Canon XL1 s

Selling my Baby!

(Faulty tape deck, but please read on, you could pick yourself up a bargain)

What a camera!  These MiniDV camcorders even in the HD world of today are truly spectatular, the optics on the XL1-s easily champion over equivilent Sony range.  I'm sure if you're reading this you already know about how brilliant a camera this is.  Interchangeable lenses for a start is impressive, you can even get a 35mm adapter and shoot on film lenses, amazing!  It has served me well, and apart from the tape deck now being faulty the camera is in perfect working order.  I've been a careful dedicated owner, and to be fair the camera has had more consumer use than professional despite my being an editor as I always shot and edited with company kits, but I know how to care for a camera, but unfortunatly these cameras are known for their troublesome tape decks.  You can find infomation across the internet detailing this. 

However, with a replaced or repaired tape deck you'll have a better than second hand XL1-S and at a decent price. The lens on this camera is worth approx £350 on it's own, and I have everything that came with the camera, including manual and an extra large battery! I have original reciepts and service history.

The Tape Deck Issue

I had to have the tape deck replaced by Canon under warranty within the first year of use due to their "bad batch" of tape deck that were first used in these cameras.  I have the papers detailing the repair.  Unfortunatly about 3 years later the deck started playing up again, and it's got to the point where it is more than likely that the deck will chew a tape up.  I'm being very honest here, but the reason why I am selling even with a faulty tape deck is basically because with this deck replaced for approx £200-£300, (or if it only requires a repair then it will be less) you'll have extremely good second hand body and lens and a brand new tape deck making this camera better than second hand.  Plus like I say the lens on this camera is worth around £350 alone, so your money isn't going to waste at all.

Buying a second hand XL1-s will set you back anywhere between £900 - £1200.  So if you want to save a decent amount buying this one and replacing the tape deck you'll be picking up a bargain and be able to have a fresh deck, which every camera op will know is the beating heart of the camera.  Remember the lens is worth a lot just by itself, and it brilliant for a DV camera, in the league of pros.

The other option is to add on a portable hard drive recording unit which sits on the top of the camera, which will plug into the firewire port on the camera and record straight to the hard drive, making this camera solid state, meaning no capturing at the end of a shoot, straight download! Here a link to a product which does this http://www.mcetech.com/quickstreamdv/index.html However, I believe if you shop around you'll find many more to suit your budget.

My reason for not having the deck replaced for myself is simply as I don't have the time, i'm a working video editor and my baby has just been sitting in the case unused and I felt it was time to let go and get it on eBay.  Plus all my professional work is now done on XDCAM HD now so I don't have use for a DV camera, so even if I had it replaced it may just sit there unused.  Would be nice, but not cost effective, it needs a good home!

I hope you'll consider buying the camera, like I say with the deck replaced or repaired it will be a perfect camera in every way and at the end of the day you get an impressive lens worth around £350 on it's own. So pick yourself up a bargain pro camera!

I'm also throwing in for free an extra battery that cost £60, it's large for long shooting durations.

All the best,

Tom

(Need more pictures?  Let me know and I'll take whatever pictures you need and send them to you)

Specs Below