later – when I went to lock then back to standby it came on. The next night was another soccer game (maybe 60 minutes total recording) and it failed again… lock/standby fixed it. A week later I shot an entire game with no problems.

I next had 2 horse shows to video, but did not want to dust off my XL/1s because I am addicted to the HX-A1 and have faith in miracles. Only one “hang” in the 120 minutes of video for the first show. No problems during the second show… maybe 140 minutes. (Most segments of the horse show were only 2 minutes in length).

I am planning on videoing my wall for an entire tape to see if it freezes, but in production it now seems to work like it did for the first 15 hours or so I used it before the problem surfaced.

Only thing attached to my camera is a Rode mic via XLR.

John,
Do you plan to send it back to Canon, or are you going to hope it doen't happen again? I'm going to try Dons' suggetion first.
Bruce S. yarock
www.yarock.com

Bruce,

I don't know your shooting situation but cameras have a condensation sensor that will allow you to start shooting but as condensation appears in the camera it will shut down and not restart until the camera and the ambient temperature are closely the same.

For instance...if you had the camera in a cool spot (like an air conditioned car) and took it out into warm or hot air (usually outside) the moisture in the air could condense on the colder metal camera parts like water condenses on the outside of a glass of ice water. This is even more likely in high humidity areas like Florida etc. Always let your camera sit a bit before using in order to keep this problem from happening. You might even open the tape door to let the inside camera temperature normalize.

You probably already know about this but others might not so I thought I would include it in this discussion.

Smooth Shooting,

Tery
Indicam

Bruce,
I do not think I will send it to Canon… at least not yet. I have a one day horse show this Saturday (maybe an hour+ of video in 2 minute segments), so I will see how it performs. I will next try videoing my wall and see if it can run an hour. I do not think the condensation problem Terry pointed out applies to my failures – at least not the last one at the horse show, as my camera had been on a tripod outside for several hours in dry weather and failed a minute into videoing (maybe the 30th 2 minute clip I shot that day). Has your A1 only failed one time?

The XH is different from the XL cameras... the XL series doesn't have the "lock" switch that the XH does. The XH will go into standby mode even if you've never touched that switch, and based on what you're describing, it sounds like it has simply gone into standby mode. And if you don't recall ever changing that switch then I can practically guarantee that's what happened.

If this situation ever occurs again, just cycle that switch (it surrounds the rec / pause button on the hand grip). Then you will have properly identified the cause of the shutdown, plus you can prevent it from happening again by disabling the auto standby mode from within the Custom Function menu. Hope this helps,

Terry,
It wasn't condensation. I've shot with this and all of my previous cameras in hideous contrating temperatures (freezing ac inside to sweltering humidity outside, and back inside) and none ever shut down. The only problems were fogged lens and viewfinder.

Chris,
It shut down while I was shooting the bridal party enter. I might have paused for a couple of minutes, but would that cause it to go into standby and shut down? I then tried to re power the camera with the main dial and it was still dead. Exctly how could I replicate what you're talking about to see if that's the cause?
Bruce S. Yarock
ww.yarock.com

Most definitely yes.

When an XH camera is in standby mode, it can't be re-powered by the main dial. Instead you have to cycle the standby switch. In fact it's your description (that you tried to re-power the camera with the main dial and it was still dead) that leads me to believe that it simply went into standby mode.

Load a tape. Record a few seconds and stop. Be sure that the camera is waiting in rec / pause mode. Wait several minutes. Don't touch anything on the camera. It should power down all by itself (this is standby mode).

Cycle the main power dial -- nothing should happen. Change batteries like you did before -- nothing should happen. It'll seem like it's completely dead (except for VCR Playback mode; that function will work fine).

Now cycle the standby / lock switch and watch it spring back into life.

If you find the auto standby mode annoying, simply disable it using the Custom Function menu.

