Jumping frames and blocks in the frames
 

On my Canon XL1 I have this problem when I play back a tape...but I don't have it when I play these tapes on another XL1 or any other kind of camera...

At the end of the tape (lets say the last 5-10 min) I always get jumping frames, blocks in the frame and creeping sound.
Jumping frames : the bottom 1/3 part of the frames comes on top of the frame. So it sames that the frames scrols up 1/3
Blocks in the frame : The frames shows square block
Creeping sound : sometimes no sound at all, and sometimes noise

The XL1 has had a cleaning tape, it has been to the repearshop in the Netherlands (etbass.nl Canon repair shop).

But I still have the problem...
Any ideas...

Hi Ferry;
Take a look at my website for the various lenses and mounts. You can purchase 35mm still camera lens adapters from ZGC. They also have a system available for the 35mm film type lenses. chris@zgc.com
Best;
Ron

XL 1 VS. XL 1-S advice needed
 

hello
everyone on here seems to be very knowlegable with there cameras...
im wanting to buy a second hand XL1 or XL 1-S system and after reading for the past 4 days about both of them im left a little confused...

can some one please help out with...

why go with XL1 or XL1 -S are there reasons to get one or the other... any advice would be much apreachiated. it seems you can buy both at more or less the same price and i just would like to know a little more before i buy one and then wish i had gotten the other...

long and short of it if you were me looking to buy an XL set up would you buy XL1 or XL1 -S ?

thank you for any help...

XL1 Broadcast Lens - DOF? ND Filter?
 

I'm currently building a micro35 adapter, but I'm not sure I'll have enough time to finish it before I start shooting a music video. I have the possibility to rent the broadcast lens for the XL1 and was told that this has a very good DOF already. It won't be 35mm like, but you can do some nice shoots already. So here are a couple of questions:

* Did any of you use the broadcast lens already? How is the DOF?
* What if I slap on another ND Filter, that will improve the blurriness of the backgrounds already
* Why can't I just put on one of the EF Lenses of out photo kit? We have a couple of lenses that would just be perfect. They work great with the Canon Rebel, so what prevents us to do the same with the XL1?

The questions I ask are because I don't own an XL1 ...

Thanks in advance for the help!

-- Frank

Broadcast lens? You mean the manual lens? The DOF on any 1/3" camera is limited but you can achieve nice results with some skill. You need to shoot longer, and avoid wider shots, also keep the iris open and use ND filters to control the light.

With a micro 35 adapter you will be adding a 7X magnification to any 35mm lens, just a matter of physics. This is only good for wildlife, sports, etc, where you are VERY far away from your subject.



ash =o)

"With a micro 35 adapter you will be adding a 7X magnification to any 35mm lens, just a matter of physics. This is only good for wildlife, sports, etc, where you are VERY far away from your subject."

You are talking about the adapter canon sells, right? Or really about the RedRock Micro35 DIY Adapter?

Thanks for the info so far!

-- Frank

Hi Erwin,

It may be wise to send the camera to Canon themselves (I have no real idea
how to do this here in NL since I never had to do that myself). That being
said, a couple of questions:

1. are you perhaps recording in LP mode?

2. what tape brand are you using? You may want to try some different brands (do USE a tape CLEANER before switching to the new brand [and if you switch back as well]!!!!)

3. are you seeing this effect on both a TV and when you capture to a computer?

It sounds like something is not 100% okay inside your tape mechanism.

Good luck!

Personally I would go for the XL1S. It has a couple of extra or different things
that can help greatly. Like you can instruct it not to turn of the camera after
not using it for a couple of minutes (on the XL1S it will just disconnect the tape
transport which is no problem). One thing I really found handy was the variable
zebra stripes.

For all the extra/changed features on the XL1S take a look at the following page:

http://www.dvinfo.net/canon/xl1s-skinny.php (clickable)

for all the reasons rob mentioned, plus it's greatly enhanced low-light performance (this actually blew me away when i first got the camera), and increased image control (sharpness, black level, etc.). check this article out:

http://www.dvinfo.net/canon/xl1s-skinny.php

i still love the images from the xl-1, and it's a flat-out bargain right now, but if you can find an xl-1s at a good price (i think there's one in the classifieds section now), i'd definitely go with the xl-1s.

