Anyone know where to buy rear bracket for XL H1
 

Does anyone know where you can buy a rear bracket plate for the Canon XL H1?

I'm sure if you contacted Canon directly they could supply one. When you get the bracket watch out for the three securing screws - they are very easy to lose!

Cheers
Simon

Yes, you can call Canon directly. They have a parts department that you can order from.

The number is: 732.521.7230

Hope this helps!

Thanks for your help!

Adapter Holder: be careful!
 

Be careful when you install your Adapter Holder (Canon's name for the bracket). The threaded, metal inserts at the top of the shoulder pad on your H1 are held in place by just a tiny bit of injected plastic. I broke, not one, but TWO shoulder pads, and each one cost over $250 to repair! Long story short— on the final one, I opened the shoulder pad, and filled as much of the void as possible with a clear, silicone hard rubber filler.

I pray that nothing ever hits the adapter holder when I have it loaded with my Anton Bauer Dionic 90 and a Firestore drive. It would rip the back end of the camera right off. Unfortunately, this is one area where our Canon shows that it is not built to professional standards— much of it is cheap plastic.

Jeff

Ouch...! I have the bracket - (minus the small plates that come with it - and the fixing screws) and was considering mounting it for all the right and obvious reasons. Think I won't bother now.
Thanks for the heads up.

For what its worth, I use the back bracket all the time, to mount Dionic 90s (and even the much heavier/bigger Hytron 140) along with wireless receivers.

I have never had an issue, and it is pretty sturdy for me.

I say if you need it, use it!

Ok, swung with the breeze, anyone know where I can get the three screws that hold it on - without having to buy the whole kit?

Their type and size would be a good start so I can hang around a few hardware stores for them...

Most likely they're metric. Take the camera to a hardware store (a real one, with old guys who tend to certain aisles to make sure they're stocked properly and answer questions). I would guess 4mm x .7, because that's what every other Canon accessory I've had to get screws for took.

Martin

I've lost a few of the tiny black screws before, but was able to obtain similar ones from a local hardware store.

Buying a spare bracket from Canon in UK or mainland Europe can be a pain and I found it almost impossible to order it separately, even after calling Canon and also ordering from large dealers...they just couldn't source one unless I was prepared to wait many weeks (which I wasn't due to needing it urgently for an expedition) and I was left frustrated. I was forced in the end to attach the radio mic units with strong velcro to the back of the handle grip.

Some time later, I managed to buy a brand new one from Ebay at a very good price.

I'm not sure if the older bracket for the Canon XL2 also fits the XL-H1(A/S), but I think it does, so that might be an option.

I tend to leave the Canon rear bracket on all the time and use it mainly to hold Sony WRT radio mics, or the double battery pack. I've never had any problems yet with the screw fittings, even after years of hard use on several camera bodies.

It would have been nice if Canon had made the bracket a folding unit to make it easier to fit the whole camcorder plus bracket inside bags. It was a tight fit in the Portabrace XL bag so I tended to remove it for travel, although it was a pain to keep having to screw it in place on location, so I sold the bag.

The original Kata CC-1 bag (for XL2/XL-H1) is also a very tight fit but the updated version CC-10-A is long enough to allow the Bracket to remain in place.

I've found the best bag of all for my type of extensive travel and outdoor use is the Kata BP-502 GDC backpack. It is a superb professional-grade bag and big enough to carry the complete camcorder +20X lens attached plus fitted bracket, with room for 6X lens and loads of extras, and also allows quick and easy access when shooting on location.

Great info from both of you, many thanks. Will go seek a hardware store out for the screws.