XL1S Lens Flare

Don Parrish · January 4th, 2002, 04:17 PM

Interesting enough, my next shot without the UV in bright lighting presented some vertical banding as warned by Chris. With UV floating dots occur, without UV banding occurs. I guess I will have to purchase a second UV filter and see what happens when 2 UV filters are screwed together. I need to find an answer to this problem bad. Since filters have such a great effect on the problem, I'm hoping the answer will be with filters. I guess I need a filter guru, anybody out there a specialist on filters???
Donny

Don Palomaki · January 4th, 2002, 04:53 PM

Look for high quality filters with anti-reflective coating if possible. Low cost filters may be prone to refelctions and light scatter.

Chris Hurd · January 4th, 2002, 09:30 PM

Donny, I can probably get a filter guru to pay us a visit here. Do you have some frame-grabs showing each kind of problem? Just a full-size, full-resolution .JPEG still image taken from the video will do.

Nathan Gifford · January 6th, 2002, 09:43 AM

You might want to check for dust both inside and outside the cam. Dust on any of the surfaces will will be easily illuminated in bright light.

When I first got my (first) cam I found dust on the inlet to the CCD. When I had really bright conditions they became readily apparent. After a lot of cleaning and inspecting with my jeweler's glasses I finally got it clean.

The reason those dots could look like floaters is the image stabilizer is on. Heck, I had a flagpole move once with the stabilizer on and the XL on a tripod.

I returned the first cam later because the banding problems were related to a faulty tape drive.

Happy Mardi Gras,
Nathan Gifford

Vic Owen · January 6th, 2002, 10:01 AM

Nathan--

Was your banding problem similar to mine? (Check my post under "Audio Dropouts.)

I've had several instances when the start of the tape was either horizontally banded (old video interlaced with new), or nothing at all, sometimes for several minutes.

It always occurs at the start of a tape-- once it's recording OK, it stays that way.

A trip back to Canon didn't fix it.

Just wondering....

Vic

January 7th, 2002, 05:30 AM

Hi Vic.

Funny you should mention this banding.

I bought an XL1 to begin with, and was bitterly disappointed with it, so returned it with this exact fault (happened right out of the box).
Canon returned it saying "Operator Error" which is technical speak for "Naff off and stop bothering us", but suspiciously the problem had disappeared.
I managed to get hold of the technician notes off my reseller, who had only passed on an abridged version of the notes, and it said on there that the tech had cleaned the tape transport path which was 'seriously soiled'. Funny it should be soiled right out of the box huh? I have my suspicians that they replaced the heads and just wrote that crock to cover their tracks. Technicians do that kinda thing (Being a tech myself at one point :) )

It's bad Karma telling a customer that the unit was seriously faulty right out of the box.

I'd suspect my video heads if I were you...

Nathan Gifford · January 7th, 2002, 09:27 AM

If its happening near the absolute beginning of tape, I might not worry as I always start in a few seconds. My NLE likes to give itself a few seconds before it starts capturing anyway.

If you are recording over previously recorded tapes, that always gave me intermittent problems. I try to avoid that except on practice tapes with my wife as the operator. I certainly know plenty of other XL-1 owners who never had a problem and maybe I would not now, now that I am more experienced with the cam.

As for Paul's comments about filth, believe me that first cam was FILTHY! There were black flakes in optical sections, heaven only knows what the tape drive must have looked like. Four passes of the head cleaner (the max recommended) did not fix the problems.

Since I was still within the first two or so weeks of ownership, the vendor just swapped out the cam. The one I have now has work flawlessly for me ever since.

Happy Mardi Gras,
Nathan Gifford

January 4th, 2002, 04:17 PM	#16
Don Parrish Major Player Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Tavares Fla Posts: 541	Banding without UV / floating dots with Interesting enough, my next shot without the UV in bright lighting presented some vertical banding as warned by Chris. With UV floating dots occur, without UV banding occurs. I guess I will have to purchase a second UV filter and see what happens when 2 UV filters are screwed together. I need to find an answer to this problem bad. Since filters have such a great effect on the problem, I'm hoping the answer will be with filters. I guess I need a filter guru, anybody out there a specialist on filters??? Donny

January 4th, 2002, 09:30 PM	#18
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,366 Images: 513	Donny, I can probably get a filter guru to pay us a visit here. Do you have some frame-grabs showing each kind of problem? Just a full-size, full-resolution .JPEG still image taken from the video will do. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

January 6th, 2002, 09:43 AM	#19
Nathan Gifford Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Tickfaw, LA Posts: 1,217	Check for dust too. You might want to check for dust both inside and outside the cam. Dust on any of the surfaces will will be easily illuminated in bright light. When I first got my (first) cam I found dust on the inlet to the CCD. When I had really bright conditions they became readily apparent. After a lot of cleaning and inspecting with my jeweler's glasses I finally got it clean. The reason those dots could look like floaters is the image stabilizer is on. Heck, I had a flagpole move once with the stabilizer on and the XL on a tripod. I returned the first cam later because the banding problems were related to a faulty tape drive. Happy Mardi Gras, Nathan Gifford

January 7th, 2002, 09:27 AM	#22
Nathan Gifford Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Tickfaw, LA Posts: 1,217	How close to the beginning of tape? If its happening near the absolute beginning of tape, I might not worry as I always start in a few seconds. My NLE likes to give itself a few seconds before it starts capturing anyway. If you are recording over previously recorded tapes, that always gave me intermittent problems. I try to avoid that except on practice tapes with my wife as the operator. I certainly know plenty of other XL-1 owners who never had a problem and maybe I would not now, now that I am more experienced with the cam. As for Paul's comments about filth, believe me that first cam was FILTHY! There were black flakes in optical sections, heaven only knows what the tape drive must have looked like. Four passes of the head cleaner (the max recommended) did not fix the problems. Since I was still within the first two or so weeks of ownership, the vendor just swapped out the cam. The one I have now has work flawlessly for me ever since. Happy Mardi Gras, Nathan Gifford

January 4th, 2002, 04:53 PM	#17
Don Palomaki Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,487	Look for high quality filters with anti-reflective coating if possible. Low cost filters may be prone to refelctions and light scatter.

January 6th, 2002, 10:01 AM	#20
Vic Owen Major Player Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 540	Nathan-- Was your banding problem similar to mine? (Check my post under "Audio Dropouts.) I've had several instances when the start of the tape was either horizontally banded (old video interlaced with new), or nothing at all, sometimes for several minutes. It always occurs at the start of a tape-- once it's recording OK, it stays that way. A trip back to Canon didn't fix it. Just wondering.... Vic

January 7th, 2002, 05:30 AM	#21
Paul Robinson Posts: n/a	Hi Vic. Funny you should mention this banding. I bought an XL1 to begin with, and was bitterly disappointed with it, so returned it with this exact fault (happened right out of the box). Canon returned it saying "Operator Error" which is technical speak for "Naff off and stop bothering us", but suspiciously the problem had disappeared. I managed to get hold of the technician notes off my reseller, who had only passed on an abridged version of the notes, and it said on there that the tech had cleaned the tape transport path which was 'seriously soiled'. Funny it should be soiled right out of the box huh? I have my suspicians that they replaced the heads and just wrote that crock to cover their tracks. Technicians do that kinda thing (Being a tech myself at one point :) ) It's bad Karma telling a customer that the unit was seriously faulty right out of the box. I'd suspect my video heads if I were you...