Chris,
I just tried what you suggested.
1- I recorded 2 minutes to tape.
2- Put it in ''record/pause" mode, and waited.
3- After about 4 minutes, the"auto power/ save" window came up , started blinking, and in about 30 seconds, the camera shut down.
4- I turned the main dial to "off" then back to "m" and the camera powered right up.
The "standby/lock" switch is in "standby".
What happened saturday was that I was shooting and only paused briefly, then the camera went dead. The only thing I didn't try was to toggle the "standby/ lock" switch back and forth.
Any other ideas?
Bruce S. yarock
www.yarock.com

Okay Bruce -- try this exercise just one more time please. Make sure the switch is set to "standby." Let the camera shut down by itself and this time flip the switch to the "lock" position. Now try re-powering from the main dial -- nothing should happen. Change batteries, and nothing should happen. Flip the switch back to the standby position and it should turn on again.

I know you said you didn't touch that switch before, but consider the possibility that maybe you did flip it inadvertently, without being aware that you did it. What I'm suggesting to you is that *if this happens again,* your first step should be to immediately cycle that switch to see if it brings the camera back to life.

If that doesn't do it (and you've checked the battery, etc.) then you might have a problem that needs to be looked at by Canon service... but I'm willing to bet that cycling that switch is all you need to do.

The two times I've accidentally moved the switch, I also could have sworn that I never touched it. But I did. It's easy to do it and never know you did, especially if you're moving around a lot, putting it on and taking it off a tripod, in and out of a bag, etc.

Everyone,
Let me again tell you that my A1 "froze" just like Bruce's - several times over a 2 week period. The last time it happened I was 1 minute into videoing a horse at a show (not that that's important) and I was following the rider using the viewfinder (with Sony cup). The camera was on a tripod, and I was zooming in and out. The viewfinder went totally dark. I flipped the lever to lock, then back to standby, then pushed the button and continued videoing. I missed 2 of the horse's jumps. I did not accidentally flip it to lock. I have videoed maybe 500+ riders who take about 2 minutes to complete their jumps and once I push the button, I keep my thumb away... I have never screwed up a clip (well... sometimes they enter the ring before I start the camera and I miss 3 or 4 seconds, but that is rare). The only parts of my right hand touching the camera are my 2 fingers on the zoom buttons. My left hand is on the fluid head's pan handle.

Chris,
I tried it again, and when I toggle to "lock" the camera won't power up. Also when the camera is off (and the main dial is in off position),and the switch is set to "lock", the camera won't power up.

Bill,
I'd like to think that I mistakenly turned the toggle switch to 'lock", because it would mean that there was nothing wrong with the camera. In addition, I would have to have inadvertntly switched it back to "standby" when I took it out later in the reception. that's switching it twice without being conscious of doing so either time....
I've been running it a long time today, and no problem.

I called tech support at Canon, and he suggested tht I send it in. I have to send my H1 in on the 9th (for another problem), and maybe when I get it back, I'll send in the A1 (which is still under warranty).
Thanks to Chris et. al for chiming in and trying to help.
Bruce S. Yarock
www.yarock.com

At least I know how to turn it back on if it happens again (hopefully)...
Bruce S. yrock
www.yarock.com

Perhaps easier to do if one is not fully aware of the consequences of the act.

You are a far better videographer than most, especially following what presumably is fast action through the viewfinder on a tripod while zooming with the on-camera controls. Why not try a zoom controller such as the ZR-2000? Might make life a bit easier.

no power except vcr mode
 

I have a three week old A1. While I was shooting, the camera went dead. It now only works in VCR mode. Any ideas what this could be? Thank you.

Standby switch?

Ah. I switched the thumb switch to 'lock'. Don't do this unless you want to experience fear.

Been there. Done that.

Same here.
It did send a chill down my spine at first, until I recalled a thread on this board discussing this very thing.

So I just typed out a whole big question and then I saw it. It's a really obvious fix and I feel like such a moron haha. Thanks guys for inadvertantly helping me. I'm pretty sure I almost soiled my pants since I got this less than twelve hours ago. Thanks again looking forward to being part of the forums.

