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To the Users of the XF305/XF300 Professional Digital Camcorders

To enhance the visibility of the viewfinder on the XF305 and XF300 professional camcorders, the size of the viewfinder and its built-in loupe have been increased. Increasing the size of the viewfinder and loupe, however, has allowed sunlight to easily enter through the viewfinder, causing incident light to converge on the internal display panel inside the camcorder. In rare cases, where sunlight enters continuously for long periods, the LCD display panel may be damaged. 

To help prevent damage to the display panel, we have attached a cautionary label to the viewfinder, bundled a viewfinder cap with the product, and included a leaflet to encourage users to attach the viewfinder cap when not using the viewfinder. 

We would like to inform our user that to further prevent damage to the display panel due to incident sunlight, we have decided to attach a filter to the viewfinder. 

XF305 Professional Digital Camcorder
XF300 Professional Digital Camcorder

A polarizing filter to absorb external incident light will be added to the viewfinder unit.
After this filter is attached, the image viewed through the viewfinder will appear slightly darker.

User Support
Users with the pre-countermeasure camcorders that are within the scope of support (see “How to Identify Pre-Countermeasure Units” below) should contact a Canon Customer Support Center with the information listed below. After having confirmed the details, we will send the modified viewfinder units to our eligible users free of charge. Users can install the modified viewfinder units by following the instructions at the end of this document.

How to Identify Pre-Countermeasure Units
Camcorders with the following serial numbers are within the scope of support.
The serial number is indicated on the label on the bottom of the camcorder.

The XF305 and XF300 camcorders whose seventh digit in the serial number is 0, 1, or 2 are within the scope of support.

* * * 
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0 *
 * * *        
*
* * *
 * * * 
1 * 
* * *
 *
* * * 
* * * 
2 * 
* * *
 *

How to Remove and Attach the Viewfinder Unit
1. Slide the RELEASE switch in the direction of the arrow, and remove the original viewfinder unit by sliding it upward. 
2. Attach the modified viewfinder unit by sliding it back onto the camcorder unit until it clicks into place.