PD170 audio dropoutprogresses to zero audio

[Bob Hart]

If the lube in the load-in - load-out mechanism is dry and jammy, if the guide arms go in all the way on a warm day but bind on a cool day, if accummulated dry lube and environmental scunge has built up at the end of travel of the load-in component movements, - with all this in mind, you decide to save loading the new tape until just before the shoot when the camera is warm and the lube may become soft enough to slip, - yes you could have a lucky day.

Turning the camera upside-down when loading in the new tape, giving it a gentle shake during load-in while you pirouette clockwise, yes, you could have a lucky day.

Stamping crop circles into the ground and howling at the full moon the night before going out on a job where you need camera reliability might even help.

In case anyone thinks I am making serious suggestions above, please read below.

One thing you can be sure of. The longer you keep on using a camera with dried out lube, the more deeply, any dust and grit will become embedded in nylon rubbing surfaces and bearings instead of being swept off or remaining suspended in the lube which may require their replacement.

----------- If there is any doubt and you need to camera to be reliable as an earner, have the camera serviced.

If you do not have confidence in your local service centre, follow the advice already given here by others and submit the camera to one of the recommended centres.

Life is a gamble and the service centre may be a dud. Chances are, that if it is a certified Sony outfit, they will get it right.

Give them the knowledge that they came recommended on dvinfo forum discussion. Who knows, they might even become a sponsor as a result. This should be stimulus enough for them to get it right lest your misfortune if they get it wrong and consequently their new reputation, be widely propogated across the land, indeed the world by the same means.

Being wordy and pedantic is a vice. Please forgive me for it.