Hello ....I just spent a week filming wildlife in Sask.,Canada and the temperatures sored into 90+ every day. My viewfinder slowly fogged and eventually burnt out in several spots. And I was aware of were I pointed the thing too. The canon rep knew of the problem and is solving it by installing a polarizeing filter and new lcd. Anyone had this done yet and does it darken the detail {for focusing} in low light recording. thanx, Brian

-- Brian McMillen (mcmillen@telusplanet.net), October 17, 1998

Answers

Hi, I haven't had the EVF modification done yet as I DO have a small burn on the view finder. The owner's manual clearly says DO NOT POINT THE VF AT THE SUN. which is what I accidently did. High temps don't affect the VF. But always pointing it downward when not looking through it it obviously very important. Regards, Morgan

-- Morgan (aurora57@hotmail.com), November 23, 1998.

The manual should underline in red....Do not let the sun beam into your Viewfinder on the XL1. Get into the habit of turning the viewfinder in the down position each time you remove your eye from it. Also turn the finder switch at the top to the FAR position. This works if you don't fall on your face at high noon. Good Luck with an otherwise good camera. Philip Morgan

-- Philip H. Morgan (pmvideo@msn.com), December 22, 1998.

I, too burned out the viewfinder but Canon was kind enough to replace it, they added a eyepiece matte and some kind of polarizing filter betwixt eye and LCD. Voila, no more burns, but then I've been extra careful and the sun was hardly out this summer. The viewfinder seems just as bright and detailed as before. The matte restricts the viewing angle and is only good to maybe 25 to 30 cms.(that's about a foot to those stuck in the 19th century!).

I'm waiting for a larger LCD monitor attachable to the handle. May have to gaffer-tape a SONY GV-D 900 to the top otherwise.

-- Chris Baudat (cbaudat@intergate.bc.ca), September 04, 1999.