Head Cleaning on brand new 953
 

I just got my 953 and got prompted in the LCD to clean the head after using it for only 15 minutes. The message went away after I turned the CAM off and on again. Is this normal ? If not, please let me know if I should return it to the Vendor who only has a 15 day return policy.
Thanks in advance for your help,

I was using a Fuji tape and it was my first tape and I got the message 15 minutes into shooting.
I'll check again this evening and then call the vendor to return it.

It shouldn't do that. That's a good idea about returning it right away. Maybe someone used this cam as a demo, before selling it to you, and the heads gummed when you put in the Fuji---because they most likely used a different brand of tape, or there's something wrong with the cam. Either way, return it.

same here
 

Mine did the same thing after only 1 week, it was horrible. I was using sony tapes and when it gave me the message, I went and got a head cleaner but it was so bad that I had to get it sent away to pana and they replaced the heads...thank god...

How long did it take for Pana to replace the heads?

Well, my MX350 is in the hospital for about 2 weeks already, probably changing the LCD and the head.

Roughly how many head hours did you put on your MX350 before it got sick?

I am pretty sure that the number of head hours is beyond the standard range :)

I have run through 100+ tapes of at least 45 minutes used. Of those tapes, I have edited on the cam for about 50% of the tapes.

In addition, sometime during shoots, I'll do quick rewinds and forwards for checks.

Lastly, I also playback from the camera (better than VCD or DVD!).

All in all, I'll say about 300+ hours minimum (Panasonic told me they can't pull the actual tape hours from the cam, only the pro stuff like the DVX100 records the total tape hours, it seems). And these 300 hours recorded in less than 1 year!

Pity the guy who buys this cam from me second-hand... ;)

That's a lot of use! my 2nd MX300A still has under 2 hours on it. But with my DVL9500s---well that's another story.