Don, good luck and I'm glad you found a good past time (still photography) in your retirement. But you don't need to be a stranger here and bid farewell. We have our own, small still community here at Dv Info. Many of the same familiar names are there and plenty of experienced photo people too (most of them Canon shooters, by the way). I teach digital photography at a local art school and college. I welcome any of your questions and comments on our forum.

Jim,

The increased sensitivity was one of the selling points on the XL1-s. I believe the figure was around 4db increase. The XL1-s also has true SMPTE bars and an improved IS II lense just to name a few.

So, you should definitely see a difference between the two cameras. Also, keep in mind that the original doesn't allow picture setup controls and you will have to color match the XL1-s to the XL1. Fortunately, they tend to run pretty close together in that respect.

regards,

-gb-

Many thanks Don, as Jeff says, we hope to see you in our Still Crazy forum. Best of luck!

Your right about matching. The XL1s had no problem matching the XL1 which was the "A" camera. But I was surprised at how the XL1s was always closed down about a stop more than the XL1.

I also jealously noticed it didn't shut off automatically.

Audio monitoring
 

Is there any way to monitor the audio on the XL1 through the viewfinder? I've been shooting non-stop on a doc and several times we had sound malfunctions. Human error and technical problems caused several interviews to be lost. It was very frustrating.

On many occasions I cannot wear a headset because I'm operating in a car or such and it is impossible. Hand held shooting makes it difficult to wear a headset. Plus, very often, I cannot hear much through the headphone output anyway.

I have a sound mixer but he only monitors the mix and not whether the sound is actually getting to the tape from the wireless when he is booming. The responsibility seems to lie with the camera op but very often I am busy operating handheld and all too often don't consider the sound.

I realize I can look look out to the meter on the body but many times I don't until we are well into it. Is there another technical way for the SOUND person to monitor the audio when transmitting a wireless to the MA 100?

Any ideas??

Try a second wireles on a different frequency and transmit from the camcorder headphone jack output to a receiver at the wireless operator. You will have to match the headphone jack output level to t he wireless transmitter input, which often is MIC level.

Battery Packs for the xl1 (generic)
 

Does anyone know about anything negative coming from using generic battery packs? you can get 6000mAh by going with a non canon battery. They claim to be 100% safe and compatible with the xl1s. claim... psht. i need facts.

I don't know anything about generic brands if that is the same like
unknown brand.

I do, as have others, experience with Lenmar which has worked great.

A search yielded this thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=27342

Sennheiser on Canon GL2 (XM2)
 

Hello from sunny Devon in SW England, this is the first time I have posted here, although reading many of the posts has been most enlightening.
I read here about Sennheiser ME66/K6 being a good combination to use with Canon XM2. I think I will go in this direction. question I have is this: If I use Beachtek DXA4 to connect it to camera, it uses internal power, with limited XLR lead length/performance. If I use Beachtek DXA6, I will get phantom power with all its advantages, but have to keep buying 9volt batteries.
Opinions, anyone?
tia,
NigelCH

It Ate My Tape!
 

Now what...
I'm just rewinding my standard Sony PRL-60 single use tape and the XL1s stops and the power light is flashing.

I go to open the tape door and the tape lifts out with a tape tail going into the drive.

The edge of the tape is wrinkled for about four inches, can I still use this tape to get the images off it? If not, does anyone have any idea how to retrieve the video by another method?

More importantly, what would cause this to happen?

I have only run about 60 hours of tape through it so far and have never used a tape a second time or used any other tape than the Sony.

I played another tape and rewound it in the XL1s without incident but now the timeline counter flickers during the rewind.

Thanks in advance for any information.

Brian

any way to modify VL mounts to use on xl's?
 

just wondering out loud if there is anyway to modify the old VL lenses to use on th xl1's?
(theyre so cheap on ebay!)

probably not but i thought i'd try!

thanks
marc

No. See this page for an explanation.

camera backpack
 

Hi there

I am about to embark on a 3 month backpacking journey from Australia to Mozambique, South America and Nth America then home to New Zealand. I have recently bought a CANON Xl1s to document my trip and am looking for a suitable travel backpack for my camera. I want to look as poor as possible during my trip so my gear doesn't get stolen. Does anyone know of an excellent backpack for this particular camera? I have been to the LOWEPRO website but there packs look a bit small. Any other travel advice would be much appreciated as well.

