Firewire Port Help.

[siniarch]

Hey Guys,

I'm a little embarrassed to be asking this since I made the Firewire Saver, but today was the second day of my short film shooting, and this morning, I couldn't find my Firewire saver. I had used it on the first day of shooting, but since I couldn't find it this morning, and people were rushing, I just decided to shoot without it.

Wouldn't you know it, my fire wire port broke on the next to last scene of the day.

So I was wondering if anyone knew how long Panasonic takes to fix this, how much will it run me and if there is a faster & cheaper way to fix this.

I'm in los angeles by the way. And yes I know panasonic is actually in LA by cahuenga blvd. but still want to hear from others that got their camera fixed there.
I'm out of warranty and would like to see how much this little joke is going to cost me.

I can't believe how easy it is to break this thing. I really baby my camera. I always assumed when people told me that they broke theirs, it was because they were rough with it. But that's not the case. It is truly a poor connection. (actually should be recalled and fixed) but I just want to let you guys know to be careful.

Thanks.

[David Saraceno]

Don't get me started on this one.

I don't have any assistance on repair costs, but I believe there are posts to that effect on the boards.

Why or why does a $6K cam have such a cheap connection and so poorly placed?

Good luck

[siniarch]

thanks David,
Again, I always thought it was a combination of mis handling and a poor connection, but now I see that its pretty much just the connection, as I didn't bump the camera, tug on the wire nor anything else.
I'll talk to panasonic on monday and see what happens. they really should take care of this damage even if its not under warranty.
We'll see.

[Kdawg]

I wish there was one of these for the A1.

[David Saraceno]

thanks David,
Again, I always thought it was a combination of mis handling and a poor connection, but now I see that its pretty much just the connection, as I didn't bump the camera, tug on the wire nor anything else.
I'll talk to panasonic on monday and see what happens. they really should take care of this damage even if its not under warranty.
We'll see.

Boy, please report back on that.

I tried to get the camera tabs repaired before they broke, but Panasonic told me that they'd cover the parts but not the labor or vice versa.

But if I purposely broke them by accident under warranty, a full repair.

Being honest is expensive.

Not a fan of the FW port issues or the battery tabs.

Panasonic should own up on both these issues under normal use for the life of the cam

[siniarch]

I hear ya David. I've had my camera for over a year, but the amount of time that I have used it is very minimal. If I didn't have a day job, I could have put the same miles on my camera in 1 month as I've done in 1 year.

So for the Firewire port to break with me babying my camera, I can only conclude that it is a flawed connection, that should never be put in a camera over $2k, let alone a camera over $5k.

[David Saraceno]

So what did the FW repair cost?

[siniarch]

Hey David,
Still filming. Today should be the last day. Doing some Night shoots. Will investigate repair next week. I'll keep you guys posted.
I know where Panasonic is and I will try to go there myself and handle this in Person. (I love Person to Person support. They can't avoid you if you are right infront of them. hahaha)
Later,
Luis

[ProfessorU]

Is there something I can do in the field to prevent this? I'm thinking a "gaffer's tape" style solution would be fine. I'm trying out Adobe OnLocation for the first time and don't want to break my baby!

[puredrifting]

Professor U:

http://www.lsdsgn.com/ Look at the FWS-01, created by our own Luis.

Dan

[siniarch]

hahah. Thanks Dan. I know I know. if you read my first post, I explain how embarrassed I am about breaking my Firewire port. But It happened because I did not use my FWS-01 because I couldn't find it in the morning of the shoot. :(

Anyway. Just wanted to give you guys an update.
In Los Angeles, you can drop it off at the:

PANASONIC SERVICE CENTER
3330 Cahuenga Blvd. West
Los Angeles, CA 90068-1354
323.436.3507

and its a minimum of $260 charge with 3-5 days turn around. They will not give you a price for the actual work. they just say its $260 minimum. And that a technician will asses the damage and give you a call with an estimate.

The other solution is:

VIDEO CLINIC
2307 Wilshire Blvd. (I believe)
Santa Monica, CA
310.828.6464

their minimum is $280 and is a mandatory fee for diagnosing the problem. It will be applied towards the repair, but it is not refundable. (I'm assuming Panasonic is the same way, but they did not mention that over the phone) This place is also about 3-5 business days turn around.

