Aerohead

My Feedback: (37)

I went out to the flying field to get some flying footage. I started filming, and within twenty seconds or so the whole viewfinder screen went bright green. I could still see some detail, but everything onscreen had a green tint to it. This happened to the LCD view screen as well. Now, whenever I try to film anything, the screen stays the same way. I tried playback of stuff I had filmed on the same tape and it was fine, so it doesn't have anything to do with playback mode, just record. The camcorder is a Panasonic 953 Mini DV, with three CCDs. I'm wondering if one of the CCDs burned out, throwing the color off. I know this forum is supposed to be for software, but do any of you camcorder gurus have an opinion of what might be the problem?

Aerohead

My Feedback: (37)

Well, it doesn't look like anybody was interested, but just in case somebody has the same problem some time in the future: after considerable digging I found out that Panasonic had a recall on some of the 3 ccd camcorders made in 2003/2004. Seems that the ccds are failing, and that is what thows the color off in record mode. After speaking to a support tech, they agreed to pick up the tab for the repairs. I have to ship it to a repair facility in Illinois, but they are paying for the repair and return shipping. It's been a bit of an imposition, but it's nice that I didn't get stuck with a big, fat repair bill. I'm glad that I didn't take it to a local shop. They would have had to do the same research I did, then probably charge me a gross amount for the repair, even though they would have gotten the repair done for free by Panasonic. That's the way things seem to work these days.

Sky High

Sorry I didn't find you sooner. Here is a site that you can find just about anything you want to know about DV products. Just ask a question here and you'll probably get more help than you ever wanted!

www.dvinfo.net/conf

Panasonic Forum
www.dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?f=48

Aerohead

My Feedback: (37)

Okay, it took quite some time for the Panasonic folks to finally send me the paperwork necessary to send the camcorder in the the repair place, but they did finally get it together. It took the repair facility about two weeks from the time I shipped the camcorder to them, but I just got it back on Friday, and it is as good as new. According to the paperwork returned with my unit, they replaced the CCD unit. The total cost to Panasonic for the work was $261 and change. It took some digging and some patience on my part to get the ball rolling, but I am satisfied with the Panasonic people for doing what they needed to do to straighten out my problem. Thanks, guys.