HV Loose Part Noise or Tape Mechanism?
 

I just got my HV40 today. I have not used it yet, but as I took it out of the box and was turning it upside down I could hear what sounded like a loose part. My camera does not have a tape in it or the battery installed. As I continued to turn the camera rightside up and upside down I started to suspect that this sound is coming from the tape mechanism and that the parts that are making the sound are meant to move around. Can someone verify this for me? I want to make sure nothing is wrong with the camera.

Thanks,
Hugh

It is likely the image stabilization system. Saw this question a lot with the HV20. Once camera is fired up, it should not occur.

I'll bet Chris is right. This comes up a lot for folks with new Canon HV's.

Turn it on with the image stabilization on and I'll bet it will disappear. I have an HV20 and I don't even notice it anymore.

If you still hear it, then you'd better think about returning the camera.

Phil

Problem Solved.
 

I borrowed my friend's HV30 to test my theory that the sound coming from my new camera is not a broken part, but rather due to a moving part in the camera's tape mechanism. Without a tape loaded into the HV30 I turned it upside down and heard the same sound that was present on my new HV40. As I looked closer, I was able to see that the sound comes from part of the tape mechanism moving when there is no tape loaded in the camera. Since the sound was present in my friend's HV30, it seems my camera is not defective and this is a normal sound.

Thanks for both of your posts,
Hugh