Canon XL1 Instruction Manual

							Preparation
21
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Turning off the tally lamps
The tally lamps let you know that the camera is
recording. However, the flashing of the front lamp
may be reflected into the lens during close-up
recording, or when recording through glass.
You may therefore decide to turn them off.
TALLY LAMP¥¥OFF
1. Open either the camera menu or the VCR menu, and point the arrow at TALLY LAMP.
2. Select the OFF setting and close the menu.
¥ The tally lamps no longer flash during recording, but they will still light up when the camera receives
a signal from the wireless controller.
SENSOR¥¥¥¥¥¥OFF
The remote sensors can be turned off to prevent interference from other Canon wireless controllers being
used nearby.
Turning off the remote sensors
1. Open either the camera or the VCR menu, and point the arrow at SENSOR.
2. Select the OFF setting and close the menu. 
¥ appears in the viewfinder.SOFF
(see p. 18)
(see p. 18) 
						

							Preparation
22
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Setting the Date and Time
The date and/or time display forms part of the data code. You can choose to display or hide it during
playback (see p. 54).
Set the date and time display when you first start using your camera. Install the backup battery before you
begin (see p. 63). 
1.Turn the POWER dial to a recording program or to VCR.
2. Open the menu and select D/TIME SET.
¥ The year display starts to flash in the viewfinder.
3. Press the rortcursor key to change the year. Press the ecursor key to move to another
part of the display.
¥ Press once to scan a year at a time. Press and hold to scan quickly.
¥ Once you move from the year, the next part of the display starts flashing.
4. Set the months, days, hours, and minutes in the same way.
5. Press the MENU button when finished, and to start the clock.
¥ The date can be set to any year between 1997 and 2020.
¥ If you press the MENU button in the middle of setting the date and time the seconds are set to zero, you
leave the menu, and the clock starts.
¥ If you press the 
ecursor key after setting the minutes, the seconds are set to zero, the clock starts and you
return to the full menu. (When using the remote control, use the 
4cursor key instead. Pressing the e
cursor key returns you to the end of step 2, to let you set the date and time again from the start.)
MENU
1. Turn the POWER dial to VCR.
2. Open the VCR menu and select D/TIME SEL.
3. Choose between DATE, TIME and DATE & TIME.
4. Press the MENU button to close the menu.
Setting the display style
D/TIME SEL.¥DATE & TIME(see p. 18) 
						

							Recording
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23
Basic Recording
¥ Attach a power source (p. 13).
¥ Load a cassette (p. 15).
¥ Remove the lens cap and fasten the shoulder pad (p. 17).
¥ Adjust the viewfinder (p. 10).
¥ Choose your grip Ñ side or top (p. 65).
You may also want to install the backup battery (p. 63) in order to set the date and time display (p. 22).
POWER
VCR
OFF
Tv
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MA
STANDBY
1
2
START/STOP
Before you start recording
To record
Using the STANDBY button
1. Turn the POWER dial to[p.
¥ This selects the cameraÕs Easy Recording program. It allows you to simply point and shoot without
making any manual adjustments (see pp. 44-50).
¥ The camera power indicator lights up red and PAUSE appears in the viewfinder Ñ the camera is now
in Òrecord pause modeÓ.
¥ The camera will turn itself off if you leave it in record pause mode for more than about five minutes.
To return to record pause mode, press and hold the STANDBY button for a few moments, or set the
POWER dial to OFF and then back to a recording program.
2. Press the start/stop button to begin recording.
¥ There are two start/stop buttons, to give you control from both gripping positions.
¥ The tally lamps flash rapidly and REC appears in the viewfinder.
3. Press the start/stop button again to pause recording.
¥ The camera returns to record pause mode and PAUSE reappears in the viewfinder.
¥ You can stop and restart recording as often as you like by pressing the start/stop button.
As long as the POWER dial is set to a recording program, you can use the STANDBY button to turn the
camera on and off. This makes it easy to save battery power, and prevents accidental operation of the
start/stop button.
Press and hold the STANDBY button for a few moments to enter/leave standby mode. When the camera
enters standby mode, ENTERING POWER STANDBY is shown in the viewfinder. 
						

