Had XL2 for 1 day and already problems... at DVinfo.net

Kevin Janisch · March 9th, 2005, 03:18 PM

I don't know if Canon quality is slipping or what, but my XL2 is 1 day old with 15 minutes of recording time (2 hours of use tops) and the tape loading mechanism doesn't want to consistently eject. I have noticed if I have the camera upside down, it ejects more consistently.

On top of this there is a dead pixel stuck at green in the middle of the viewfinder, only noticeable when switching modes (30p, 24p, 16:9, etc) though, so no big deal as of now. Also of note is when in 16:9 mode I notice the top masking bar has a slight flicker if I'm not looking at the LCD dead straight on. I've read in other posts about this problem as well.

I also noticed that the body is emitting noise when focusing (auto focus). I didn't notice this with the XL1s. I can hear it when going handheld. Don't know if it's being picked up by the microphone though.

Aside from the aforementioned headache, the images the XL2 produces are breathtaking. It is amazing how the footage looks so accurate to how I remember it. 16:9 on a 52" Sony widescreen looks amazing!!! Low light performance is much better than expected, even when using gain of 6 the images remained sharp and mostly noise free. The zoom seems like it goes on forever and the shallow depth of field with the long lens is gorgeous. All of this without tweaking the camera settings (mostly auto)! Now after all of this excitement, it looks like I may have to do without for a couple of weeks if it goes to Canon servicing...

Can anybody give their experiences with Canon on such a repair as far as turn around time? Thanks.

Kevin Kocak · March 9th, 2005, 04:08 PM

Depends on where you bought it. If its a local shop you might be able to swap it out. If its an internet company like B&H it could take a while.

Chris Hurd · March 9th, 2005, 04:21 PM

Most legitimate dealers, including our sponsors, have a return policy of at least seven days. I think you should contact your dealer and get it exchanged. Don't wait; start this process immediately, as in today.

The how's and why's regarding what is wrong with your particular camera are completely irrelevant -- don't bother with trying to find out what's wrong; instead, just get the camera exchanged. You have a very narrow window of opportunity with which to make this happen. Hope this helps,

Kevin Janisch · March 9th, 2005, 04:46 PM

The camera was indeed purchased from a sponsor, namely ZGC. I shot off an email to Chris before my initial posting and when I didn't hear back I gave her a call. She went home for the day, but the gentlemen I talked to said the exchange will not be a problem and that Chris will handle it tomorrow.

Man, it feels like I'm a 7 year old and being made to go back to bed after opening my presents on Christmas morning!!!

Thanks for all of the input.

Kevin

Richard Alvarez · March 9th, 2005, 04:52 PM

Kevin,

It's thanks to the sponsors at this site, that problems can be handled effectively. I feel for you man, I had to return my baby after twelve hours of use. But Brian at Zotz, did right by me. All is well with the new puppy.

Scott Aston · March 9th, 2005, 06:21 PM

Sorry to hear about your camera woes, but it sounds like you are going to get a new one. When I first used my XL2, and using only auto, I shot some footage on a bright sunny day, and when I returned home to look at the footage, I noticed a considerable amount of noise in the shadows. With a little tweaking of the presets, the noise is gone. Has anyone else experienced a lot of noise with the XL2 in full auto mode, shooting 24p : shutter 1/48? Just curious.

Marty Hudzik · March 10th, 2005, 11:55 AM

<<<-- Originally posted by Scott Aston : Sorry to hear about your camera woes, but it sounds like you are going to get a new one. When I first used my XL2, and using only auto, I shot some footage on a bright sunny day, and when I returned home to look at the footage, I noticed a considerable amount of noise in the shadows. With a little tweaking of the presets, the noise is gone. Has anyone else experienced a lot of noise with the XL2 in full auto mode, shooting 24p : shutter 1/48? Just curious. -->>>

Auto mode is your problem. The Xl2 "brain" always wants to go to 12db of gain (well not always but too much for my taste!). That is where most of the noise comes in. Even in well lit situations the brain will crank up the gain and lower the iris to properly expose. I recommend trying the Tv Mode. Set your shutter at 1/48, gain at 6db (max), 0db whenever possible, and let the camera do the iris for you automatically. then when you want to overide it just hit exposure lock and now you control it all again.