A few years ago I sent my XM2 back to Canon for repair, when it came back to me nothing worked. Eventually I discovered that Canon had moved that switch to standby.

And they had the cheek to tell me they could not replicate the original fault - the zoom wouldn't work consistently. Unfortunately sometimes it would work for several hours of recording, and at others would zoom out when it felt like it, and you had to wait until IT was ready to be zoomed in again. Eventually it stopped zooming completely, and I could only use it as a fixed wide angle.

And yes, I have managed to knock the switch to standby on the A1 - took a few minutes of methodically checking everything until I found the problem.

My XH-A1 wouldn't fire up some time ago, and it turned out to be bad contact of the battery. I took the battery out, put it back in and it worked again. The spring system, pressing the battery against the contacts, is not 100% reliable, apparantly. I wonder what will happen when the springs loosen up...

I've had that problem once, too.

Same here. Just take out the battery and put it back in. That only happened to me one time and it's been fine since. Same thing happened with the power supply--it's a little tricky to get it properly seated.

Good Lord...

This just had me spazzin out for the last 30 minutes. Glad it happened tonight and not at a shoot. Now I know!!! That is a really bad place for the lock/standby switch.

and this was just after my PC wouldn't start earlier tonight. Turned out it was just a loose DVI connection...OF COURSE AFTER I went out and bought a new video Card thinking I had fried my 8800GTX.

Anyone wanna buy a slightly used 8800GTX? :(

Uhhg and it was such a great day too.

Worst failure I ever had?

I assembled my own PC from scratch, so I felt pretty confident about the ins and outs of it.

Except... it's very easy to mess up the firewire installation. I was one jumper pin over...

That turned the "transfer data" wire into the "O HAI I WILL GIVS YOU ELECTRICITY!" line. I literally -destroyed- an HV20 back when the HV20s were going for $1100. (I also destroyed an iPod I had for years and really liked.) Luckily, the HV20 was still under warranty, and I was able to get a replacement..

XH-A1 Died!!!!
 

Hi, I'm hoping I'm just being an absolute moron (definitely been known to have been one from time to time). I've been away on holiday for the last 16 days, just tried to switch on my camera (which was at home the full time I was away) and nothing. When I turn the power dial anti-clockwise (VCR functions direction) it switches on and functions fine. When I turn the dial clockwise towards the recording function, absolutely nothing.

The camera is literally a week short of 13 months old, not excessive use at all, in fact pretty mild use (less than 40 hrs on the record head). Has anyone else experienced similar, am I panicing and perhaps missing something obvious. If so please point out because this is doing my head in thinking about it.

Thanks in advance

John

If it is what I think it is you will laugh.

This is what happened to me
I tried to get my A1 to turn on, I spent hours looking up why it wasn't turning on, how I could get it to work, etc. I pushed every button, I tried different batteries, with tapes with out tapes, etc.

Where the record button is there is a little standby switch, I had just barely bumped that so it wasn't entirely facing the correct direction and because of this, it wouldn't turn on. Make sure that switch is correctly aligned with run mode and then try to turn it back on. If it still doesn't function, check back with us.

Louis Maddalena

I'm not sure whether it's a chuckle or an embarassed laugh, either way Louis thank you, you've saved me from a long sleepless night (it's 11.30 pm here in the UK)

Thanks again

John

I wonder how many of the Canon engineers laugh til they split their sides every time they read a post describing exactly this problem. I too have fallen for it!

Bryce

Me too...right before a shoot. Fortunately I figured it out in time, but I was scared!

It happened to me too!

Merged together a bunch of "camera not working" threads... classic standby / lock confusion.

That's a much better heading than camera not working, since it's an operator problem.

I use this switch all the time. Great function. When I'm doing a shoot I tweek my settings then switch to standby until I'm ready to roll.

I don't recall ever flicking it over accidentally, but regardless, once you know it can happen, it's no longer a problem, surely.