Thanks Krissy

Do you want something for your camera and your regular gear or just the camera?

For just the camera I have the Lowe Photo Trekker Classic and it has carried my XL1 since 99 with no problems. You have to break the cam down but everything fits inside as well as tapes, extra batteries, cables, and, headphones. There are also two pockets on the outside for other gear and plenty of straps and loops.

Where is the Serial # located?
 

Well, it looks like I'll need to send in my XL1S for some type of service. I need to find the serial number for the camera, but I've looked an can't find it.


Does anyone know where the serial number is located on the XL1S?



Thanks,

Erik

If I remember correctly, it is located inside the battery compartment. Pull your battery and look...

Xl1s problems
 

i started getting small blocks on the screen, so i put in a cleaning tape, now it showed a black screen, so i cleaned it again, now it has a blue screen and no tapes play in it now... I think I'm screwed here....HELP !!!

Sounds like it needs professional cleaning. Send it to the Canon service center in Jamesburg, NJ.

And the lens serial is printed on the black plastic part of the lens mount.

XL1s
 

how much would that cost me ? ? limited on funds right now

Eject Tape
 

I can't seem to eject a tape out of the XL1s
Anyone have any insight into this?
Thanks in advance for your time.

Did you ever run cleaning tapes, if not do so. Otherwise it might
be a trip to Canon to get it looked at.

There is no other way to capture the tape unless you can use
another camera or a DV deck.

Hmmmmmmmmm ???
 

Have you checked to see if the batt has enough juice to do that or maybe something has jammed in the tape compartment. another thing might be the release button may have a defect.

Dust-Off liquid on XL1 head - damage?
 

Hi folks

I was getting artifacts during playback on my XL1. Playing the tape on another unit was fine. Running a tape cleaner through the XL1 did not do the trick.

So I decided to clean off the XL1 internals using a blast from the Dust-Off, some liquid was sprayed onto the XL1 head (Oh no).

I quickly wiped off the spray from the head using one of the cassette swab sticks.

Playing back the same tape, there were no more artifacts. I also recorded some new stuff and they played back fine. So this seems to have cleaned up the head.

Did I do any permanent damages to the head with this liquied from Dust-Off?

Thanks

Since your blast seems to have dislodged some offending debris and the playback now works, all would seem fine.

In general, however, using compressed air, particularly in an enclosed housing, may not be an effective remedy for two reasons. First is the hazard of spraying that extremely cold liquid on delicate components. You always want to hold the can upright and spray the first burst into the air to avoid that. That stuff can leave indelible deposits in bad places.

Second, where do you think that debris went? Maybe it fell out of the camera. But chances are it's not far away. Perhaps the blast also dislodged other debris that's now free-roaming in there. Creepy, eh? <g> My point is that compressed air operates in such an uncontrolled manner that it can be hard to target it toward the specific problem.

So those are prevailing arguments against using canned air. But, honestly, I cannot say that I would not have used it if conventional cleaning methods failed, as they did in your case.

The eject button is O.K. , if thats what you mean.
After I hit the eject button,
the tape housing rises as usual but just doesnt pop open.
I've tried it with fresh batteries also.
I dont see any way of getting to the
tape to see if i'ts jammed
I think I'll have to send it to Canon.
Thanks for your reply

xl1s eating tapes
 

My camera has also been eating tapes and it is still under warranty. I have had the camera for a little over a year and I was wondering where to find canon service. I live in Austin TX and I was wondering if there are actual stores or do I have to send it off to get repaired or looked at.

Joe

First, stop feeding it tapes. Second, send it back to Canon, use the warranty card.

V8 video compatible with XL1S for playback/digitizing purposes?
 

Hello to all from the Philippines:

Okara Video, my firm, has been asked to put together a tape using some pre-existing V8 footage.

My question is:

1) Is the V8 tape cassette equivalent to the MiniDV casette?

2) If the anser to question #1 is YES, will the XL!S read the V8 tape correctly?

3) Does the generic V8 camera have a "Firewire" connector?

