I still have the piece. We glued it on once (about 1 hour before taping so it only had about 30 minutes to dry and didn't really have time to set) but it broke off again. So, you think just cleaning that off, gluing it back on again (and giving it time to set this time) and all should be well?

I think I'll just leave it permanently attached to that camera from now on. I used to remove it to put it in a case and we had another one without a case. I think they may have just gotten switched!

I leave mine on all the time, even when I travel.

This is another unfortunate flaw in the Canon line as once again, the engineers that designed it made it very pretty but failed to reinforce certain stress areas on it.

We have had to replace 2: MA-100s and 1: MA-200 due to the failure of the "tab".

One of them failed in the middle of a shoot as the camera was rolling. No undue force or craziness, just tilting down over the side of a building when the whole thing went to S**T!

If you have not yet experienced it, the next weak link in the system is the dovetail on the eyepiece where it attaches to the camera. All those little screws attach to some of the most brittle and flimsy plastic you can imagine. We have had to send in two for repair (replacement of the plastic assembly), very frustrating.

If you are transporting your camera in a soft case, I would strongly urge you to detach the eyepiece to avoid straining the mount.

RB

<<<-- Originally posted by Rick Bravo : We have had to replace 2: MA-100s and 1: MA-200 due to the failure of the "tab".
RB -->>>


So, did you just purchase new ones?

Yes we did.
 

We also tried everything from expoxy to Krazy Glue with no real, long term success.

Fortunately, we have an open repair contract with a local vendor.

They tried to fix the problem, as did we, failing that, the next step is to just order another unit. Not very cost effective for a piece that should last the life of the camera.

I realize that this is not an acceptable alternative for someone who is paying out of his or her pocket, which makes it even the more dissapointing that Canon has not addressed and corrected these problems.

RB

This discussion is giving me the shivers.

During a shoot last year someone's foot caught on an XLR cable attaches to the MA-200 on my camera. Because the camera was low and the tripod was splayed it did not tip the camera. But it certainly must have stressed that little tab. I checked it at the end of the shoot and it appeared to be unharmed. But I have long since wondered what would happen if that tiny plastic detail broke.

Now I know. Yeesh.

As far as I know, this one was not even put under any undue stress! Guess I'll probably just end up buying a new one.

Edward had you considered reconstructing that part . Lets say with a metal piece?

AV

The question is how to attach it to the current unit. I'd love to "repair" this unit in some way.

Repairing such a small piece can be tricky, but here's how I'd do it:

Drill a small hole in the broken piece, and drill a matching hole in the part from which it came. The holes should match up fairly closely but it doesn't have to be perfect.

Then make a steel pin that will fit in the hole. Doesn't have to fit perfectly, but fairly close. You will probably need to allow for a slight mismatch of the holes you drilled.

The steel pin should be rough. Use a dremel tool or something similar to give it a definite texture.

Next, find some slow-set epoxy. The quick set epoxies won't cure as hard as the slow-set type.

Use the epoxy to set the pin in place as well as adhere the broken pieces. The epoxy will fill any void so that the pen will end up being a perfect fit, of course.

Once this is set in place, and secured with masking tape or something similar to keep it from shifting, leave it alone for at least 24 hours. Epoxy actually takes a couple of days to come to full strength, although most of its strength generally develops in the first 24 hours.

This should work. The steel pin is what will give it strength and the epoxy, besides being a really good glue, will tightly bind the steel pin to the plastic.

Dean Sensui
Base Two Productions.

Thanks for the suggestion. However, there's no place to drill "matching holes". Think of the capital letter "L" where the part of the "L" that sticks out has broken off. The try to reattach that.

"Think of the capital letter "L" where the part of the "L" that sticks out has broken off. The try to reattach that."

Yep, I have an MA-100 and it's quite small, but it's doable. You'll need to use modeler's tools such as a Dremel to drill the holes. As for a steel pin, you'll need something about the diameter of a paper clip. But I wouldn't use paper clip wire. I'd use piano wire or something fairly stiff.

Another approach is to clean off any leftover adhesive from the broken parts and glue it with slow-set epoxy. After the epoxy sets, drill through the broken piece and into the main part of the mount, then insert the steel pin and secure those with epoxy. I would recommend at least two pins as that little piece gets shear stress and even the best adhesives won't tolerate that kind of force, not for something that small.

Doing it this way will take a little longer, being a two-step process, but it'll make drilling the holes easier.

