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Strange problem with Canon GL-1
As the subject states, I have a Canon GL-1 [Insert ‘dang, time to upgrade’ comments here]. I have developed an unusual problem, which I believe is related to the heads/tape. I am not switching tapestock (I use TDK 60 min miniDV tapes). I place a tape in the deck, and load it up like normal. But when I review the footage, 3 things occur:
1) there is a black, sometimes with green band running vertically on the left edge of each frame. It takes up less than an eighth of the frame. It often has macroblocks of these colors that extend into the image a small amount as well. As the footage is played back in the camcorder, the band and blocks do move around some, but in a random pattern, occasionally pixellating the entire frame.
2) I cannot dump the footage onto the computer. No NLE I use (Vegas 8 Pro, Premiere Pro CS3) can capture anything at all. No running capture timecode, nothing.
3)No sound is captured on the tape (that I can find). None on playback inside the camcorder, and I can’t dump the footage to find audio on the computer.
Cleaning tapes do nothing, and I took it to the local high-end A/V repair shop (a very reputable company), and they found nothing wrong at all. The only thing that can occasionally fix it is if I review the tape, see bad footage, eject the tape, put it back in, record a few seconds of footage, and review it again. Repeating this cycle seems to sometimes fix the problem, but lately, it’s been almost every tape I use. Luckily a Firestore in syncro-slave mode saved my backside yesterday on a shoot. I have a Photoshopped example frame of what’s happening, so I can email it to you if you like.
Ideas?
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3 Replies
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dang, time to upgrade dude :p, just kidding.
Send it in to canon, they should be able to fix it. It’ll pry take a few weeks and a couple hundred bucks, but they’ll have it back in almost new condition.
Or, just buy a firestore, it’ll cost slightly more than the repair, but its probably a better solution (just buy plent of hard drive space on your comp to back everything up!)
I had to have my GL2 serviced twice (i’ve owned it since 04) and haven’t had my xh-a1 serviced yet (less than 1 yr old)
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thanks for the reply. Yesterday, I had a more experienced cameraman review the footage it took, and he says it’s most likely a head misalignment.
The camcorder isn’t exactly worth a ton, so I had ruled out spending a bunch more on a Firestore, when I can put that toward a newer camera next year. It kills me to dump more money into a camera that I really don’t intend to be with too much longer, but I still need something I can rely on until I get the cash for something new. I guess I’ll just have to bite the bullet and end it to Canon. Thanks again for the reply.
-Dustin
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if you shoot to a firestore it eliminates the picture and audio issue?
If you get the FS, you can use that with your next camera too. and you wouldnt have to spend a couple hundred to get it serviced….
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