Aack!! More dropouts on new DVX100 at DVinfo.net

Peter Richardson · June 23rd, 2003, 05:10 PM

Hey guys--Some of you may be familiar with the dropouts I was having a couple weeks ago on my DVX100. For those of you who weren't, a quick bio. Bought the cam nearly two months ago, have been using ONLY Panasonic Master Quality tapes, have recorded about 30 hours of footage so far for a documentary. And guess what...yesterday I'm reviewing footage I shot in a car and there are more dropouts!!!! This is obviously totally unacceptable. Don't get me wrong, I am the biggest fan of this camera I know, but this is ridiculous! I've tried running head cleaners...everything. But still these intermittent droupouts (I watched about 20 minutes of this tape and saw two dropouts). This is serious stuff b/c it's a doc and I need these quotes. Anyway, I'm thinking about calling Pansonic, but I know they'll just tell me to send in my cam for a fix but meanwhile a month has gone passed and my doc starts getting behind schedule. Does anyone have any knowledge of this, experience or possible solutions. Needless to say I'm a little perplexed. My only guess is the jarring from the car might have caused the dropout, but I have had other dropouts when the cam was on a tripod. Anyway, any help would be much appreciated.

Peter

Peter Richardson · June 23rd, 2003, 05:13 PM

and by help I mean any way to get panasonic to fix this pronto, or send me a replacement camera, or fix this myself?

Stephen van Vuuren · June 23rd, 2003, 05:18 PM

Don't overuse headcleaners - that puts needless wear and tear on your heads.

Nope, dropouts like that don't sound normal. I assume you've played the tape in another device to be sure you don't have a playback problem/glitch and the dropouts are actually on the tapes in question...

Ken Tanaka · June 23rd, 2003, 08:19 PM

Sorry to hear that you are still having trouble with your new camea, Peter.

You've probably had the camera too long to approach you dealer for a replacement. So, at this point, Panasonic's service is probably your only remedy.

Peter Richardson · June 24th, 2003, 02:53 PM

Thanks for the advice guys. I haven't checked the tapes yet, Stephen, but I will do that. The reason I think it's on the tape and not just the camera is it has the glitch every time in the same place, so it looks like it was recorded that way. I think what I'll probably do is just go through all the tapes, see how bad the dropouts are, and possibly send it to Panasonic for replacement before I record anything else.

Thanks for the suggestion and sympathy Ken. The place I bought from , SamysDV in Los Angeles, has a no returns policy, so I'm definitely stuck with the camera. Also, I'm in Oregon now shooting, so it woudl be tough to return anyway.

Stephen: I've probably run the head cleaner through the camera 5 or 6 times. Is this excessive? I'm wondering how often I should/can run it without incurring excessive head wear. Thanks!

peter

Stephen van Vuuren · June 24th, 2003, 03:15 PM

I generally only run a headcleaner when I have to use a different formulation (typically in my editing deck, my cam only gets one type of tape). I never cleaned the heads in my XL1 (60+ hours), never had a dropout problem either.

I've run a head cleaner twice on my editing deck (25-30 hours record, several hundred playback) when I edited projects for other filmmakers.

Headcleaners are abrasive, regardless of the kind, so generally you only run them when you have a problem or change formulations. It's not really a preventative maintenence item in my view, more of curative measure.

Peter Richardson · June 24th, 2003, 03:21 PM

Thanks Stephen. I'm definitely trying to keep from running the cleaner for the same reasons, why run it if you don't have to. Unfortunately,with the way this camera is performing I've had to. But it sounds like the issues I'm having are not related to dirty heads, so I don't see myself running it anymore, regardless, just wanted to make sure I haven't damaged it already with the amount of headcleaning I've done.

Peter

Frank Granovski · June 24th, 2003, 03:28 PM

I would certainly contact Panasonic regarding these dropouts. I've had the odd "drop-out" with cams, someones a whole heap of them, but I've never noticed any with the Pana MX300s. (I shoot about 20 hours with my 1st MX300, and I too only used Panasonic tapes in that cam.)

