Is my camera damaged? Please help.

P

princethomas

Member
Suddenly, and without warning, my DVX100A is not connecting up with the FireWire on my iMac. I have connected another camera, and Final Cut Express has no trouble reading it. But it cannot read my good cam. I noticed that the cable seemed very loose in the DV out Slot on the camera itself. I am wondering if I physically damaged the input in some way. Any ideas.

Could it just be some setting on the camera that got switched somehow?

Thanks,

-Tom
 
A lot of DVX's have damaged firewire ports, mine did before I sold it and it wasn't very used before. It's just not very well built, especially compared to the rest of the camera.

If you haven't changed any settings, double checked to make sure they were right and have verified that it isn't the cable or computer there's a good chance the port is dead. Just use the not so good cam to capture if that's all you need, it isn't worth getting fixed from what I understand.

There is a setting that would change that if it were in the settings, I think it's somewhere under camera setup. Don't have one with me so I can't be sure, just search through the menus until you see something that looks right. Or, in this case, wrong.
 
Thank you. Here is a question on top of that one then. What if I record in 24p on the DVX and then capture it to FCE with the mini cam that of course is not 24p. Will it still come through properly?

-T
 
oh wait, and now I am reading that some people with iMacs and OS X 10.5.6 are having the same problem with the DVX. Thats what I have. I know there were some recent updates that the computer found. I don't remember if the OSX was updated, maybe thats why it doesnt work.
 
sounds as if ur port may be busted. However if ur just wanting to capture the footage u can use a cheap mini dv cam. sounds like u already have that...so just use that.

To answer the 24p question...Yes, everything u record on ur DVX will be captured EXACTLY the same way if u use ur other cam. In fact..u can even use ur cheap cam to record as a slave deck and totally bypass ur dvx deck. the way to do it is somewhere around the site...i duno. but its in Barry Green's book if u have it. In anycase just use ur other cam to capture and u should be fine. the cost to fix the port will be more than just buying a cheap cam...not worth it ifu can just buy a 200 dollar mini dv cam (just in case u dont have). stil try out the OS upgrade though and troubleshoot just to be sure.
 
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Thanks a lot. I will do that. Frankly I would have been doing that all this time had I realized it would be the same. Just to spare my camera extra work.

I am disappointed by the breaking of my firewire. So this is a common problem with the DVX?
 
yup it is . as soon as i was able to get a little mini dv cam i did...and thats what i;ve been using to capture and for playback, to spare my dvx heads and extend the life of my camera. its a common practise here. Also bcause professional decks to catpure are pretty expensive.

Still try the OS upgrade just to be sure.
 
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princethomas said:
Suddenly, and without warning, my DVX100A is not connecting up with the FireWire on my iMac. I have connected another camera, and Final Cut Express has no trouble reading it. But it cannot read my good cam. I noticed that the cable seemed very loose in the DV out Slot on the camera itself. I am wondering if I physically damaged the input in some way. Any ideas.

Could it just be some setting on the camera that got switched somehow?

Thanks,

-Tom
Click to expand...

Well I didn't know this at first and now I am trying to pass along this VERY IMPORTANT piece of info... You have to plug in the firewire cord BEFORE you turn on the camera!!!!! If you plug it in when the camera is on, it WILL blow out the firewire port and then (Like ME!) you have to pay at least $800 to replace all of that board. Luckily the first time that happened, the camera store replaced my whole DVX for free since it was like 3 days after purchase but then that next week, someone borrowed my DVX for a day and blew out the port on accident... I was not happy to pay $800...
 
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