							Recording
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24
You can record and play back a tape in SP (standard play) and LP (long play) modes. LP extends tape usage
by 1.5 times.
To switch to LP mode, select REC MODE from the camera or VCR menu, select LP and then close the
menu (for instructions on how to use the menus, refer to page 18).
Changing the recording mode (SP/LP)
You can show/hide non-essential camera recording
displays by pressing the EVF DISPLAY button.
Note:
¥ You cannot hide the time code or recording
condition (REC, PAUSE etc.) displays.
Turning the camera recording displays ON/OFF
When you have finished recording
REC MODE¥¥¥¥LP(see p. 18)
¥ Replace the lens cap.
¥ Unload the cassette.
¥ Set the POWER dial to OFF.
¥ Disconnect the power source.
Notes:
¥ To check that the camera is recording correctly, make a test recording first.
¥ Before making important recordings, clean the video heads using a Canon DVM-CL Digital Video Head
Cleaning Cassette or a commercially available digital video head cleaning cassette.
EVF DISPLAY
ON/OFF
Notes:
¥ If you record in both modes on the same tape, the picture may become distorted during playback and the
time code may not be written correctly.
¥ When the camera is set to LP mode, pausing between recordings may produce mosaic-like noise.
¥ A tape recorded in LP mode on another camcorder may produce mosaic-like noise when played back on
this camcorder, and vice versa. 
						

							Recording
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Zooming (for Zoom Lenses)
Operate the zoom controls from either the side grip or the camera handle.
Turn the zoom control towards W to zoom out to wide-angle.
Turn it towards T to zoom in to telephoto.
You can also zoom in and out using the lensÕs zoom ring.
To control the speed of zooming (using the zoom control on the side grip and the lensÕs zoom ring):
¥ Move the control/ring slightly to zoom slowly.
¥ Turn it further to zoom more quickly. (The further you turn the zoom control/ring, the faster the zoom
speed.)
The T and W buttons on the wireless controller and the camera handle adjust the picture angle, but not the
zoom speed.
Notes:
¥ When the lens is at the extreme wide-angle position, you can focus on a subject as close as 13/16 in 
(2 cm).
¥ Since the zoom changes the picture angle, when using the high speed zoom there are cases when the
autofocus can not keep pace with the zoom speed.
Optical zoom (16´ for standard lens)
Zoom in
Zoom outT
W
T
W
D.EFFECT
SELECT
ON/OFF
POWER
VCR
OFF
Tv
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MA
T
W 
						

							Recording
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26
32´digital zoom
Activate the digital zoom to double the cameraÕs zoom range.
The zoom control continues to work as usual Ñ the camera automatically switches between optical
zooming and digital zooming.
¥ Image resolution is slightly lower when the magnification exceeds the optical zoom range.
1. Turn the POWER dial to any recording program.
2. Press the D.EFFECT SELECT button to move through the list of effects in the viewfinder,
until you reach D.ZOOM.
Activating the digital zoom
3. Press the D.EFFECT ON/OFF button to activate the digital zoom.
¥ D.ZOOM is shown constantly in the viewfinder.
4. The digital zoom will remain activated until you press the D.EFFECT ON/OFF button to
deactivate it. When deactivated, D.ZOOM flashes in the viewfinder and you can then
press the D.EFFECT SELECT button to select a different digital effect, or to turn the
digital effects off completely by choosing the blank display.
Notes:
¥ You cannot select a different digital effect while the digital zoom is still activated.
¥ The digital zoom remains programmed until you turn it off.
E- T FADNo Display
W S SLO 0.3 OO M D. ZW S SLO 5.1
W S SLO . 8
¥ The flashing display changes to show which
effect you can select.
¥ The camera only displays selectable effects. 
						

							Recording
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Turning the SuperRange Optical Image Stabilizer On/Off
ON STABILIZER
OFF
The Optical Image Stabilizer can compensate for a wide range of camera movement Ñ you can record
stable images even if you are shooting from a moving car.
Before you start recording, slide the STABILIZER switch on the video lens to turn the image stabilizer on
or off.
Notes:
¥ The image stabilizer is designed to deal with a normal degree of camera shake.
¥ Keep the image stabilizer turned off when the camera is mounted on a tripod.
¥ Sliding the switch to OFF has no effect when the camera is set to the 
[Easy Recording program.
¥ The image stabilizer is not as effective as usual when the Extender XL 1.6
´(optional) is attached. 
						