June 23rd, 2003, 05:10 PM	#1
Peter Richardson Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 608	Aack!! More dropouts on new DVX100 Hey guys--Some of you may be familiar with the dropouts I was having a couple weeks ago on my DVX100. For those of you who weren't, a quick bio. Bought the cam nearly two months ago, have been using ONLY Panasonic Master Quality tapes, have recorded about 30 hours of footage so far for a documentary. And guess what...yesterday I'm reviewing footage I shot in a car and there are more dropouts!!!! This is obviously totally unacceptable. Don't get me wrong, I am the biggest fan of this camera I know, but this is ridiculous! I've tried running head cleaners...everything. But still these intermittent droupouts (I watched about 20 minutes of this tape and saw two dropouts). This is serious stuff b/c it's a doc and I need these quotes. Anyway, I'm thinking about calling Pansonic, but I know they'll just tell me to send in my cam for a fix but meanwhile a month has gone passed and my doc starts getting behind schedule. Does anyone have any knowledge of this, experience or possible solutions. Needless to say I'm a little perplexed. My only guess is the jarring from the car might have caused the dropout, but I have had other dropouts when the cam was on a tripod. Anyway, any help would be much appreciated. Peter

June 23rd, 2003, 05:18 PM	#3
Stephen van Vuuren Space Hipster Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Greensboro, NC Posts: 1,508	Don't overuse headcleaners - that puts needless wear and tear on your heads. Nope, dropouts like that don't sound normal. I assume you've played the tape in another device to be sure you don't have a playback problem/glitch and the dropouts are actually on the tapes in question... __________________ stephen v2 www.insaturnsrings.com

June 23rd, 2003, 08:19 PM	#4
Ken Tanaka Retired DV Info Net Almunus Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,943	Sorry to hear that you are still having trouble with your new camea, Peter. You've probably had the camera too long to approach you dealer for a replacement. So, at this point, Panasonic's service is probably your only remedy. __________________ Lady X Films: A lady with a boring wardrobe...and a global mission. Hey, you don't have enough stuff! Buy with confidence from our sponsors. Hand-picked as the best in the business...Really! See some of my work one frame at a time: www.KenTanaka.com

June 24th, 2003, 03:15 PM	#6
Stephen van Vuuren Space Hipster Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Greensboro, NC Posts: 1,508	I generally only run a headcleaner when I have to use a different formulation (typically in my editing deck, my cam only gets one type of tape). I never cleaned the heads in my XL1 (60+ hours), never had a dropout problem either. I've run a head cleaner twice on my editing deck (25-30 hours record, several hundred playback) when I edited projects for other filmmakers. Headcleaners are abrasive, regardless of the kind, so generally you only run them when you have a problem or change formulations. It's not really a preventative maintenence item in my view, more of curative measure. __________________ stephen v2 www.insaturnsrings.com

June 23rd, 2003, 05:13 PM	#2
Peter Richardson Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 608	and by help I mean any way to get panasonic to fix this pronto, or send me a replacement camera, or fix this myself?

June 24th, 2003, 02:53 PM	#5
Peter Richardson Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 608	Thanks for the advice guys. I haven't checked the tapes yet, Stephen, but I will do that. The reason I think it's on the tape and not just the camera is it has the glitch every time in the same place, so it looks like it was recorded that way. I think what I'll probably do is just go through all the tapes, see how bad the dropouts are, and possibly send it to Panasonic for replacement before I record anything else. Thanks for the suggestion and sympathy Ken. The place I bought from , SamysDV in Los Angeles, has a no returns policy, so I'm definitely stuck with the camera. Also, I'm in Oregon now shooting, so it woudl be tough to return anyway. Stephen: I've probably run the head cleaner through the camera 5 or 6 times. Is this excessive? I'm wondering how often I should/can run it without incurring excessive head wear. Thanks! peter

June 24th, 2003, 03:21 PM	#7
Peter Richardson Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 608	Thanks Stephen. I'm definitely trying to keep from running the cleaner for the same reasons, why run it if you don't have to. Unfortunately,with the way this camera is performing I've had to. But it sounds like the issues I'm having are not related to dirty heads, so I don't see myself running it anymore, regardless, just wanted to make sure I haven't damaged it already with the amount of headcleaning I've done. Peter

June 24th, 2003, 03:28 PM	#8
Frank Granovski Outer Circle Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hope, BC Posts: 7,524	I would certainly contact Panasonic regarding these dropouts. I've had the odd "drop-out" with cams, someones a whole heap of them, but I've never noticed any with the Pana MX300s. (I shoot about 20 hours with my 1st MX300, and I too only used Panasonic tapes in that cam.)