The trick is to use a slow bit speed and constantly draw the bit out to avoid building up any plastic filings in the hole you're drilling. Attempting to drill it in a single pass will cause the bit to bind and it'll mess things up pretty quickly.

Another option: After initially gluing the plastic part back into place, hollow out most of that tab along with an equal portion of the MA-200. Drop in an L-shaped piece of steel and seal it in with epoxy. You'll end up with the steel piece taking all the stress, and the plastic will serve only to provide the bulk needed to fit the slot in the XL1.

Dean Sensui
Base Two Productions.

has anyone tried?
 

to get canon to fix this? I have the same problem with a ma-100 and called canon they said send it in gave me a address to mail it to. I just have not got around to doing it....(its on a bcam so no rush for me) but reading this it sounds like they may not fix it, it was just a guy on the phone I talked to....or no one tried to send it in for repair?

M

Actually, no, I have not called Canon and asked them about fixing it.

Can I use any 4 pin XLR lighting with my MA-200?
 

Hi folks.

Does any one know if I can plug any type of 4 pin XLR light into the MA-200 audio adapter for the XL1s.


I know the MA-200 is for audio only but can it be done thought?

You can't do that. The MA-200 have 3 pins XLR inputs and doesn't provide power.

Just to echo Jean, those 3-pin XLR inputs on the MA-200 are for audio only. You'll need a 4-pin XLR power source such as a battery belt, battery pouch or on-board power system such as an Aspen, IDX or Anton Bauer pro battery pack... which you can mount on the MA-200's accessory bracket. Hope this helps,

As a followup, the repair was successful. It had to be taken apart in order to get to the back of the tab but three small holes were drilled, filled with metal, and thoroughly glued into place. The outside was then smoothed down and it now feels very solid.

Edward...

Congratulations on the repair. Epoxy is amazing when appropriately applied. I've used it for a lot of things including boat repair, furniture repair, rifle accurizing and part fabrication.

One of my friends built an entire airplane with it (Rutan Long-EZ).

Sometimes it beats spending hundreds of dollars in replacement parts.

Dean Sensui
Base Two Productions

MA-200 mountable phantom power
 

Can anyone recommend a decent 48v phantom power supply that will mount to the MA-200?

I couldn't find anything in my MA-200 lit that says it supplies power so I'm assuming it doesn't.

You're right, the MA-100/MA-200 doesn't provide phantom power.

You can try this little box:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=288123&is=REG

It does not mount to the ma-200 but it is portable and should do what you want at low cost.

MA100 vs MA200
 

I am familiar with the technical and size differences of these two adaptors but is the mounting tab better on the 200?

Jim, in my opinion, no it ain't. It's pretty much the same plastic tab.

Help with MA-200! Quick Question!
 

I have just purchased an MA-200 adapter, as I am hooking up an external mic on a boom pole for interview recording. Audio quality is fantastic, but here's the problem. I have the mic plugged into the Audio1 jacks, but I only get audio on 1 side. On the back of the MA-200, it says L for one plug-in and R for the other. So if I plug in the mic to the L jack, I get audio on the left. If I plug the mic into the R jack, I get audio on the right. But I don't want one side or the other, I need a stereo signal. With the left and right jacks on the MA-200, it would appear that you could only plug in 2 mics, and I know I can plug in 4! So it just doesn't make sense to me. There must be some way to get a stereo signal from one mic jack, and I know I have not seen a mic on the market whose wire has two plugs at the end of it. Is it a camera setting, or what am I doing wrong?

To get stereo you need two directional mics (or a single point stereo mic). Typcially one mic (or element) picks up sound from the left of center, the other from the right of center.

With one mono mic, you can get the same signal on the left and right channel - but that is not stereo, it is just two channel mono signal.

If you want the same signal on both channels, you can mix it in post, or you can get a "Y" splitter/adapter and feed the same signal both Audio 1 inputs.

If you want actual stereo, consider getting a single point stereo mic, such as the AT825.

4 channel question
 

Your right to think you can get four channels on the XL-1/1s/2 camera in 12 bit, but you can only get two in thru the MA200. The other two channels come from the input normally attached to your on camera mic which IS a STEREO mic. Note the two sets of connector pins on the mic cable from the on camera mic that is for channel one and two, the other two inputs are derived from the connections on the MA200 or lacking that the RCA connectors on the back or side of the camera (depending on model of course).