							Recording
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On bright days or when recording very bright scenes, despite the iris being at its smallest aperture, blurring
of the image may occur. In such cases, using an ND filter should remove this problem. The 16
´zoom lens
XL comes with a built-in ND filter.
The ND FILTER switch is located on the body of the XL lens. 
Slide the ND FILTER switch to ON to use the filter. 
¥ ND is shown continuously in the display while the ND filter is switched on.
When the camera is set to the Easy or Auto Recording programs (and the XL lens is attached):
- ND ON flashes in the viewfinder to advise you to switch the ND filter on.
- ND ON with the ÒONÓ flashing advises you to fit an external ND filter or that the light conditions are still
too bright, despite having switched the ND filter on.
- ND OFF with the ÒOFFÓ flashing warns you that the ND filter is no longer suitable for the current
conditions. Set the ND FILTER switch to OFF.
Note:
¥ Make sure you reset the white balance, if you were using a manual white balance before you turned the
ND filter on.
OFF ND FILTER
ON
Using the ND Filter (for appropriate lenses) 
						

							Recording
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Taking Still Pictures (Photo Mode)
You can record still pictures like a photograph. The camera records the picture to tape for approximately 6
seconds. The exposure is automatically adjusted.
There are two PHOTO buttons, to let you take still images from both gripping positions.
1. Set the camera to standby mode (turn the POWER dial to a recording program).
2. Press the PHOTO button lightly.
¥ ÒPHOTOÓ flashes at the bottom right of the viewfinder.
¥ During autofocus  flashes white in the viewfinder as the camcorder adjusts the focus and exposure
and it is displayed continuously as a green mark when the camera is ready to take the still picture. 
(The focus, exposure and zoom are now locked. Also you cannot turn the image stabilizer on /off.)
¥ To change the still picture before recording: release the button, select a new picture and then press
down the PHOTO button lightly once more.
¥ If the subject is unsuitable for autofocus (p. 70), the camera may not be able to focus, and  may
coutinue to flash in the viewfinder. In this case: override the focus temporarily using the lensÕ manual
focusing ring (p. 44). The green mark lights up.
¥ If you are recording using manual focus (p. 44), the  mark will light up green when you first press
the PHOTO button. Focus the camera using the manual focusing ring.
3. Press the PHOTO button fully down to take the still picture.
¥ The camera takes the image almost immediately, and then records the ÒphotoÓ to the tape for
approximately 6 seconds. During this time the camera also records the sound, and the viewfinder also
shows the still picture.
¥ A counter display is shown, that counts up to 6 secs as the camcorder records the picture. 
disappears from the viewfinder.
Notes:
¥ While the camera records the still, you cannot use the camera functions (POWER dial/STANDBY button
do not respond until recording is complete). This applies even when you havenÕt loaded a cassette.
¥ The wireless controllerÕs PHOTO button has no half-way setting, press the button and the camera soon
takes the ÒphotoÓ.
¥ For even greater versatility attach a Canon Speedlite for flash photography (available as an optional
accessory, see page 43).
¥ Only take ÒphotosÓ where it is bright enough to see the image in the viewfinder.
POWER
VCR
OFF
Tv
Av
MA
STANDBY
PHOTO
PHOTO 
						

							Recording
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Choosing the Movie Mode (Normal/Frame)
The Frame mode can be used when you want to look at a video, scene by scene, free from field slippage
(the ÒflickerÓ that normally occurs when you pause a video). The vertical resolution of the image is
improved by 1.5
´. During playback, pause the video any time you like to view a crystal clear still image in
the display or on a connected TV screen. It is also possible to transfer your favorite still pictures to a PC for
image enhancement and print out.
1. Turn the POWER dial to any recording program except Easy Recording.
2. Open the camera menu, and point the arrow at MOVIE MODE.
3. Choose the FRAME setting and close the menu.
¥ FRAME appears in the viewfinder.
Notes:
¥ To return to normal video shooting, you need to re-select NORMAL from MOVIE MODE at the camera
menu.
¥ Frame mode cannot be used with the Easy Recording program, on the slow shutter digital effects.
¥ Frame video may not appear completely smooth during normal playback.
MOVIE MODE¥¥FRAME(see p. 18)