Technical HD Video Camera Talk

[puretotty]

So we shoot with a Sony HDV Z5E Camera, a nice piece of kit... we've had it for about 4 years I would guess (maybe 5) and it shoots perfect... however I thought best get it serviced...

Spoke to Sony and they want ?760 to service it... I was like WTF ! Even if there isn't anything wrong with it, a service costs ?760 !!! The answer was... YES lol !

I have two more numbers to call, hoping they give me a better price... damn I was hoping it wasnt going to be much more than a ?100 !!!

Anyone else had experiences like this before ?

[Peter]

Yep, ilford print dryer, ?120 just to come out, parts and labour on top.

Leica enlarger, had to drive it to Milton Keynes to get it fixed, no other way, and cost ?300+ to do the work.

Nikon flashgun, the bulb that lights up to tell you its ready to fire cost ?82.82 to replace.

Trouble is these things are technical and require properly qualified people to work with them. It's not something you can do yourself with a cotton bud and a tin of WD40.

Its all tax deductable in the end.

[Peter]

...and once had a computer printer, they wanted ?120 to repair it, or they'd sell me a new one for ?118.

[one eyed jack]

Sounds about right with HD

You still using tapes Pure Totty?

I imagine its about that time your camera will need an overhaul. If you shoot on cards it would be cheaper to just buy another CF recorder for ?600

[puretotty]

Yeah still shooting on tapes... to be honest the beast we bought about 4 years ago, for what we shoot was probably overkill... the HDV Z5E is broadcast quality and deemed as a pro cam...

I haven't spoke to the other two places that were recomended to us yet... so not sure how their prices will compare. The guy at Calumet said that the Sony Repair Centre just work off of a fixed price, so regardless of whats wrong you pay that...

Now as I said there doesn't appear to be anything actually wrong wiht the camera... for all I know it could continue shooting for years more yet... but unlike the Digital SLR we shoot stills with, we dont have a back up camera... which always makes me a tad nervous...

I guess option would be to buy a second chepaer camera like you say around ?600-700 (basically what we're being told we'll pay for the service) A second cam is always useful both for capturing a second angle for the shoots... and also acting as a back up if anything does go wrong with the primary camera...

Time to start putting a little dollar away for the second camera me thinks

[paul jones]

This guy is great - independent ex sony technician

http://www.klent.co.uk/

[essexvideophoto]

I rather cleverly dropped my Panasonic HD camcorder on its focus ring, properly buggering it up. I sent it to http://www.digiservice.co.uk who are an authorised Sony and Panasonic repair centre, I used them first when I dropped my previous Sony camera (there's a pattern emerging I think). Their service was good and the parts they use are genuine. Might be worth a try, but Paul's suggestion of an independent is always worth pursuing first as one man bands tend to be enthusiasts anyway and actually care about getting the thing fixed.

[puretotty]

I will look into these suggestions gents... thank you for the input Will update when I spoke to them all... but that will probs be next week now as I have a busy finish to the week

[sparky]

Klent are very reputable, if you have the time and do a Google search you may well find various comments on forums confirming this. While probably a better price than Sony they are not exactly cheap though.

If all is well with your camera I would be tempted to leave well alone and invest in a reasonable backup.

[myson]

Mr Totty,

The problem with recording on tape is that the recording/playback heads tend to get clogged after a longish period of time so I have another suggestion for you.
The Sony HDV Z5E has a Compact Flash Card recording unit as an optional accessory (HVR-MRC1K Memory Recording Unit)?
Use this rather than tapes and record directly to Compact Flash. You will of course have to get into the habit of making multi back-ups as you wouldn't have the original tape like you do now.

Have a shufty here

Myson
!oldie!