Dropped Camera--I am an idiot. Help.

[Sal C. Martin]

I did it this time. I dropped my camera. After almost crying ( I am a grown man) I picked up the camera and didn't see any outward damage except for a nick on my battery.

However now the camera won't play tapes. It still physically runs the tape but I can't see anything that I've recorded. I tried several tapes and it will not show me anything. The numbers still show up (i.e. 52 minutes) but the time code and the date show up as blanks (--/--/----).

The camera part still works fine. I can see through both viewfinders and the lens was not affected.

I am already getting ready to ship it to the JVC service center and take my medicine like a man.

Anyone out there willing to speculate on what the problem could be and how much $$$ it will cost to get me whole again? The camera fell off tripod and hit the ground from about 4 feet up. Obviously it took a good jolt that damaged something.

After all the years I have owned cameras, I have never blown it so bad. Any word of advice at a time like this are appreciated.

Anyone else ever had an accident like this?

[John Miller]

Originally Posted by Sal C. Martin

I did it this time. I dropped my camera. After almost crying ( I am a grown man) I picked up the camera and didn't see any outward damage except for a nick on my battery.

However now the camera won't play tapes. It still physically runs the tape but I can't see anything that I've recorded. I tried several tapes and it will not show me anything. The numbers still show up (i.e. 52 minutes) but the time code and the date show up as blanks (--/--/----).

The camera part still works fine. I can see through both viewfinders and the lens was not affected.

I am already getting ready to ship it to the JVC service center and take my medicine like a man.

Anyone out there willing to speculate on what the problem could be and how much $$$ it will cost to get me whole again? The camera fell off tripod and hit the ground from about 4 feet up. Obviously it took a good jolt that damaged something.

After all the years I have owned cameras, I have never blown it so bad. Any word of advice at a time like this are appreciated.

Anyone else ever had an accident like this?

I feel for you. I can't offer any advice but I can provide you with a story that may help you feel less bad.

This story is about something *really* stupid I did...

...about 12 years ago in the English Channel. Literally. I had a Sony Video8 Handycam and a suitable Ikelite underwater housing. I was supposed to be diving on a wreck of a freighter from the late 70's. Assembled everything as always, jumped off the boat and started my descent. The housing is transparent. I thought it looked a little unusual inside that day. I realised that the housing was leaking! I aborted the dive and went back to the surface. I held the housing out of the water for as long as I could (the camera was still dry). At the same time, I frantically waved to the skipper of our boat. A diver waving = distress. He was reading a newspaper. He saw me and waved back! Eventually, he got the message but it was too late - I couldn't keep the housing out of the water any longer (it weighed a ton). Back on the boat, I took the camera out, rinsed it with copious amounts of fresh water (since it was already soaked with seawater). The problem with seawater is that it shorts just about everything. The camera was dead.

The culprit? I didn't seat the main O-ring seal properly. Why? Because I had a stupendous hangover from the night before. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Still, I ended up with a dead camcorder that I would take in the swimming pool with me - without the housing - just to see the reaction!

[Sal C. Martin]

Yea, I am glad to know that others goof it up sometimes.
Yea, saltwater is deadly for electronics. I once went swimming with a cell phone and can also blame alcohol for that.

This time though I was dead sober. I have no one to blame.

I have generally been good with my stuff. I have never had a camera this expensive before but oh well. I'm just going to pay to get it fixed and be done with it.

Do you think insuring your stuff is a good idea? Are there any policies that cover accidents?

[John Miller]

Originally Posted by Sal C. Martin

Do you think insuring your stuff is a good idea? Are there any policies that cover accidents?

Mine was insured.

At first, they said "No". But, earlier that diving season, I had accidentally banged the housing against a rock and scratched the dome - the only optically important bit! I challenged them and they said, "Oh, Yes - you banged it before so that's why it leaked this time." Hmm. "That works!"

So they agreed to cover the cost of replacing the camera - not the housing. I pointed out that the housing is custom made for the model of camera and that the camera wasn't available any more. I got a new housing and a new (Hi8) camcorder. And I still have the old housing - as it happens I also have an old NTSC Video8 camcorder that fits it....

[Michael Maier]

I'm sorry to hear you camera is broke. Hopefully it will just be some mal function because of the impact rather than a broken part. You said it fell from a tripod? How did that happen?

