disaster! poss. DVX sand damage?

S

strike_anywhere

Member
shooting a surfing show in a national park in costa rica - been able to keep the camera's dry, but a freak gust of wind kicked up a sandstorm on the beach.

the camera seems to be stuck, as if the menu button is locked in the depressed position. i can see the image behind the menu options screen (which i can't exit by pushing the menu button, it's unresponsive...) and the buttons on the front left side of the camera (the user switches...) are still functioning. also, the camera will jump in vtr mode by itself after a few moments following powerup.

it seems as though only a few switches are damaged, and i'm pretty positive this was not caused by water - which isn't too bad.

i'm not dumb enough to open up the camera myself, unless somebody could walk me through it... does anybody have a ballpark as to what panasonic would charge to fix it?

also, can anybody direct me to camera dealer/rental house in the liberia/tamarindo area of costa rica? (yeah, right...)

we have a second camera, but of course it's gonna hit our schedule pretty hard.

thanks for the input.

-justin
 
Re: disaster! poss. DVX sand damage?

Sorry about your problems. It sure sounds like a moisture problem, despite the sand. If it's moisture, you may get lucky and it could go away as the camera switches dry out. If you can find a warm dry place for your camera--that would be great. Can you find some dessicant and seal it in a bag with the camera? If the sand is causing a mechanical problem in the switches, then you might try some gentle tapping while holding the camera in different positions to dislodge the particles. Compressed air might also help (for a temporary fix). Good luck.
 
Re: disaster! poss. DVX sand damage?

Watch out with the compressed air though, if sand did get in, you may blow it in further.

If it's moisture, then Barry's got the best answer.
 
Re: disaster! poss. DVX sand damage?

yeah, after i posted i thought about it and the twitchy nature of the problem sounds moisture related. we're pretty good about the underwater housings, i had silica and tampons in there with the camera. it's a humid climate though so who knows?

got it in a pelican with a **** load of silica right now.

thanks guys,
justin
p.s. what problems? i'm in costa rica :)
 
Re: disaster! poss. DVX sand damage?

strike_anywhere:

hey if you're still there and need the service guy, contact me directly and I'll give you a phone number of a guy at Lake Arenal not but a couple of hours from you. He has a couple of XL1's down there he uses and may very well know about a service person.
 
There's a repair shop for Panasonic, but its down in San José. It's called INRESA, number 283-5100 or 283-5286. good luck
 
Fede, you do realize that this thread is almost a year old, I'm sure by now he has done something to fix his camera.
 
Dude, Fede, do you work for these guys or something?
This is the 3rd identical post in a row in this forum area alone from you.

It seems to me that you have just run a Search for "Coasta Rica" and you are bringing up LONG dead threads just to advertise. Not cool.

- MIkko
 
Ummm.......

Ummm.......

scharky said:
Fede, you do realize that this thread is almost a year old, I'm sure by now he has done something to fix his camera.
Click to expand...
2005? Looks more like almost TWO years old, if you want to bust chops.
 
Dude I was just trying to help. One my cam broke down and i took it there. Since most people asking are tourists I just want to help them out, that's it. Yes, I was searching for "Costa Rica" since I live here, but I didn't realize the dates, sorry for that.
 
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