Many thanks for your wisdom on these simple questions

Collis

Short of heeding Alvarez's appropriate advice, purchase a Sima 6mm DV 2-way rewinder. They are excellent. You can successfully rewind your tapes while in "play" mode, but obviously this places unnecessary wear on your heads!

But I, too, have to send my XL1S in for repair of the faulty drive mechanismthat usually chews tapes upon rewinding.

Collis

I've seen the V8 used as an abbreviation for Video 8, the standard 8mm video tape format (not Hi8, which uses the same size tape and cassette but a higher bandwidth recording format and tape specification).

8mm video tape (and Hi8) are NOT compatible with MiniDV, but should be with Sony's Digital 8 equipment that is designed to play both Digital 8, Hi8, and 8mm format tapes.

The XL1 does not play Digital 8, Hi8, or 8mm tape.

The Sony Digital 8 gear I've seen does have firewire output (Sony calls it iLink); e.g., the GV-D200, a walkman-sized Digital 8 VCR, and it plays both 8 mm, Hi8, and Digital 8 tapes.

Sony is the only current maker of Digital 8 products.

Don,

Thanks for your clear explanation about Video 8 compatibility with the MiniDV format.

Collis

Custom Settings in XL1s
 

How much to you guys use these custom settings, setup level,
sharpness etc., are they manipulated frequently or stay pretty
set to the 'center'?

A simple search within this forum revealed several threads on
this subject already. Including my opinion on the matter, please
take the time to review these:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=20198
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=13419
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...&threadid=5056

Thanks!

Seeking an audio education.
 

Hi,

I feel in need of a general education in "all matters audio", from simple basics onwards. Any suggestions on reading material - either downloads or books or correspondance courses? Much of what you guys discuss here is way over my head!

I have acted on some of your suggestions regarding my last query on tape faults (pixilation, mosiac noise etc) on my XL1S and together with a quick 5 second head clean before each use have not had this problem since. Thanks guys.

I would appreciate any help to increase my audio knowledge.

Thanks,

George.

Read the archives here for info specific to your camcorder.

Find a library with back isues of Vdieomaker and read the pieces on audio there. They tend to be fairly basic.

But keep in mind that not everything you read in print, on the web or in amagazine is 100% accurate.

George, check in the "Read About It" part of the site for some good reviews.

"Producing Great Sound for Digital Video" by Jay Rose is a great book. Covers technical info, gear, How to use it (micing, booming), post production and more.

Aaron

I have surfed the net, found a lot of suppliers for the Power2000 Battery for XL1. I have tried most of them but none of them ship to South Africa or charged extreme shipment costs. In the end, I have gone back to BugEyeDigital and gave them another go. What a difference! Not too sure what happened but the battery was delivered in South Africa in less than 2 weeks! Very good service from them this time around..perhaps the previous experience with them was just a coincidence!

Very happy with the Power2000 battery so far on my XL1!

Regards
Danie
South Africa

Using the backfocus feature....
 

We are trying to use manual focus over the auto focus because of the focus hunting issue with the XL1s. Unfortunately, there are certain situations where we can't do a manual focus.

Unfortunately, backfocusing technique with the Canon XL1s is not able to handle this scenario as the subject is moving towards the camera. Or should it be?

XL1s is in manual focus. Operator zoomed in to her and obtain a focus manually. Zooming out to wide angle shows the subject is still in focus. Initially, the subject is 50 feet apart standing still. Focus is okay as long subject distance is maintained. As she walks towards the camera, the image becomes blurry. Operator has to zoom out and refocus.

Question is there a way to maintain focus if subject comes closer to the camera even when in MANUAL FOCUS (sort like a backfocus feature)? Or in this scenario, I can only do this with AUTO FOCUS. The problem with AUTO FOCUS is the focus hunting that XL1s stock lens exhibit.

Auto focus needs good vertical contrqact and reasonable light levels to work well. Over 50 lux per some documentation I've reqad.

With a lot of practice, skill. and cunning you may be able to adjust focus manually to track a moving subject, but it is not easy to do.

Backfocus is an internal setting with the standard automatic lenses, not something most users can do. YOu need to Canon manual lenses to be able to adjust back focus.