I've been looking for a PAL variant of the FU-1000 here in Switzerland for my XL2 and was told that Canon have recently discontinued this unit and was offering no alternative. I haven't managed to find someone who still had this in stock so I've bought the NTSC one from B&H photo and will try this conversion. Thanks Elmar.

Has anyone heard why Canon have done this? Is this a sign they will stop with the evolution of the XL line of cameras? I was told by one dealer who spoke to Canon Switzerland that Canon said it was because of the new lineup of cameras which the FU-1000 would no longer be compatible with.

Can't give you any answer about any plans to discontune the FU-1000, but I've used the FU-1000 on my XLH1 without any problems.
Did the conversion from NTSC to PAL that Elmar says, works like a breeze :-)
I bought the viewfinder from B&H, seems like they have the NTSC model in stock: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...arch&Q=*&bhs=t and the good news is that this is halv the price of the price in Norway, tax included!

Oddly enough Canon USA still lists the FU-1000 on their website while Canon Europe does not. I just got mine from B&H and it says it was made in 2004 which seems like a long time ago for a new unit.

I'm off to buy a small screw driver.

Worked a charm! Cheers again Elmar!

I got an electrical scheme from Ikegami an attached it as VF15 45 46 schematic.pdf
Which potentiometers are needed to trim for PAL operation.
Please advise by return

Re: FU-1000 NTSC work on my PAL XL1?
 

Awesome resource, yet again!! So I bought myself a new FU-1000 which came from the states, connected it up and the screen is flickering. It then dawned on me that it would be NTSC and not PAL, and one quick search bought me here. Out comes my tools from the days when I did electronics, and the tool of choice was the pot tuner, and presto, a PAL version has been configured!!

Thanks to Elmar and all who have contributed.

Just out of interest, this is the second FU-1000 I have. One on the XL2 and one on the XLH1. I would love to get another XLH1 but interestingly, with careful setup and use, the XL2 still is an awesome camera. All the new breed of DSLR camera ops don't know what they are missing, especially when it comes to a decent viewfinder.

Plenty more life in retro kit yet!!