So Lesson Learned. If people have to wait 20mins for me to find my FWS-01, then so be it. Or they can just hand me a check for $500 for me to waive looking for the FWS-01. (this should cover gas and time)

[puredrifting]

hahah. Thanks Dan. I know I know. if you read my first post, I explain how embarrassed I am about breaking my Firewire port. But It happened because I did not use my FWS-01 because I couldn't find it in the morning of the shoot. :(

Anyway. Just wanted to give you guys an update.
In Los Angeles, you can drop it off at the:

PANASONIC SERVICE CENTER
3330 Cahuenga Blvd. West
Los Angeles, CA 90068-1354
323.436.3507

and its a minimum of $260 charge with 3-5 days turn around. They will not give you a price for the actual work. they just say its $260 minimum. And that a technician will asses the damage and give you a call with an estimate.

The other solution is:

VIDEO CLINIC
2307 Wilshire Blvd. (I believe)
Santa Monica, CA
310.828.6464

their minimum is $280 and is a mandatory fee for diagnosing the problem. It will be applied towards the repair, but it is not refundable. (I'm assuming Panasonic is the same way, but they did not mention that over the phone) This place is also about 3-5 business days turn around.

So Lesson Learned. If people have to wait 20mins for me to find my FWS-01, then so be it. Or they can just hand me a check for $500 for me to waive looking for the FWS-01. (this should cover gas and time)

I will vouch for the quality of service with The Video Clinic. I brought my HVX after a very dusty session with a heicopter and they made it like new again. Cost major bucks to do but it was worth it. When I was at a production company last year that had three HVX-200s that needed new battery tabs, we had The Video Clinic replace them and they did a good job with those cameras as well.

The Video Clinic is now my prefered vendor for HVX repairs.

Dan

[ProfessorU]

Let's say hypothetically my cam is under warranty and I've got 12 weeks before I NEED it. If Panny fixes it will it be better than before, or just more of the same cheap construction?

[puredrifting]

If they replace the Firewire port, it will be exactly the same.

If they replace the battery tabs, supposedly they improved them when a lot of HVX owners complained that the factory original battery tabs were too cheap and broke too easily.

Same with the plastic headphone jack. Seems ridiculous to have plastic headphone jack when the DVX that cost much less had a more sturdy metal one.

The HVX would have been just about perfect if it had been made with metal battery tabs, metal headphone jack, 6-pin Firewire and SDI intead of the lame D4 connector. But we love our HVXs anyway, they still make great images.

Dan

[siniarch]

Ok, here is the update.
I brought it in to Panasonic directly. I even talk to the head of servicing. Really nice guy by the way.
So it looks like it wasn't the Firewire port after all. (and it was)
The firewire port wasn't broken, but there is a fuse that prevents any current to get past the board that houses the firewire port to the rest of the camera.

So apparently, there was some sort of surge that went from the FS-100 to the HVX. Or at least that's what I'm being told. :(

The bad news is that its going to cost another $90 for a total of $350.

The good news is that its cheaper to replace the whole board than to replace just the fuse, go figure. So I'll be getting a new board. (so if my firewire port was getting some wear an tear then no worries cus I'm getting a new one)

The other good news is that if the fuse didn't do its job, the next component down the line was some sort of sensor that costs about $1000.

So $350 is not as bad. (still more expensive than I would like.)

I'll keep you guys posted.

Thanks,

Luis

[David Saraceno]

Thanks for the update

Next question --- any suggestions on what could have been done to minimize the problem?

[siniarch]

Well, they didn't say anything. Panasonic said that alot of mnf. are having problems with Firewire ports in general because of surges frying internal components coming form the port themselves. That is why Panasonic implemented the Fuse on their boards.

My guess is, turn off the camera and FS-100 between set ups. And from now on, I'm always using my FWS-01 even if people have to wait 20 mins to help me find it. :D

[David Saraceno]

I've heard source and cam off.

Connection

Source on/cam on.

Wish there was a better procedure.