FWIW

Kevin Janisch · March 24th, 2005, 04:09 PM

Just an update, ZGC exchanged my XL2, I paid shipping there, they paid for the shipping to me. All is well, I asked if a tech could inspect the new camera for dead pixels, flickering, etc. and Chris had them do just that. Thanks for all the help.

Kevin

Charlie Wilkinson · March 25th, 2005, 01:56 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Kevin Janisch : I don't know if Canon quality is slipping or what, but my XL2 is 1 day old with 15 minutes of recording time (2 hours of use tops) and the tape loading mechanism doesn't want to consistently eject. I have noticed if I have the camera upside down, it ejects more consistently. ... -->>>

I've had mine for about a month now, and noticed that from the very first tape, I've had to work a little to get the eject mechanism to spit out tapes. Sometimes I've had to slide the eject lever a little forcefully several times to wake it up. I can only guess there's a microswitch in there somewhere that isn't being fully depressed by the sliding eject assembly.

I decided I'd rather put up with that than send it back, or fix it myself if it can be done without splitting the camera body open. (I'm not that brave/stupid!)

Other than that, no quirks. Oh wait... It did chew up one of my early tapes. First time I've ever had a tape get eaten in a miniDV camera and it was in the middle of the best footage on the tape. I was not amused. It's behaved since, however.

Mine's one of the older ones with the film grain "feature." How about yours Kevin? Anyone else seeing this eject problem?

-cw-

Kevin Janisch · March 25th, 2005, 06:25 PM

Charlie,

Yes, my former XL2 exhibited the same problem as far as the eject problem goes. It was indeed an earlier model with the film grain option. Not sure if my new XL2 is the older model, but did notice that the eject housing mechanism plate (the piece with the sticker on it stating to 'close this first') is a dark smoke color, I don't recollect, but I think my previous XL2 cover was the chrome metal, not for certain though.

My new XL2 eject is quick and instantaneous, big difference.

March 9th, 2005, 03:18 PM	#1
Kevin Janisch Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Monterey, CA Posts: 406	Had XL2 for 1 day and already problems... I don't know if Canon quality is slipping or what, but my XL2 is 1 day old with 15 minutes of recording time (2 hours of use tops) and the tape loading mechanism doesn't want to consistently eject. I have noticed if I have the camera upside down, it ejects more consistently. On top of this there is a dead pixel stuck at green in the middle of the viewfinder, only noticeable when switching modes (30p, 24p, 16:9, etc) though, so no big deal as of now. Also of note is when in 16:9 mode I notice the top masking bar has a slight flicker if I'm not looking at the LCD dead straight on. I've read in other posts about this problem as well. I also noticed that the body is emitting noise when focusing (auto focus). I didn't notice this with the XL1s. I can hear it when going handheld. Don't know if it's being picked up by the microphone though. Aside from the aforementioned headache, the images the XL2 produces are breathtaking. It is amazing how the footage looks so accurate to how I remember it. 16:9 on a 52" Sony widescreen looks amazing!!! Low light performance is much better than expected, even when using gain of 6 the images remained sharp and mostly noise free. The zoom seems like it goes on forever and the shallow depth of field with the long lens is gorgeous. All of this without tweaking the camera settings (mostly auto)! Now after all of this excitement, it looks like I may have to do without for a couple of weeks if it goes to Canon servicing... Can anybody give their experiences with Canon on such a repair as far as turn around time? Thanks.

March 9th, 2005, 04:21 PM	#3
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,366 Images: 513	Most legitimate dealers, including our sponsors, have a return policy of at least seven days. I think you should contact your dealer and get it exchanged. Don't wait; start this process immediately, as in today. The how's and why's regarding what is wrong with your particular camera are completely irrelevant -- don't bother with trying to find out what's wrong; instead, just get the camera exchanged. You have a very narrow window of opportunity with which to make this happen. Hope this helps, __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

March 9th, 2005, 06:21 PM	#6
Scott Aston Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 75	Sorry to hear about your camera woes, but it sounds like you are going to get a new one. When I first used my XL2, and using only auto, I shot some footage on a bright sunny day, and when I returned home to look at the footage, I noticed a considerable amount of noise in the shadows. With a little tweaking of the presets, the noise is gone. Has anyone else experienced a lot of noise with the XL2 in full auto mode, shooting 24p : shutter 1/48? Just curious. __________________ Scott Aston Eyecon Pictures, Inc.

