Whats wrong with my HVX????

[west_matta]

early this morning when i first turned on my HVX i noticed it was making a bit of noise (kinda like if you have an old computer and its struggling to do what your asking of it) and you could actually feel it doing something when i held the tripod handle....

so of course i turned it off then back on again. it was doing it again!
so i tried a different battery, but still no change.
I decided to leave it alone for a minute or so, incase it was trying to do something. still kept going.
It was recording fine and if i went into the playback menu the noise would stop!!!

then it starts to go out of focus everytime there is a bigger vibration. it kind of looked like i had it on auto focus. So i turned it off and moved it over to where the rest of my gear was and turned it back on.

It was still making the noise and vibrating, i started talking to a mate about it and when i had another listen it had stopped!! the camera had gone back to normal.

i finished up shooting and went home. i tested it out then and again later in the day and it was still running fine. It did spend about an hour laying on the cold ground (in my lowepro backpack) so maybe it was effected by moist air or the cold?

If anyone has had this problem occur before or thinks they know please reply to this post. I live a long way from a service centre so its not easy to just go in and get it checked out.

[Bill Nelson]

I had this problem. It's a real problem, West. I have this problem... again. Search the board for "Permanent loss of focus control"
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=121896

You'll read my lament regarding this issue on a shoot. Sent it to Panasonic service center in LA. The tech supposes that my camera was bumped. The lens was realigned. He did comment on how great my camera looked. I was back in action. That was in February. Now a month later, it's doing it again. I suppose, according to the previous diagnosis, the camera has been 'bumped' again. Anything can happen, but I now have no confidence that I can show up at a shoot and get usable material for my clients. Your description of the growling sound emanating out of the camera was dead on. At certain zoom millimeter readings it happens - at others it doesn't.

My solution to this problem is to buy another camera that has a removable lens. Dang. I was SO enticed by the small form factor and incredible functionality of this device. Do I have one of the few 'flawed' cameras? I can't believe that the HVX200 isn't a very robust device, or this board would be flooded with laments just like mine. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas? I'm flummoxed by this. I just can't afford a $300 monthly fee to keep my HVX200 tuned up. Perhaps an online demo of how this lens 'alignment' is accomplished, so I could do it myself... dang.

[west_matta]

so does yours do it often?? i havent had a problem since it occured the once. im going to test it out some more and see what happens. hmmmm. im glad i have my gear insured, lets hope it was just being grumpy at me that morning!!

thanks for replying

[Spec-Comm]

We have seen this problem in the past and the only way to really fix the problem is to get a new lens assembly. That will run you about $1000 if you can get one without the CCD. If you get the part with the CCD (which is the only one avialable at times) it's over $2000 for the part, plus labor. Still better than picking up a new camera though.

Best regards,

Andrew Hoffman
Senior Operations Manager
Specialized Communications Corp.
20940 Twin Springs Dr.
Smithsburg, MD 21783-1510 USA
800-359-1858
301-790-0103
Fax: 301-790-0173
andrewh@spec-comm.com
www.spec-comm.com

Please visit our new online store at ( http://www.spec-comm.com/store ). New products being added daily!

[Bill Nelson]

Andrew,

Do you know why this occurs? How often? I'm just trying to come to grips with professional use of a camera that 'may' just be too delicate. We don't bang our stuff around here...

[west_matta]

ok so i had another go...
i did some zoom in and outs and after a couple the noise began. no vibrating or loss of focus, just the noise.

guess ill have to make a trip to the city and get it looked at. i seriously cannot afford the $2000 to get a new lens assembly right now. will just have to get it realigned.

hey andrew (from spec comm) which one would i get? the lens assembly with or without the CCD?

its so frustrating to think ive worked so hard to get all this equipment and i take real good care of it but still something goes wrong. ive never heard of someone say they have had their panasonic fall apart. most of my friends who have sony cameras have all had work done on it. ive only ever owned panasonics (3 in fact) and never had a problem. my first one was dropped onto rocks from head height by a friend and nothing broke. i used that camera for 2 more years before i sold it.

[Bill Nelson]

my camera's noise occurs in certain zoom ranges, between 9 and 12 or so, and occasionally at full zoom. I'm hoping my supplier will go to bat for me. We'll see.

[west_matta]

yer thats exactly the same as mine. how many others have you come across with this problem do you think? we could have a bad batch of HVX's that need to be re called. the reason i say that is because the guy i work with bought his a year or so before me and has never taken care of it but it works completely fine.
Or did you ever see the guy who's HVX fell off the top of the jib arm and nothing happened?

something to think about there!

[Bill Nelson]

"we could have a bad batch of HVX's that need to be re called."

I just wonder... I'm thinking that this lens assembly fragility isn't 'business as usual' for video hardware. I'm REALLY babying this equipment, and for the lens alignment to go south once a month is not a viable business plan for me.