Canon 1014 xl-s frame rate

Michael Johnson · April 20, 2019

Hello. I just picked up a Canon 1014 xls and it seems like the frame rate is stuck. The gate speed does not change when I turn the dial however the slow motion button does work when pressed. I didn't see this issue with any other camera on the forum. Anyone have any insight? I believe it's stuck at 9 fps

Bill Rodgers · April 20, 2019

The speed control button can get jammed internally. I have had two 1014XL-Ss that were stuck at 24fps and an 814XL-S stuck at 18fps. It is a fixable issue but honestly not a very cost effective path to take.

Michael Johnson · April 23, 2019

After emailing around, it seems to be a costly and common issue where the dial contacts break or wear out. The difficult part comes from getting to the dial which requires freeing the PCB from a nest of wires and soldered on contacts. According to one person I talked to, a "donor" board is required to fix the problem but unless the issue involves some sort of proprietary or obsolete IC, I don't think that would be the case.

I found a dead link to a site with visual guide to get into the 1014 XL-S and (sort of) how to perform the repair. Fortunately it was archived and I could visit it with the Wayback Machine.

Here's the link in case anyone needs it:

https://web.archive.org/web/20170915060308/http://www.nakanocam.com/8mm_page/canon1014xl-sfps.html

Luigi Castellitto · April 23, 2019

I knew of this problem that presents with the 1014 xl-s. However, it is an expensive camera, if one were to find the "donor" I think it would be appropriate. Perhaps, it would be better to send at a laboratory, which may have a spare board or old spare parts cameras.
If the repair costs a lot, obviously, it's not convenient.

Michael Johnson · August 11, 2020

To update this post more than a year later, I eventually took the camera apart and "fixed" the problem. I desoldered all 6,500 wires from the main PCB and busted off the speed dial (which is riveted on!). Since I use this camera at 24FPS, I just jumped that connection to permanently make it 24.

While I was in there, I 3D printed some new battery compartment pieces that had melted from some exploding batteries.

It was comical how difficult Canon made this thing to operate on, but it's not impossible to fix these things without "donor boards".

Nick Collingwood · August 28, 2020

That's great news. They do look miserable to work on. Luckily (knock on wood) my bargain bin 814XL-S I got with a corroded battery hasn't had this common issue. The battery compartment does give me some trouble from time to time though probably from the corrosion I cleaned out.