March 25th, 2005, 01:56 PM	#9
Charlie Wilkinson Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Annapolis, MD Posts: 53	Re: Had XL2 for 1 day and already problems... <<<-- Originally posted by Kevin Janisch : I don't know if Canon quality is slipping or what, but my XL2 is 1 day old with 15 minutes of recording time (2 hours of use tops) and the tape loading mechanism doesn't want to consistently eject. I have noticed if I have the camera upside down, it ejects more consistently. ... -->>> I've had mine for about a month now, and noticed that from the very first tape, I've had to work a little to get the eject mechanism to spit out tapes. Sometimes I've had to slide the eject lever a little forcefully several times to wake it up. I can only guess there's a microswitch in there somewhere that isn't being fully depressed by the sliding eject assembly. I decided I'd rather put up with that than send it back, or fix it myself if it can be done without splitting the camera body open. (I'm not that brave/stupid!) Other than that, no quirks. Oh wait... It did chew up one of my early tapes. First time I've ever had a tape get eaten in a miniDV camera and it was in the middle of the best footage on the tape. I was not amused. It's behaved since, however. Mine's one of the older ones with the film grain "feature." How about yours Kevin? Anyone else seeing this eject problem? -cw- __________________ Charlie Wilkinson Full-time SysAdmin/Programmer Part-time Videographer wanna-be

March 9th, 2005, 04:08 PM	#2
Kevin Kocak Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, Fl Posts: 149	Depends on where you bought it. If its a local shop you might be able to swap it out. If its an internet company like B&H it could take a while.

March 9th, 2005, 04:46 PM	#4
Kevin Janisch Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Monterey, CA Posts: 406	The camera was indeed purchased from a sponsor, namely ZGC. I shot off an email to Chris before my initial posting and when I didn't hear back I gave her a call. She went home for the day, but the gentlemen I talked to said the exchange will not be a problem and that Chris will handle it tomorrow. Man, it feels like I'm a 7 year old and being made to go back to bed after opening my presents on Christmas morning!!! Thanks for all of the input. Kevin

March 9th, 2005, 04:52 PM	#5
Richard Alvarez Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 3,840	Kevin, It's thanks to the sponsors at this site, that problems can be handled effectively. I feel for you man, I had to return my baby after twelve hours of use. But Brian at Zotz, did right by me. All is well with the new puppy.

March 10th, 2005, 11:55 AM	#7
Marty Hudzik Trustee Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canton, Ohio Posts: 1,771	<<<-- Originally posted by Scott Aston : Sorry to hear about your camera woes, but it sounds like you are going to get a new one. When I first used my XL2, and using only auto, I shot some footage on a bright sunny day, and when I returned home to look at the footage, I noticed a considerable amount of noise in the shadows. With a little tweaking of the presets, the noise is gone. Has anyone else experienced a lot of noise with the XL2 in full auto mode, shooting 24p : shutter 1/48? Just curious. -->>> Auto mode is your problem. The Xl2 "brain" always wants to go to 12db of gain (well not always but too much for my taste!). That is where most of the noise comes in. Even in well lit situations the brain will crank up the gain and lower the iris to properly expose. I recommend trying the Tv Mode. Set your shutter at 1/48, gain at 6db (max), 0db whenever possible, and let the camera do the iris for you automatically. then when you want to overide it just hit exposure lock and now you control it all again. FWIW

March 24th, 2005, 04:09 PM	#8
Kevin Janisch Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Monterey, CA Posts: 406	Just an update, ZGC exchanged my XL2, I paid shipping there, they paid for the shipping to me. All is well, I asked if a tech could inspect the new camera for dead pixels, flickering, etc. and Chris had them do just that. Thanks for all the help. Kevin

March 25th, 2005, 06:25 PM	#10
Kevin Janisch Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Monterey, CA Posts: 406	Charlie, Yes, my former XL2 exhibited the same problem as far as the eject problem goes. It was indeed an earlier model with the film grain option. Not sure if my new XL2 is the older model, but did notice that the eject housing mechanism plate (the piece with the sticker on it stating to 'close this first') is a dark smoke color, I don't recollect, but I think my previous XL2 cover was the chrome metal, not for certain though. My new XL2 eject is quick and instantaneous, big difference.