I think I broke my camera...

S

SloMocean

Active member
:crybaby:

I'm an idiot. Somehow I put my DVX on my tripod without quite getting it on the tripod and locking it down correctly. I walked away to do something a coworker (who I will murder in their sleep later this evening) decided to readjust my framing, at which point my camera fell to the concrete floor and landed on the tape drive side. I punched myself in the face, :nads: the other guy and then gently picked my baby up to inspect... Everything appeared to be working, so I tried recording. The flashing red x of death came up, so I removed the tape and quickly popped in a cleaning tape ( I know, I know! I was on a shoot and had no choice).

At this point the DVX refused to register that I had inserted a tape - just the flashing "no tape" sign. I took the tape out, turned the camera off/on and tried again. Same thing. I inserted six different tapes and none were recognized... four hours later it's the same thing...so now I have a camera that hates tapes...

What the hell did I do?

Are the DVX Gods telling me I should stop using tapes and buy a HVX?
 
no they are tellign you to get your camera fixed.

Or for now record to your computer through your NLE. VEgas, Final cut whatever. pretend its DV rack.
 
was it the circle with the red X or the tape with the red X? I think the circle with the red X is the timecode not picking up. Happened to me.

Did u try to just hit the record button anyway to see if it'll begin recording?
 
NO CA$H said:
Thats a horrible story. Do you have a warranty?
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I did but it's expired. Luckily my camera IS insured and my insurance company IS going to cover it! I filed a claim yesterday and I just gotta get my camera sent in to Panasonic, get an estimate on costs, pay my $100 deductable and they'll cut me a check for the rest.

Looks like I'll be missing drama fest, though ... :(
 
coffee said:
was it the circle with the red X or the tape with the red X? I think the circle with the red X is the timecode not picking up. Happened to me.

Did u try to just hit the record button anyway to see if it'll begin recording?
Click to expand...

It started with the red x (dirty head warning according to the manual) right after the fall.... i tried recording and it recorded, but the playback had the "blue stripe" thing going on. I took the tape out and put in a cleaning tape, at which point it became the tape with red x (no tape inserted) ... tried recording, playing, fastforwarding & rewinding... nada. The tape drive doesn't even engage the tape. it opens and closes fine, but it doesn't even attempt to "load" the tape once I insert and close it.
 
greeches said:
what insurance covers that?
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I have a plan through my car/home insurance company. I got it strictly for my camera (I was shooting a demolition derby from just outside the barriers and the first night my camera and I got covered in mud, so I went down the next day and got it insured just in case).

As long as I'm doing contract work I'm covered. If I run off to shoot a tornado or hurricane in the hopes of selling the footage later and my camera gets broke, they won't cover it.

Best $11 a month I've ever spent.
 
What tripod do you have? Mine has a safety lock and a lock down lever as well otherwise I would have done the same thing twice by now.
 
Kevin Briggs said:
What tripod do you have? Mine has a safety lock and a lock down lever as well otherwise I would have done the same thing twice by now.
Click to expand...

I've already ordered a new tripod head with the lock feature, so that even if I forget to tighten it down (which I think is highly unlikely at this point), this won't ever happen again.

To update - I mailed my camera off to Kansas and am waiting to hear back about the problem and an estimate of the repair costs. I tried inserting a tape just before packing the camera up and it "took" this time, but I was still getting the "red x" ... I'm hoping that's a sign that the problem isn't as serious as I thought and maybe I just bumped something loose instead of destroying something... my fingers are crossed... I don't have a back up camera yet so I'm out of business until I get this one back (a savings account for an HVX has already been set up using Christmas money, so I will always have a "back up" in cases of emergency)
 
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