Canon Belgium doesn't do repairs themself. They send it to the Nederlands
No only in SP.
Sony and TDK tapes. Just the cheap one. But after the cleaning, I'm now using the Panasonic Pro tapes, and they are better.
Both on TV, camera and when I capture it on computer.

But when I play the tapes on an other XL1, the tapes are fine ??!!

Bizarre "break up" on tape shot with XL-1
 

I'm having really bizarre, and bad, digital break ups on a tape shot with a Canon XL-1. I'm also having a heart attack, because said tape is part two of a short film shot 2.5 years ago and I'm trying to edit it.

My friend said to try and play it from the original XL-1; no can do, since it's long gone. Tape 1 doesn't have this problem, and the dv dubs I made two years ago seem to be fine, according to my friend.

I'm going to try playing the tape on a Sony DSR-11 or something other than a JVC camera and see what happens. I'm going to step away from the ledge now.

FYI, I've tried cleaning the heads, but no luck.

heath

Urgent info needed! (XL2 Footage on XL1s)
 

Hi community,

sorry that I haven't been around for awhile, been out of town for a year. (Jobs)
Anyway, I need some urgent info and help. I will be going on to a 2 day shoot, where they will be using the XL2.
My problem is since I will be editing it but only have a the XL1s to feed any footage to my Mac.
Will there be any problem or quality loss when playing back footage on the XL1s that was captured on the XL2?

Thanks for any info and for the fast reply.

Also just wanted to say I'm back now. :-)

Shaggy

Others will know more and I'm sure will chime in, but I see no problem with what you are going to do.

The video goes onto the tape already compressed and whatever camera or deck you capture on will just be reading 1s & 0s. No loss at all!

Mike

Quite correct - in fact, you could even use a little Euro400 camera to play back and it would be fine...
(and don't anyone dare ask if Euro400 is a make of camera!!!)

Robin

Help insettings for bright sun settings
 

My Friends,

I am new to the XL1s. I have a firestore 3.

What do you suggest the best settings for me on a 3x lens in bright sunlight?
Thank you! (I am a newbie on this site and hobby)

Hello Pat,

Welcome to the boards!
You could use a UV filter, not only to protect your lens from the sunlight, but just to protect your lens. Cheaper then buying a new lens, if there is a scratch ;-)

I don't know if the 3x has any ND filters on it, maybe you should buy one seperately if not.
So you can have an (relatively) open iris in bright sunlight (so you still can have a small Depth of Field = filmic - if that is what you are looking for of course)

XL1 or XL1s used
 

Can anyone tell me what an xl of xls is worth used? I am intersted in purchasing but not sure about price?

A search of our classifieds would be one way to get an idea of this:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/search.php?searchid=84428

Also check Ebay, especially auctions that have ended. Not much of a better way to find out. Also check with dealers like B&H for used equipment. You are probably looking at $1,800 to $3,000 depending on accessories.

Mike

We're the tapes left somewhere that there were magnets?? Also, monitors can mess up tapes.

Oh, and the main thing I have found that is a tape (and all equipment) killer?? Humidity...and FL has lots of it. Right now, the humidity up here in New England is horrible. I run a de-humidifer 24/7 and keep all my tapes and equipment in the room. The ideal humidity is between 45-50%..

True, true, true. I hooked up the FX1 and had little problems, except one walking shot. My friend is going to capture that shot and we'll do an iChat/AOL IM transfer this weekend.

heath

Cavision mattebox for Xl1s
 

Hello Everybody

I've looked into matte boxes a great deal, and know quite a bit about them, but not enough about some "technical" stuff. (not technical, really; just concerns about sizing/vignetting.). What I'm wondering is if the Cavision 16x9 matte box (found on B&H for $400) and 3 filter stages will pose any problems for use on an xl1s. (any vignetting?) Because it's a 16x9 box, and I'll be shooting in 4x3, wilil there be less shade protection? I'm just thinking toward the future when I'll be upgrading to the XL2, and will have native 16x9. Oh, and does the Cavision 16x9 box use 4x4 filters, or 4x5?

I knnow all about Chrosziel, Century Optics, Petroff, etc., but have decided that Cavision is the one for me right now. But, as always, you get what you pay for.....I know......

Thanks a lot everyone!

