What do you mean? That the user has control over? All I've found is the EVF color in the menu.

The internal are service adjustments, not end-user adjustments.

On cleaning my viewfinder objective I saw that there appears to be a neutral density gelatin filter, on the inside facing the lcd screen - that scratches easily.

It is held in place by an easily removable metal ring. Removing this would certainly increase brightness without having to make any other adjustment.

Does anyone know what the purpose of this gelatin filter is?

Regards.

Most accurate answer from me: no, I don't know with certainty what it is.

Speculation: It's either an anti-reflective film or has something to do with the sun burn problems that the original XL1's had. That is, sun coming through the viewfinder for moderate amounts of time would fry the lcd. The film might well block certain wavelengths of incoming light to help protect the lcd.

Ken

I think you are probably right! - this must be the miraculous 'modification' that Canon came up over the original design.

Regards.

So removing this = bad idea?

Removing anything = bad idea. Everything's there for a reason. The smallest part is probably the result of hard-fought engineering and manufacturing battles. If something wasn't absolutely needed it wouldn't be in the camera.

If you have no suitable protection for the viewfinder outside - then yes it is probably asking for trouble.

However you can buy a self closing eyecup that replaces the existing one from Optex in England - you press your eye to open it and when you remove your eye it closes - it was infact designed sepcifcally to protect the evf pixels when film in bright sun.

Regards.

Batteries and viewfinder
 

I think I know the answer to both of these questions but will ask them anyway.

I have an old XL1, one of the first UK issues, with which I have always been delighted and have found no reason to replace as yet.

Question 1 - (probable answer - send to Canon for complete service)
My viewfinder has developed burnt-in red, green and blue pixels which do not affect record or playback but are obviously a bit of a nuisance. What could have caused this?

Question 2 - (obvious answer - dispose of sensibly and replace)
One of my many batteries, which is old but not excessively over used, shows up as being discharged by the camera and a battery tester but will not accept a charge as the charger indicates that it is fully charged.

Sorry to be so boring but I am curious and will ask more interesting questions in future.

Best wishes, JL

You're definitely on the right track, John... you've correctly answered both of your questions. Good luck,

I would say your view finder deteriorated as a result of age, heat, shock etc. Direct exposure to sun light can cause severe damage, but even indirect sun light can cause the Vf to get very hot. Batteries just get old and won't hold a charge. Heat is the worst enemy to batteries.

The colour viewfinder gets loose
 

the FU-500 viewfinder is housed on a rail and is secured in place with a screw knob. The knob always comes loose. I enjoy getting creative with my angles, and that means I twist the camera at times. The viewfinder always seems to slacken, and flops around. Very annoying.

Any ideas? I wonder if the ahrdware store has a similar knob, but with rubber washer around it to 'bite' the railing a little.

I got this one daddio. It's kind of complicated. I asked for a rubber grommet, at a local hardware store. The one I used was to thick (not circumference-wise, but the other way, know what I mean? Anyway, I cut it in half (not into semi circles, but two thinner, whole circles know what I mean?) and put one of those between the wheel that you use to tighten and loosen the viewfinder slider (sure that's not the right term) and the little piece that juts off the handle. You have to do some unscrewing, so if this makes you nervous, don't do it. Anyway, the bastard stays in place now.

See also the "Cheap Trick" on this page.

CP2 Message in viewfinder
 

Hello there. Looks like a great forum. Nice to be a part of it.

I have an XL1S (PAL). There is a flashing "CP 2" message in the viewfinder that I cannot get rid of.
I ave tried Custom Preset menu options to no avail.

Anyone have any ideas.

Thanks in advance