Someone moved my zoom ring when it was set to SERVO

F

filmguy123

Veteran
I know the manual says DO NOT move the zoom ring when set to servo, only when set to manual. Well, someone decided they'd move my zoom ring for me when it was set to SERVO and I heard the motor churning and yelled at em... everything SEEMS to work fine, just wondering, what kind of damage can/did this do, if any? How serious is doing this?
 
It can cause your camera to spontaneously explode! Caution!!!!!!

Everything's fine, man. Just don't make it a habit.
 
the camera's no good anymore dude. send it to me. i'll make use of it. :)

if it aint broke don't sweat it. keep using it and keep an eye on it. may wanna see if the warranty covers that?
 
i think it's really only a concern when the servo gear is in use, ie when zooming in/out. if you try to move the ring then, bad things may happen. i am not an engineer, but i'd imagine the sound you hear when you turn the ring w/ the servo on is the gear turning, but the weak point would probably be the motor that drives the gear, considering how soft it actually goes, it could be pretty easily overwhelmed by someone moving against it.
 
I did the same thing about 3 or 4 times on my DVX when i was just learning how to use it. I didn't know much about these cameras back then so I thought it was that tight for a reason. I later read in the manual that it could cause damage. However, it didn't. The DVX is fine to this day with no problems zooming manually. I'm guessing it should be sturdy enough to take a few accidental zoom ring pushes so I wouldn't sweat it. Just make sure people don't do it from now on.

Kinda like driving a car with the handbrake on I guess... which I've also done :P
 
As long as you don't hear a "clunk" in the camera when it's powered off you should be fine. :happy:
 
Well, I almost had a seizure once at film school: A bunch of film students were shooting with the HVX and was cranking the zoom ring around for some fast zooms. I could hear the servo motor on!

All of them didn't know that there was a switch to disable the servo and turn the zoom to manual. I wanted to smack all those noobies around. The camera seemed fine.

If anything, doing that just increases the chance of ruining your servo motor, or just shortening the motors life.

Let's just say i'd rather manual zoom with the servo on, then get sand in my focus ring gears from being unprotected at the beach!
 
i have never turned the Servo off on my DVX and i've been turning the Zoom Ring by hand for 3 years with no issues.
 
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