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Albert Wood

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  1. A lot of the tape manufacturers claim it is safe to use tapes ten times. As others have said, I would never re-use a tape on important work. Where we are just looking at possibilities, or something that might be irritating to replace the footage but not costly or impossible I have used tapes for two or three times. I have never had any problems. Cheers, Albert.
  2. Hello James, Does your camera play back previously recorded tapes? If so it could be (bad news) a CCD problem. My easiest email contact is albertwwood@yahoo.co.uk let me know and I will try to advise/help if I can. Cheers, Albert.
  3. Hello, I have never had this problem but have you tried cleaning the contacts on the camera & the lense? The best thing for cleaning them is the rubber eraser on the end of a pencil. It cleans without removing metal or scratching any connection. Hope it helps. Cheers, Albert.
  4. Thank you Robert. I am very mechanically inclined but still value your info for future use. Cheers, Albert.
  5. "Hi, That's fine for a static image, but when camera & actor move it won't help you very much." That's why focus pulling is such a skill. Cheers, Albert.
  6. The trouble with the Canon case is not just the price you have to dismantle the camera to its component parts. A nice case but it means assembling the camera before use each time. If that does not bother you then Jessops do a similar case for £65 & it is well made. I have the MA200 adaptor on my camera & do not want to have to re-assemble the unit each time I get it out of the case. I bought a fairly large toolbox & partitioned it with quarter ply. Then lined the required areas with closed cell foam so as to protect the goods. It takes all the extras (I have quite a few) in the various sections & I can take the camera from the box ready to switch on. When travelling I just have the one box to look after, it saves leaving things behind whether at home or on the journey. Cheers, Albert.
  7. Well done Phil Rhodes!! I'm in the North West of the UK & I was going to suggest something similar. I think the old adage must apply -- if it seems too good to be true then........... . Best to all. Cheers, Albert.
  8. Hello All, Canon 'have come up with a system'! The FU1000 viewfinder. When using any black & white instead of colour viewfinder it is easier to see if the view is focussed. Professional viewfinders (including the FU1000) should be adjusted such that the details in view have a bright fringe when in focus. The amount of fringing can be set to suit the operator preference. The effect is similar to range finder focussing on still cameras. Usually focussing on a straight vertical or horizontal line at the required distance makes it easier to see when focus is attained. Cheers, Albert.
  9. Hello Paul, Canon UK are in Elstree, Hertfordshire, England. I will have to look for the full address & PHONE NUMBER so you can contact them. I had a stroke of luck early in my dealings with them. I am sorry if a long (seeming) ramble of info is boring but I will be as brief as possible. I bought another Canon camcorder from a clearance site on Ebay, because I had found the chewing tape problem & decided not to use the XL1s for editing. Unfortunately the DV out connection was not working on that camera. Hence the reason for it being on clearance. But it had a years makers warranty. I had it fixed by the Canon agent & Canon picked up the bill. No swindle, that was the way it was sold. The clearance site were happy to collect the unit & refund my money. I preferred to get it fixed once I was assured I was not paying. During the contact regarding that other camcorder a phone call to Canon automatically went through to their workshop. I chatted to the man in charge of the workshop. My call should not have gone through to him, but he was very helpful. Canon have very few XL1 series cameras back for repair. When I decided to get the repair on the XL1s I took it to the same local repair shop. I think they had little experience with these models & fitted a replacement gear set. They assumed this was the usual problem. It did not work. When I contacted Canon UK at Elstree again I was actually prepared to pay the extra to get the full repair but did not want to throw away the payment for the cheap repair. More importantly I wanted to be sure the camera was fixed. I spoke to a chap at Elstree & told him I had a lot of Canon kit (true) & was very pleased with the XL1s (true) but that after the first repair on it, I felt it was tuning a little sour. He stopped me virtually mid-sentence saying he would issue a recall label for the unit. I received a label next day in the post. Packed the camera & applied the label. Telephoned the carrier & it was collected about an hour later. Back in just over a week, all at no cost. The other camcorder, which I use as 'recce' unit & an edit deck when required has given great service also. Last year during a wedding shoot one of our guys was using it to get shots outside the church whilst I was at the brides house. He called me with a problem. The viewfinder picture was ridiculously pixellated. I told him to use one of our old analogue cameras & I captured the footage into digital. Later in the afternoon the camera worked OK. A few days later when I checked it would not record at all. Black screen on record. Playback of recorded tapes no problem. A CCD problem. Looked on Canons website. A note came up stating that in certain circumstances & under certain conditions the connection to the CCD on this model could fail. If this has happened send it for repair at Canons expense. Again the unit was repaired for free despite long being out of warranty. Now I don't know if it was placed directly under the heater outlet in the car or if it was dropped or if the problem was just what Canon have found, but they fixed it. I do not want to slander any other make but I do not believe any of them give the support Canon give. I have nothing but praise for their kit & the dealings I have had with the firm. I will find the full address & number for their Elstree premises & send it. I know the new helpline number (over here) takes you to an office in Eastern Europe & the people there are helpful & polite but don't understand the kit. Sorry for the long winded coverage. Cheers, Albert.
  10. Hello All, I have an XL1s & when I use the 'standard' 16x IS lens I have no focus/zoom problems. I also have the 16x manual lens with back focus adjustment & when I remove/refit the lens I very rarely (never really!) have to adjust the focus. I bought the camera second hand from a swindler. It had a problem with chewing tapes on rewind. I had it 'fixed' at a local Canon agent but the first tape I rewound got chewed to hell. I contacted Canon direct here in England. They could not have been more helpful or more decent. They got the camera collected by courier, completely overhauled it & returned it to me in just over a week. All at NO CHARGE including carriage. In fairness to the local agent I think they caught themselves out by trying to do the job at too low a price. Or perhaps they assumed the problem was one thing & did not allow for the abuse the previous owner had given this camera. I am now sure, especially from Canon's advice/comments, that he used damaged/distorted tapes. Since getting the camera back I have looked after it, as any sensible owner would, & have had over three years splendid service. I actually record to disc & also have another camera for editing when I have to work from tape & so seldom have to rewind in the XLis. The tape serves as a backup & when I record four audio tacks. The output to disc only has two tracks. My worry was that if the tape guides were out of true for rewind, or the tape was able to move out of line, then at some point during record I might get a problem. Possibly loss of quality even before a tape chew problem. I have since used the local firm for work on other cameras with complete success. Call Canon & explain that you had the camera attended to & you are not happy that it, or the lens, is operating as it should. Tell them you like the product, but you are concerned that this camera/lens pairing is not as you feel it should be. I am sure they will want to help. Good luck. Cheers, Albert.
  11. Hello All, Similar problems over here in 'Blighty' (England). "Not necessarily, and especially not on a web video that one needs to compress substantially to make viable for download" actually means you need to record in the best resolution you possibly can so that compression does least damage. However I think the problem is really the same as when I was using 'professional' SVHS cameras & capturing via a superb analogue/digital converter. The finished product was indistinguishable from a digitally recorded product. But when a client asked "are you using digital cameras?" & you answered no, they did not listen any further & someone else got the job. Despite that problem I am not dashing out to get an HD camera & definitely not an HDV camera. Once the HD/HDV confusion clears & HD cameras are at a price I may be able to afford then it may be worth the change. I agree there are too many people that use the line "I must be good, look at the camera I am using". When I was shooting on SVHS cameras I thought of putting a label on the cameras saying the same line. Only I was meaning for it to be humorous by the inverted reference to the camera. My wife talked me out of the labelling! As a side note I think your new president is going to be good for us all. Best wishes, Albert.
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