If I can get one from ZGC that would be great. I would probably end up buying the body from them after all...

Work your magic Chris!

a new and unexpected special effect in the XL-1s
 

After reading the thread started by Don Williamson May 29 in the general topics (Tweaking, etc.), I tried using a polarizing filter to decrease the exposure range in my outdoor scenes. What a surprise to see what it really did.
It is a Hoya circular polarizer, their standard vanilla variety, and is not a color polarizer. It was mounted on a Canon 75-300 mm zoom, the same one I have used forever with this polarizer, on my old XL-1 with no unusual occurrences.
When I turned the polarizer to get maximum polarization, the scene not only polarized, but also turned very warm, reddish, like putting on a warming filter. Turning the filter to get minimum polarization made the scene very cool, a bluish cast.
The physics of polarization is not very complicated. It has to involve glass. I'm not aware of how you can polarize a CCD. Is it possible that Canon has installed a piece of polarized glass in the light path of the red-receiving CCD and an oppositely polarized one in the blue? Did they make the prism out of polarized glass?
Unlike the XL-1, on this camera you can adjust tint. Is there some polarized glass in that mechanism? If anyone has seen this effect using polarizers with the XL-1s and has figured it out, I'd love to hear the answer.

Steve Siegel

problem in the standby mode
 

I have a brand new XL-1s. It is set to go into standby (with only the VCR part turned off) after 5 minutes. This works fine.
All settings are preserved upon restarting. If, however, I push the standby button myself to turn off also the viewfinder display, when it's turned on again (by pushing the standby button) the shutter speed setting is preserved, but the aperture always reverts to f/5.6 (maximum aperture with the 75-300 zoom.
Canon says it's a malfunction. Seems strange in a new unit with everything else perfect. Anyone else see this happening?


Steve Siegel

Hi,

Just read many of the posts here and link to some of the sites from the people who have written articles for DVinfo.Net. Everyone has pros and cons to shooting with the XL1 (and every other camera on the market). If their was one perfect camera we would all be using it. Reflect on the type of projects your currently doing and the type of projects you would hope to do. Balance your needs with your budget and try to accept the limitations of your equipment.

Good luck and keep posting. This is a great place to ask and learn about video and film making.

Jeff

Steve
I have had a XL1-since February and have used it extensivley with the EF adapter. I have used the 35-350L lens and the 75-300 IS with it. I checked this situation out this morning with both lenses and mine seems to work the same as yours.
To take it a bit further I found that when using the Tv and Manual modes that the lenses reverted to maximum aperature . I often use Tv mode and then engage the exposure lock because I am often shooting wildlife against darker backgrounds. When I do this the camera will return to the previous settings after putting it into standby mode and then powering-up again. Strangely this does not work in manual mode which should really be the same thing. Instead the lens returns to maximum aperature. Figure that one out! If the camera is in Av mode it will retain the settings.
I hadn't given this much thought as I am using a Varizoom Stealth Controller which does not allow the camera to be put in standby mode and I have to turn the camera off between shooting segments . I didn't realize that this was happening when I used standby mode with the remote unattached until you mentioned it and I ran the tests today.

Hey Dawn,
Fancy seeing you here:) Just remember to get that camera a coupla days early from you know who before your shoot. There's definetely a feeling out process with the xl1 buttons and knobbies. See ya at work!!!

bad timing for this question...but I thought I'd ask
 

I just got high bid on a Sony ECM-77BC lav mic on ebay...
But its coming from Spain. Is there going to be any compatability issues using it with my equipment here in the US?

Thanks,
Bryan

Hi,

There should not be any problems and besides your mic is probably bilingual. The manual can probably be download as a PDF from sony's site if needed.

Jeff

Wavy Picture with external sound
 

We have a setup using two XL-1s feeding s-video signal to a mixer. This mixer then feeds signal to the DV deck. Audio is run straight from the sound board to the video mixer.

As a safety measure, we started putting tapes in each camera and also record the event on each camera as well as in the main deck. This has been working fine.

One week, problems occurred and we had to use the backup tapes. Of course, the sound was not as good because it was picked up from the onboard mics. So, to remedy that, we ran a direct line from the board to one of the cameras. This is where it gets interesting!

With the direct feed attached to the camera (the same feed that is going to the mixer but coming out of a different channel in the board) the mixed video signal get "wavy" when there is sufficient volume. For example, during speaking it is usually fine but when there is music, the image jumps significantly - with BOTH cameras. We have also confirmed that simply unplugging the signal from the camera eliminates the problem.

With further testing, when the amp is turned down, there is no problem. Turning up the house volume led to no change. Turning up the monitor volume cause the jumping to start. And, no, the monitor lines do not run anywhere near the camera. In fact, the monitor and house lines both go to the stage area together in a totally separate direction from the cameras.

Finally, the tape recorded in that camera is fine so it is not a problem with the camera (we tried both of them there anyway and the same symptoms occurred).

Any ideas what we can try to get a good backup signal to the camera without ruining our mixed video?

Where is the audio monitor.

Sounds like a ground loop of sorts betwen the video and audio grounds - when the audio signal gets loud, the ground current has the effect of biasing the video signal a bit. Try an isolation transformer on the audio feed.

The monitors are on the stage - the house is on each side of the stage. None of the audio wires run anywhere near the camera location and the deck is located in a room even farther from the stage. However, I too believe it is a grounding problem of some sort. We just haven't been able to locate the source of the problem. I'll see if I can locate an isolation transformer to test on that line. Thanks for the response.

glass filters for cokin system?
 

The Cokin filter system with holders and resin filters is effective and convenient. The trouble is that when the filters get scratched or smudged (which they will do in time) these blemishes are visible as moving marks when you pan a scene.
Resin filters scratch easily and the scratches are permanent. Anyone familiar with a glass graduated neutral density filter that will fit the Cokin system?

difference between manual lens and standard
 

hello can anybody tell me if there is a quality difference between the two lenses. i looked at light sensitifity and sharpness, but cannot find any difference. can anybody give me the technical details (i tried at optimal and lowlight circumstances.) manual 14x lens not the new one.
thanks

Some people I talk to can perceive a slight increase in image softness with the manual lens (either 14 xor 16x), but really you need to choose the right tool for the right job. I don't think that a slight increase in sharpness should cause you to buy this particular lens.

Instead, look at feature sets... Optical image stabilization on the standard lens, vs. follow-focus ability on the manual... that's what should determine which lens you choose.

Cartoni action pro
 

Has anyone personally bought or used the Cartoni action pro tripod?

I like the price, but haven't heard anything about it. Can you attach another pan arm? Does it come with a spreader and leveling device? I searched the forum but really didn't find anything about it.