VF on HM700
 

Hey all you HM700 owners out there! As some of you may know I recently got a great 700. I know the previous owner and he took great care of the camera and with the 17x lens it's got what I wanted.
I do however have a question and am hoping someone can give me some information.
The VF appears to have a film on 1 side of the eyepiece. It's hard to describe but think of it as having a screen protector on the mirror or the VF eyepiece glass (but there isn't on the glass). Nothing n the lens, nothing behind the lens and the LCD shows nothing. Only shows in the VF which leads me to think it's something on the mirror. Here's the question, there doesn't appear to be anyway to clean the inards of the VF. The diopter tube doesn't come off at least without breaking it and of course I don't want to do that.
Any ideas anyone. All information is appreciated.
BTW, my friend also noticed it and basically worked around it as can I but it does bother me a bit (I'm one of those guys) so I'd like to take care of it without having to resort to taking the camera to JVC service center and spending the money. It doesn't bother THAT much! ;-)
Thanks

Re: VF on HM700
 

Hi Don, my 700 had the same film, and I figured out how to take the diopter off and clean it. Extend the diopter and flip the viewfinder over, on the bottom of the focus adjustment ring you'll see a small hole(see picture), insert something like a nail punch or tiny screwdriver to push the release button and turn the diopter counter clockwise to release it. Now you can clean both sides of the diopter. Be careful, the lens is made of plastic as far as I can tell.

Scott

Re: VF on HM700
 

Scott,
Thanks a million for the information. Whoda thought? I would still like it better if JVC had used a VF like the old 116, big, bright, easy to clean...but I guess technology has advanced. ;-)
Anyway thanks again for the tip, I'm about to go take my VF apart.

Re: VF on HM700
 

Don, another issue I had(twice) with my viewfinder was more serious. On the LCOS chip itself a layer(silicon?) began to seperate from the chip at the corner. This happened twice! Fortunately it was covered under warranty. The seperation seemed to occur after using the camera out in the cold...which makes me nervous now.

Can you take a picture of what you're seeing?

Scott

Re: VF on HM700
 

Scott,
I took the eyepiece off, cleaned it and the 'discoloration' for lack of a better term is still there, but now that you mentioned the layer peeling off, I'm wondering if in fact that's the case. I don't see it in the LCD just the VF so it does make me wonder. I can't think of a way to take a picture since it shows in the VF and as small as it is it might be near impossible to photograph it but I'll give it a shot. My friend that I got the camera from has the VF from his old HD100 and is sending it to me so I can try just eyepiece. that's all I need. that way I have something to judge it by. IF it doesn't work then I guess I'm off to JVC in Aurora (the service center is about 35 miles from my house) to see what they can do for me. I'll see if I can get a pic somehow.
Again thanks for the info.

Re: VF on HM700
 

Here is a picture of my vf issue from a couple of years ago. The LCOS chip assembly had to be replaced.

Re: VF on HM700
 

Scott, again thanks for the pic. Mine doesn't look like that. It's hard to describe but it's definately more than dirt somewhere in the system. AAMOF, now that I cleaned it, there's more dirt in there than before. Go figure. Anyway after a very careful inspection with another magnifing glass, it would appear that there is dirt and a film on the inside of the eyepiece glass which as you know is plastic and the way it's installed it doesn't appear to be a way to remove, clean and replace so that's why I'm going to try the VF or at least the eyepiece from the HD100 to see if I can trace back where the junk is hiding and if the VF or eyepiece from the other cam fixes it, great. If not then it's off to JVC. At least it's close and I can carry my camera in there instead of (gulp) sending thru a delivery service.
My buddy is going to get the VF to me next week so I'll try it then. Until then luckily it doesn't affect either the workings of the VF or appear anywhere on the footage so I'm still able to use the camera as it was meant to be used. To make some money! ;-)
I'll let you know how this works out and again thanks for all the helpful information!

Re: VF on HM700
 

Hey Scott,
I thought I'd give you an update to my VF challenge.
Well, I went to the JVC service center in Aurora Il. about an hour drive from my house. I pulled into the lot and lo and behold, they're GONE! I had called and got caught in the dreaded phone loop a couple of days earlier, I had googled the service center and every piece of info led me to believe they were still there. Oh well, I wanted to go for a nice ride in the rain anyway.
Long story short, I took the camera into the guy who has been taking care of my Sonys for a while now and come to find out not only is he an authorized Song repair guy but also JVC. So I showed him the problem, he looked at the service manual, the price list and his crystal ball, figured out the problem and the very fair price and now the part is on order. While neither he nor I saw it listed as the LCOS chip assembly, it was listed as the LCD (schematics showed it in the VF so I know it's the right LCD) and when looking at the part in my camera's VF (as we all know these VF's aren't real VF but mini LCD screens with a magnifier) we could see the "film" for lack of a better term that seems to be causing the problem. Part ordered, as soon as it comes in he RnR it and that should settle the situation. The best thing is, is that the part is a bit under $200 which to me is cheap at twice the price. I though it might be upwards of $800 or more.
As soon as it's done, I'll give you an update.
Thanks again for the info. It has become the route to my road to happiness! ;-)

Re: VF on HM700
 

Hi Don,

I hope it doesn't take too long to get the part, I'll look forward to your report!

Scott

Re: VF on HM700
 

I know this may be a bot of topic bit still has to do with the VF, except that on a 710. Does anyone where i can get a replacement assembly for Slide Lock Ring?

Mine seems to have fallen off completely off while on a outdoor shoot and well all I have now is a viewfinder but no way to attach it with...

Re: VF on HM700
 

I'm trying to understand exactly what part it is that fell off and how that happened but regardless...It seems that pretty much any part you need of that nature needs to come from JVC. In order to order it you'll need the actual part number and in order to get that you'll need to get a hold on a service manual. It can be downloaded but I'm sure there is a cost to that. the other option of course is to find an authorized JVC repair shop (I'll assume the camera is out of warranty and this doesn't sound like a warranty issue anyway) and have them look up the part number and order it for you.

Re: VF on HM700
 

Attached are pictures so you can have an idea of what I'm missing. Basically it's the entire assembly that attaches the viewfinder to the camera body.

I tried looking at the manuals but JVC only refers to it as the "Slide Lock Ring" and it doesn't go into detail about that part. Already sent them an email and will try to contact the sales rep that deals with my TV Station to see if he can help me out...

Re: VF on HM700
 

Wow, I've never seen that happen before. The system was pretty much the same on the old HD series and held up well and honestly I have never ever seen or heard of this happening on that series or the HM series.
I hope it's something that you can repair with breaking the bank.

Re: VF on HM700
 

Received a reply from JVC Support, they sent me a PDF with ALL the part #'s...already replied with the ones I need for a quote.

Hopefully it doesn't break the bank.

As far as the viewfinder it started coming loose a couple months ago and about couple of weeks back I had to tighten it.

Re: VF on HM700
 

It's been my experience with JVC that they're pretty quick. The only thing I can tell you is be gentle when you lock down the VF after you get it fixed. I don't even tighten it at all. I pull my camera from the bag, turn it on, slide the VF out to the left, put the camera on my shoulder and go. when I finish, I slide the VF to the right (to fit into my bag) power down, into the bag and off I go. Like I said many times I don't even lock the VF in place.