Problems Galore with the XH-A1
 

This is a vent, but more, it is a plea for help:

Like most of you I was thrilled to finally get my XH-A1. I couldn't wait to explore the plethora of features it offered. However this joy quickly faded a week into use as the LCD screen just stopped working. I just turned it on one day and it displayed nothing but gray lines. I was fine with this and Canon was relatively helpful (except when they initially tried to charge me for shipping the product to their repair center). Now, cut to two weeks later and I get back my beloved XH-A1, fixed and ready to go but... yet again I have run into a problem. A week after getting it back my shutter dial AND iris ring have stopped working. I called Canon customer service and AGAIN they couldn't help me on the phone but AGAIN I can ship it to their repair center... free of charge. Now my question is this: Have any of you had any of these problems? And more specifically, does anyone know how to fix (without sending it the repair center) my iris ring and shutter dial? I treat this camera with the utmost care, I have never dropped it, banged it, or even nudged it, yet it keeps breaking. I am completely perplexed and have now considered cutting my losses and maybe even selling it. Please help me if you can. I don't want to send it away for another two weeks.

no not one problem
 

Sorry to hear about this , I guess if this continues ask very nicely for a replacement. Let me know what happens I know a Canon rep that might be able to help .

Doug T

Hello Ian,

Your only possible option there is to request a dealer exchange. They may or may not do that for you. And btw, welcome to DVINFO where we DO NOT allow personal rants, tirades, flames, political/religious agendas, platform wars, equipment/manufacturer bashing, or anything else that causes hostility.

It must be very frustrating, but you are doing the right thing by working through Canon service and/or your dealer.

Regards,

-gb-

BH Photo
 

I bought the camera through BH Photo, where I bought my tripod and mic. As far as I know after their 10 day money back period you're stuck with the camera.
I wasn't aware you could get a replacement camera through Canon though. Perhaps I'll try that if repair #2 doesn't work. Do you know if there is a certain timeframe where you can no longer get a replacement? I have had the camera for about a month. I say a month but in reality it has been with me two weeks, and with Canon for the other. (Insert laughter/crying here)
And I apologize if my previous post violated the rules of the forum. You have to understand how frustrating this is.

i had a bum camera from a dealer--the VTR stopped working about a minute after i tried it--and i returned it to the dealer and never dealt with canon. the dealer sent me a new unit, and it never gave me a moment's trouble. you might want to call up the dealer and explain the situation. it does not sound as if you tried that. but the dealer has a responsibility to deliver the goods in working order. the longer you wait on this, the less likely you'll get the help you need.

Hi Ian...
 

I feel for you, nothing worse than thinking you've just bought a "Friday Ford" (as they used to say in the UK).

This may be a stupid question, but when you say "the iris ring & shutter speed dial don't work", is there any possibilty this is mis - operation? It isn't set to "card"? Not plugged into a Firewire port on the pc? You haven't loaded a set of scrambled pre - sets?

I only ask as in your current (understandable) state of mind, it might just be you've overlooked the bleeding obvious somewhere.

If the answer to all of the above is no, try doing a "factory reset" (little button down the hole under the lcd storage area). You never know, your cam COULD have got zapped somehow, somewhere, by something.

If that doesn't do it and nobody else can think of a "mis - op" to account for it (could be a shed load) guess it's either fix or replace, unfortunately.

Can't shed much light on the latter as I'm not au fait with your states consumer protection laws (or any of the states cpl's, for that matter)

What a bummer.

Cheers,


Chris

I'm asking the obvious here and excuse me if this comes across the wrong way since I don't know your experience :)

But... are you in an auto mode by chance?

Bill

What I've tried so far
 

I already tried resetting, no dice. I tried everyone possible thing I could think of and picked the brain of two different customer service reps at Canon, still no luck. They also informed me that replacing the body is completely up to the discretion of the repair center... ie no luck lol. I'll give BH a call and see if they can help me in any way.
And yes I was in manual mode... the canon guy had me go into AE shift from the menu and scaling that up and down had no effect. Which he said means my camera is fubared <--- Guess the movie. He used a different, more complicated euphimism but thats what I got from the conversation.

Call B&H right away. BTW did you happen to get an extended warranty? If so, use it to get a new unit.