Inclined to sell my Canon XL1S PAL
 

I am seriously thinking about selling my Canon XL1S PAL, so I can buy the same camera just in the NTSC version (especially if I get a good offer). I am willing to either sell the whole kit (camera body, standard lens, EVF and all the other things that usually comes with it when you buy it e.g. from ZGC.com) or just the camera body and EVF.

Send me an offer, or e-mail me with questions (or post them here).

I bought my Canon XL1S PAL kit (body, standard lens, EVF etc.) in Denmark about 8 months ago. The reason that I bought the PAL version was my plan was only to be in the US another year and then return back to Denmark. But now I am going to extend my contract for another one or two years.

I still think that the PAL gives a better picture quality than the NTSC, and I was willing to shoot and edit in PAL and have a post production house convert from PAL to NTSC professionally to maintain the best quality.

But my problem has been that most filmmakers in New York prefer the NTSC so they don't have to deal with differences in formats to make VHS or DVD copies.

I have not shot as much as I initially had hoped for - maybe totaling 50 hours. So it is still great condition!!! It still has a 4 month European guarantee!!

Good place to buy an XL1s?
 

I'm currently in the market for an XL1s. I've been looking at new and used... e-retailer and even ebay (yes, I know... it is scary). But I've been able to find nothing really under 3.2k (except for a few ebay auctions that I let go because they just seemed very dodgy...).

I'm not interested in a grey market camera. I am interested in getting a USA warranty and then possibly extending the warranty at a later date. Problem with that is, that when I talked to Canon they were quite emphatic about the fact they would only honor the warranty if I was the original purchaser and I purchased it for an acknowledged Canon retailer. Is there a way to still buy used and keep the warranty?

Also, has anyone else purchased off of ebay and had a GOOD experience? I've made two other large purchases off ebay (once for an alesis keyboard and once for a laptop) and both were good experiences. But, frankly, all the research that I've uncovered about people talking about cons on ebay regarding high end electronic cameras has got me a bit nervous.

Help me out! Please! I've done a lot of research on where to purchase and I'm still confused. I don't mind paying more for quality and peace of mind, but I STILL want to get the best price out there. Catch-22.

-David

The two (best price as defined by lowest price a) and peace of mind, Do Not go hand in hand. The Canon USA warranty is only valid to the original purchaser. To obtain warranty service in the US you must provide a dated sales receipt from an Authorized Canon USA Dealer. The original warranty card showing the serial number (number must match number on camera) must also be included. The paper work will be returned. Used equipment is not eligible for the Canon USA XL1 Owners Club. I would suggest that for the best price and peace of mind, you purchase from the sponsor of this community. Both Zotz Digital and ZGC will provide an extremely fair and competitive price for Canon USA warranted cameras, accessories etc.

You can use the search button in the upper right to get additional comments on the sponsors from other members. Also Dylan Couper has an excellant article on getting scammed on ebay.

i talked to a guy on the canon line a little bit ago. i will be purchasing an xL1s myself in the next week or two and this was something i didn't think about really until this thread. this is just his words, not mine.

he said not every store (online or local) that sells canon products is an authorized dealer. he said if you purchase from an unauthorized dealer, the warranty is still valid... that is if there is a warranty card at all. that's the difference from what he said. canon can guarrantee there will be a valid warranty for that package as well as the expected brand new components, coming from an authorized dealer. they cannot guarrantee you will recieve your required warranty documentation from an unauthorized dealer. he said as long as you have the warranty card, you're all set. but as jeff mentioned, zotz and zgc are highly respected and trusted. the only way i would purchase from ebay is: a. i could meet with them in person and purchase it, check it out. or b. they agreed to go through escrow.com.

The problem is the dated sales receipt. The terms of Canon's warranty is for one year from date of purchase. Without a dated sales receipt how can you prove the claim is within the warranty period? If the camera was not purchased from an authorized Canon USA dealer, no USA warranty is in effect. The camera will need to be serviced within the warranty period under the terms of the international warranty. The international warranty may require that the camera be shipped back to Japan or another authorized Canon overseas service center.

When I spoke with Canon they said that if I bought from a non-authorized dealer the important question to verify was if they had a "one year USA or International factory warranty card from Canon." (I put that in quotes because I asked for exact phrasing)

If the answer is "yes" then everything is okay.

Ebay scares me a lot... but there are a few dealers that sell on ebay that rated very highly at resellerratings.com. So, I'm considering them.

Despite the plug here for Watchdog Sponsors they are the safest place to buy from. I bet they are all authorized dealers and found that Canon could not always tell me who was authorized or not.

Of course in New Orleans or rather Metairie there are some shops there that are authorized too.

where would you get a sales receipt that wasn't dated? i can't recall ever getting a receipt/invoice/etc without a date. i don't know if vendors that are not authorized dealers don't put dates on their receipts, i would think they would though. maybe i misunderstood, if so i apologize.

Many ebay sales ship with no dated sales receipt or sales receipt at all. Some ebay sellers ship with only a credit card receipt and not a sales receipt. The dated sales receipt also effects used camera sales that David inquired about. By leaving a date off, an unscrupulous person could fill in the date and obtain warranty service after the one year warranty period. Some dealers condone this practice.

<<<-- Originally posted by Jeff Donald : Many ebay sales ship with no dated sales receipt or sales receipt at all. Some ebay sellers ship with only a credit card receipt and not a sales receipt. The dated sales receipt also effects used camera sales that David inquired about. By leaving a date off, an unscrupulous person could fill in the date and obtain warranty service after the one year warranty period. Some dealers condone this practice. -->>>

This is a really good point. I never acknowledged to myself how completely important a dated sales receipt would be to obtaining the Canon warranty. In that case, picking one up used would be an even greater risk.

Thanks, everyone for your help thus far.

Here's my next question: Can I purchase a camera now and purchase the extended warranty at a later date? Does anyone have any experience with this?

ah, i see. i wasn't sure what you ment, but i can see that with ebay sellers. thanks for clearing that up for me :)

david, i believe you have upto 30 days after you purchase the camera to buy an extended warranty (at least a mack warranty). i don't know if other warranties out there are different.

I would never buy something that expensive off Ebay, unless I could pick it up and test it in person.
If I was going to buy it new, I'd rather get it somewhere I trused, rather than the person that was willing to sell it the cheapest. It would make we wonder what was in it for them.
I bought my first XL1 used, localy. I paid more for it than I might have, but I got to test it in person and made sure there was nothing wrong with it. The second XL1 I bought off an established member of this forum for a very reasonable price, and am very happy with it.

Any reason for getting rid of such a great camera?

Please refresh my memory... What is the difference between the XL1, and the XL1s?

Capt.,

Chris's XL1/S Skinny should have the details your looking for.

On a seperate matter, can you email me please.

Jeff