Hope this clears it up for you and anybody else with this question.

Matt,
The MA-100 is limitd to two audio inputs.

However, as I understand it, you should be able to get 4 channels from the MA-200 by connecting its output to the Audio 1 and Audio 2 input jacks. You have to select Audio 1 as the input with the Input switch behind the door. as well as settng up the record mode and Audio 2 and audio 1/2 sensitivity from the menu.

Ma-200
 

Hi, I've been trying to find the specs of the ma200. Does it have phantom power? I'm using a Ma100 but would there be any advantage in using a porta dat instead of using the onboard sound processing of the Xl1?

I've renamed the thread to better reflect what you are looking for.
If I remember correctly the MA-200 doesn't have this, but I'm not
sure on that.

Hopefully someone else who is in the know will chime in.

Nope, it (unfortunately) doesn't.

Thanks Dean. (Bummer)

Re: 4 channel question
 

<<<-- Originally posted by Matthew Elyash : Note the two sets of connector pins on the mic cable from the on camera mic that is for channel one and two -->>>

Umm, I think you'll find that one of the pins (larger one) on the plug-in connector on the on-camera mic is the stereo connector for L/R channels (note the ceramic separation between channels, just like a stereo mini plug) -- the other pin is for phantom power from the camera to the mic.

Regards.

To nit pick a bit, it is not phantom power, just 5 VDC to power the mic. Phantom power us normally assoicated with balanced (XLR) connections, not separate power leads, and typically is on the order of 48 volts. Note that both mic jacks need to be plugged in to power the mic.

What is function MA-200 ?
 

I have a few question about audio
1. What is function of adapter MA-200 ? Because I think I can record from my external mic with that adapter.
I connect my external mic to audio in the behind camera.
2. Can I connect my external mic to audio 2 directly ?
3. Can I get two channel audio from xl1s ? From audio 1 and audio 2 ( different input )
4. How to transfer two channel audio from xl1s to computer ? Usually I using firewire cable and adobe premiere capture.
But I just get one channel.

Sorry, my english isn't quite good
Thx

I'm not sure I am following all of your questions. Basically the
MA-200 allows you to connect XLR type microphones to your
XL1(s) directly.

As for your last question (4), you will need another capture tool
to get the full 4 channels. Look at something like www.scenalyzer.com

I can connect microphone to audio directly to audio 1 without MA-200. So what the function MA-200 ?
Thx

I think with the MA-200 you have the XLR inputs, which you don't have standard on the cam. Better mics often have XLR outputs (I'm hoping I don't use the words input and output wrong here, forgive me if I do) and you cannot get them attached to your XL1s or XL1 without it.
As Rob stated it: you can connect mics to it, but you not the XLR-type mics, and the most and best mics have XLR. So...
I think quality is better too, but not sure of that last.
Good luck.

Is there other any answer ?

I think on your question 2, I think you CAN get 2 times audio from it, but I'm not sure, and I also don't know how.
Good luck.

1. The MA-200 provides an adapter that enables connection up to four mics with XLR connectors to the XL1, and provides a BNC analog video connector. It also provides about 6 dB of audio gain, an improved shoulder pad/mount, and place to hang some accessories.

2. YOu can connect excternal mics to Audio 2 inpt if you have the proper adapters and cables to make the connection. The audio 2 inputs have to be enabled abnd set to the require input sensitivity from the menu system.

3. The XL1 defaults to 2-channel (AKA 2-track or stereo) audio. that is recoorded from the stock mic input jack or the Aufio 1 inputs. Selection is made using the switch behind the door. The audio 2 inputs are active for input only if you have selected 4-track (4-channel or two stereo pair) audio mode.

4. If the audio was recorded in 4-channel mode, the XL-1 will automatically output 4-track audio over firewire. Many NLE system capture stereo (2-track/channel) audio only. Some allow capture of 4-track audio, this is usually a function of the capture card or drivers, and the default Windows drivers used by many moderate priced NLE systems do not support 4-channel. Check the documentation of your NLE carefully to see what it supports.

Note that 2- channel audio is sampled at 48 kHz sample rate and 16-bit sample size. 4-channel is sampled at 32 kHz and 12-bit sample size. Thus in theory 2-channel is better, about like comparing CD sound to FM radio sound. But many if not most people will not be able to hear the difference in the final edited tape.

4-channel recording can be a bit tricky to master, so practice to get it down before trying to use it at an important shoot.