~Clint Grant~

Forget It
 

AH, forget this. I'm just gonna save up a bit longer and buy the Century Optics stuff. Thanks anyways.

~Clint Grant~

autofocus
 

just would like to share my expirience.
have my xls-1 exact one year. at my first shoot the autofocus (green square) was hunting and i posted here to get some answers.

since i got a lot advice, i have never used the auto setting anymore, and since most of my jobs are in a theatre/ studio setting, i shoot in spotlight/ or man, autofocus off, stabilizer off, mode.

super quality...thanks guys/ gals

super board

greetings

XL1-S Firewire Cable
 

Has anyone found a supplier for a 90 degree firewire cable (one that goes up, not sideways) so the user can access the main start/stop buttton while outputing to a DTE device such as an FS-4?

Bruce,

Someone else here recommended Firewire Depot for 90 degree Firewire cables. B&H doesn't stock any that I could find.

Those cables are not cheap.

I have used this supplier:
http://www.ntcdistributing.com/products/fwangled.htm

I did a google on "right angle firewire" and there were other hits.

Here's a simple setup. Adjust to taste.

The 3x lens has an ND filter. Turn it on.
Set Gain to -3db
Set White balance to A
Use Tv mode with shutter speed set to 60.

When you are onsite shooting a scene, look to see if the camera is selecting an aperture greater than 8, increase the shutter speed until you get the aperture to 8 or less.

Press Exposure lock to keep the camera from recalculating the settings. If you want it to auto adjust, then don't lock the exposure.

Experiment with your camera and learn how it works. Observe the results. THen read the manual again. More of it will make sense. Pick a topic and search for discussions here and learn.

VHS to DV
 

Is there a way to record from VHS tape into the XL1.

Jeff

Sure there is.
 

Connect your vhs video and audio outs to the back of the xl1, put that baby in vtr mode and away you go.

The original XL1 does not support analog video input, only from the IEEE1394 input and through the lens. Thus you would have to pass the signal through an analog-to-DV converter..

However, the XL1s model does.

Sigma 50-500 Bigma & XL1s
 

I would welcome any comments (e.g. camera settings. aperture range to be used) concerning first hand experience with this lens coupled to an XL1s. I have recently acquired one (DG version) and one of my first lessons was that I need a ND filter ASAP.

Thanks,

Guus

Render Settings when using "frame mode" on Xl1s?
 

I'm having some trouble determining what settings to put when I render out my xl1s footage when I shoot in "frame mode". I'm using Avid Xpress Pro to capture and to edit. When I export it gives the option for "file field order" of course odd (upper fields) and even (lower fields) or Single Field.

What do I set the field order to when shooting in this mode?
Is there some sort of interpret footage in Avid like in Premiere Pro?

Thanks for the help,

-Daniel

Daniel,

I believe you should just capture it as you would normal 60i video. That's the way it's going to come out of the camera. No need to mess with field order. What you will have in frame mode is cleaner motion signature without the interlace 'jaggies'. The video may appear to be more strobe-like but any single frame should be clean. This mode is often used when you know in advance you will be lifting stills out of the video.

regards,

-gb-

Black side bars on XL1 not XL1-S?
 

Why is footage shot on an XL1 has black side bars and footage shot on the XL1-S does not? Or am I missing something?

Thasnks for any info

See http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=1743

Timecode on XL1s
 

Noob question here. If I am shooting the same event on multiple tapes, how do I keep the timecode continuous between tapes? I usually go through 2-3 tapes for each event i shoot and the TC always resets at the start of the next tape. How do I keep the timecode continuous from tape to tape?

Ryan,

Unless I'm mistaken, you can't do that with the XL1s. That's one of the features that was added to the XL-2. I don't know what NLE you're using, but most will allow you to 'name' the reel and then you'll log clips from that reel (tape). Just name the reel the same as you label your tapes and it won't be confusing.

-gb-

Used Warranty
 

Isn't there s uch thing as purchasing a warranty for a used camera.. I though B&H had them.

Hmmm. I've not heard of any on the same sense as a new warranty from the manufacturer. I suppose some dealers migh offer a short term warranty (e.g., 30 to 90 days) on used gear, and you may be able to buy a third party maintenance/service agreement, but used equipment is an "iffy" thing, and it might be costly.

Have you tried to google the subject?