Camera not working!

Annie Haycock · May 30th, 2008, 01:58 AM

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.

Luc De Wandel · May 30th, 2008, 01:59 AM

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...

Annie Haycock · May 30th, 2008, 02:50 AM

I've had that problem once, too.

Bill Pryor · May 30th, 2008, 02:12 PM

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.

Brad Vaughan · August 7th, 2008, 10:01 PM

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.

Brian Boyko · August 7th, 2008, 10:51 PM

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..

John Elliott · October 5th, 2008, 04:08 PM

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

Louis Maddalena · October 5th, 2008, 04:25 PM

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

John Elliott · October 5th, 2008, 04:33 PM

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

Bryce Comer · October 5th, 2008, 04:48 PM

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

David Sotar · October 5th, 2008, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryce Comer

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!

Erick Munari · October 5th, 2008, 06:57 PM

It happened to me too!

Chris Hurd · October 5th, 2008, 10:14 PM

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

Bill Pryor · October 6th, 2008, 09:46 AM

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

Bill Watson · October 6th, 2008, 01:02 PM

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.

May 30th, 2008, 01:58 AM	#106
Annie Haycock Major Player Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pembrokeshire, Wales Posts: 734	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. __________________ Canon XH A1; Canon XF100; Nikon D800

May 30th, 2008, 02:50 AM	#108
Annie Haycock Major Player Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Pembrokeshire, Wales Posts: 734	I've had that problem once, too. __________________ Canon XH A1; Canon XF100; Nikon D800

August 7th, 2008, 10:51 PM	#111
Brian Boyko Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 773	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.. __________________ Equip: Panny GH1, Canon HG20, Juicedlink, AT897, Sennh. EW/GW100, Zoom H2, Vegas 8.1

October 5th, 2008, 04:08 PM	#112
John Elliott Tourist Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2	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

October 5th, 2008, 04:48 PM	#115
Bryce Comer Trustee Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Rossland, British Columbia Posts: 1,024	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 __________________ There's never enough hours in the day!

May 30th, 2008, 01:59 AM	#107
Luc De Wandel Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Knokke-Heist, Belgium Posts: 963	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...

May 30th, 2008, 02:12 PM	#109
Bill Pryor Contributor Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 4,449	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.

August 7th, 2008, 10:01 PM	#110
Brad Vaughan Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Va Beach, Va Posts: 241	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.

October 5th, 2008, 04:25 PM	#113
Louis Maddalena Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: NYC Area. Posts: 550	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

October 5th, 2008, 04:33 PM	#114
John Elliott Tourist Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2	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

October 5th, 2008, 06:57 PM	#117
Erick Munari Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: New York Posts: 161	It happened to me too!

October 5th, 2008, 10:14 PM	#118
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,366 Images: 513	Merged together a bunch of "camera not working" threads... classic standby / lock confusion. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

October 6th, 2008, 09:46 AM	#119
Bill Pryor Contributor Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 4,449	That's a much better heading than camera not working, since it's an operator problem.

October 6th, 2008, 01:02 PM	#120
Bill Watson Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Noosa Queensland Australia Posts: 248	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.