[Mike Teutsch]

Sounds like maybe the heads got knocked out of adjustment. Have you tried recording something and then playing it back? Not that that will fix it, but may confirm the alignment issue.

Either way, time for a trip to the service dept... Sorry man!

Mike

[Scott Jaco]

Just be glad it was "your" camera and not someone elses.

I couldn't imagine having to explain to someone that I dropped their camera.

I wonder how I would react in that situation. SHIT HAPPENS. I guess.

[Sal C. Martin]

Yes, I'm glad it was me who did it to my own camera and not someone else's.

Believe it or not I feel better about it today. I have owned pro gear long enough without a mishap and once in 15 years isn't too bad.

How long is service turnaround for something like this? I have a shoot at the end of the month I need to delover in HD.

(My other clients still want SD 4:3 which I shoot with my PD170.)

[Richard Alvarez]

Lightyears ago, my first video camera, (1979, one of those fancy RCA VHS 'portable' cams. Paid 2k for it... a fortune). I set the deck and camera on a table in a ballroom. I walked across the room to get some more gear, and "WHAM". The 'table' tipped over and dumped everything on it's face. Two days after I bought the whole thing.

So. Two very expensive lessons learned.

ONE: "Don't assume a table or other surface is stable unless you check it. Better still, put gear in a safe place on the ground. In other words, don't put anything higher than you want it to fall."

TWO: IF gear is elevated IE:Table, Tripod, Platform, ETC; DON'T LEAVE IT UNATENDED. I try never to walk away from a tripod without someone having a hand on it.


Yeah, not always 100% practical but a good rule of thumb to live by. So you're not alone in having the misfortune. Not that that is much consolation.

[Bob Hart]

It might well be a sub-board which has jumped out of mainboard socket or something of the like, enough to cause a dry joint, hopefully it is nothing more problematic.

[Stephan Ahonen]

A couple years ago I was packing up a sports shoot in the wintertime, and had some hot cocoa to keep me warm. Hot cocoa in one hand, camera in the other. Guess what happens next. Tripped on a stairway and spilled it on the lens. Iris control was never smooth ever again. Luckily they were about to get new cameras anyway.

[Sal C. Martin]

Anyone ever had their camera in for service with JVC? This is my first JVC camera. I've only ever dealt with Sony.

If so, what have they done are how quick is the turn around time? How much did your repair cost you? Is insurance something I should consider? I have a lot of new gear and sh*t happens.

Thanks.

[Steve Oakley]

I dropped a HD100. first time in 20 years of shooting. it was because I had the wireless reciever in my pants pocket. the rental camera wasn't properly setup for any pro battery or wirless so i kept the receiver in my pocket. walked away from the camera because things where in a big rush, and stepped away from the camera which I had put on a counter. just as I realized I should stop, it slid off the counter, hit a light stand ( combo stand ) and then the floor. at first I thought it has no damage.

then I saw the LCD in the VF was mis aligned. I figured no big deal, just take it apart and re-align it. then after a 1/2hr, I found the main LCD was also busted. the outer plastic had what looked like a bad gouge, but in fact it had cracked in 1/2, and the screen was shattered in the corner. it did continue to work. then... well then I saw something I should not of seen, the handle had broken off the body on the front of the houseing ! the handle is pretty thin material for the load it carries once you have a AB battery, wirless, matte box, ect.

I was very disappointed in how much damage the camera had for a 4ft fall that was not a direct hit onto the floor. that said, JVC charged me $950 for the repair and turned it in a week. I was expecting MUCH worse, and consider myself fortunate in the end I didn't total the thing. the good news is that the camera shot ok for the rest of the job so I'm pleased about that.


STeve Oakley

[Sal C. Martin]

Steve:
Yea, after the shock is over you just pay to get it fixed. $950 doesn't sound too bad. Do you think the Porta Brace products that fit over the cameras protect them somewhat?

[John Miller]

Originally Posted by Sal C. Martin

Do you think the Porta Brace products that fit over the cameras protect them somewhat?

If you mean this kind:

http://www.portabrace.com/product_detail_A.php?id=2235

(I have one for my PDX-10)

then no. It won't protect you from the kind of whallop your JVC suffered.