Sand + HVX = $1200 repair

H

holditnowfilms

Well-known member
Just a word of warning for those of you HVX users who get out of the studio and get dirty.

I shot an Iraq fire fight scene in which there was a wee bit o sand flying as rounds and explosions went off.

Sand found it's way between the focus and zoom rings on the lens barrel. It didn't seem to do much other than create some friction and a gritty feel when spinning the rings.

Flash forward a few months.

While shooting on location the iris motor went out and locked full closed. So unless I was shooting on the sun, exposure was impossible.

I did manage to lock it back open but there was no adjustment. Full open.

I am shooting mostly with the M2 so full open isn't a big deal but I was afraid it would slip back to full closed. In fact the motor may have been out for a while since I have not used anything but wide open for the last 3 shoots. I stop down the 35mm lens itself if I need less light and more DOF

Luckly Panasonic repair shop was only 20 mins away through the tunnel. Paco fixed the camera in about 1 hour and a half. He said it was the sand that caused the motor to fail. I can't be sure if that was the case or not but it was as likely as anything.

They had to replace the entire lens assembly. He also replaced the batter dock and RCA connectors because in Paco's words they were faulty from the git and people were having trouble with them.

Lucky for me it was on my down day so I didn't miss a day of shooting or have to rent another camera.

Total was about $1200. Six months past warranty. Doh!

Any way if you plan to shoot in a dusty or dirty enviro I would suggest gaff tape all the seals on the camera. And get an all weather cover for it just to be safe.

Good times.
 
Problems with sand have been reported before, and I would personally never exposure the camera or anything else that is delicate to such an environment without some protection.

The warranty would not have paid for the repair anyway, it only covers product defects.
 
The Kata DV Glove (DVG-51) provides great protection to the HVX. There are some problems with the initial production run according to Kata and they will be replacing mine when the new stock arrives. Seems it wasn't measured properly and it doesn't line up with all of the i/o's. However, if you are just shooting to P2 cards, it will work great. Right now it won't help you after the fact. It is much better than the rain slicker and also provides great cushioning for the camera.

Ned Soltz
 
Ned,

How long ago did you purchase the DVG-51? I've had mine for a few months and wonder if I may also have a mis-measured glove. Any idea where they measured wrong so I can check?

Dan
 
Thanks for the product info. I will check it out. I want something that stays on all the time if possible. I noticed that the HVX gets really hot when being used in hot conditions. Any reason to fear the glove will overheat the unit?
 
I dont believe heat will be an issue, but you may want to shade the camera and glove from the sun...

RE: KATA glove - I did get this response from the company.....I filled out their tech problem form on their website....

I am very sorry to hear of this unfortunate experience you have had withour DVG-51 and the inconvenience caused.Please understand that we take special pride in the quality of ourproducts, and encounter very few returns.This is why any complaint we receive is taken very seriously, and aninvestigation into the issue is conducted to prevent such futureoccurrences.This is a very new product and this production mistake was discovered byus just after a very first small series was launched and reached themarkets. We are currently conducting the examination and correctionprocess which must be finished in about 3 months.Therefore I suggest the following solution:Please send me your full address and phone details and I will make sureto arrange to send you a new replacement DVG-51 for your camera as soonas the correction process is finished.Also, I suggest to send you Kata raincover CRC-15 for your Panasonichvx200 at no charge to compensate the inconvenience caused. This productwill provide you rain as well as daily protection for your camera. And,as I said, as soon as we have a new and improved DVG-51 to replace theone you have it will be sent to you right away.Thank you for your patience and understanding. Looking forward to hear from you,Sincerely, Katia ShuklinCustomer ServiceVideo - Photo LineKata Vitec I Ltd.T:+972-2-5911000 ext. 126F:+972-2-5400504www.kata-bags.com
 
Yes... same response that I received from Katia and I did receive the rain cover. I have also been in touch with Vitec group folks and they say the fix should be out soon. It is fine as long as you do not need to access firewire and those back ports. It just is not cut properly.

Ned
 
I took my hvx to the beach about a month ago and I can tell that there are a few grains (3?) of sand under the zoom ring. It is very subtle, nothing I should really worry about, right?
 
I shot some moto x events with my HVX, there was dust everywhere at 1 event! It got in under the zoom and focus rings, and in the iris wheel. It's definately noisier now and does feel a little bit gritty. I was really concerned intially after only owning it for 2 months, but it's been over a year now and it's never influenced my workflow, i just keep making money off it. If i'd stopped and thought about it i'd never of exposed my HVX to such conditions. Guess i'm lucky it didn't screw up totally!!! :Drogar-Happy(DBG):
 
I just bought the camera in July, should I just take it in anyway and have it cleaned out to be on the safe side?
 
I film off road events and in the desert as well, and most of the over the counter solutions dont work for crap. If there is an openening ANYwhere, the sand/dust will find it. Cant say much for the Kata glove, though it does look like a good solution once they get all the measurements figured out. A more extreme solution would be to use an underwater housing; but gaff tape and a lot of strategically cut clear vinyl goes a long way.

cbln said:
Any danger in using pressurized air to clean it yourself after a dusty or sandy shoot?
Click to expand...

You run the risk of pushing the dust further into the camera, but if you do it carefully, it does help alot.
 
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Well I can say for the record the gritty feeling in the focus ring is the problem I had to begin with. It didn't seem to effect anything and to be honest I have/had the same issue with my DVX100.

I did try using the dust off pressurized air to blast it out to no avail. I assume there is some sort of lube inside the housing that the sand gets stuck to. I had planned on taking it appart to clean it ( the warranty was expired anyway ) but it went down before I had a chance to.

I have dropped, had fake blood splashed on, rained on, and bounced my DVX100 from California, Nevada, Texas, Florida, New York and the UK. It got so steamy in miami it shut down as going from inside a hotel to the 99% humidity of a street interview created a condensation nightmare ( i since learned to heat up the cam via a hair or hand dryer before going outside in extreme climate changes).

I have taken a DVX100 apart before and seen the wonders of the inside and repaired a broken lens barrel with superglue and put it back together and it worked flawlessly.

It still runs and shoots with out problem. The lens barrel is loose from a recent fall and the flip screen spins without resistance after my glidecam tipped over and the camera crashed to a table top with the screen open. :O But it take great pictures!

I assumed the HVX to be as hearty. I guess i was wrong or the iris failure was just a bad part in a first run camera.
 
MY iris is locked down @ about F8. How did you get it to lock open? I'm using a Red Rock so I could at least limp through this shoot if it was @ full open.
 
If you are under warranty then definitley get it into the shop asap.

I was able to get my iris to go to wide open by cranking the ND filter switch up and down really fast. I did it for about .30 seconds to a minute and the image came back as the iris stuck wide open.

Before doing that I pulled the battery and turned the camera on and off several times and switched to VCR mode back and forth.

Let me know how it works out.
 
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