PD-150 went south today :(
 

Did a wedding today, camera worked fine for the entire ceremony. Packed the camera in its nice padded case and loaded it in the back of my Jeep, just like always. When I arrived at the reception, I got a blue screen when powering it on and the display kept prompting me to turn on the ND2 filter (indoors). The only way I could get an image on the screen or viewfinder was to crank up the gain to +15 dB, then I got a yellow-tinted image. Thank God I brought my little Panny 3-chip or I would have been up you-know-what creek w/o a paddle. I'll have to use it the entire day tomorrow.

Anyhow, I know about the recall on these cameras as seen here:

http://bssc.sel.sony.com/Broadcastan...odNotice.shtml

I'm praying this is covered. Anyone have to do this? How long might it take? Can I take it to a local authorized dealer or will I have to send it to Sony?

don't suppose you tried a reset all to factory settings?

leslie

(can't remember how you do it on a 150, but's it's been posted here quite often...)

Sony is a very standup company when it comes to warranty issues. Plus, what you describe does seem very much in line with the recall notice.

Your experience is an object lesson in always having a backup for everything on a money job.

I've heard about this "recall" before. I wonder if Sony will do preemptive repair. ALL my cameras are Sony and within the affected dates.

Sony says they will only repair cameras that have broken down - they will not do a preemptive repair. It's not really a recall, it's a settlement of a class-action lawsuit. From a page on Sony's support site:

IMPORTANT NOTE: To be eligible for this no-charge service, your product must be experiencing the distorted or blank image problem on the LCD screen as described above. Sony will not provide this no-charge repair for product that is not exhibiting this issue or that has failed due to the abuse, misuse, or neglect of the product after its original purchase at retail.

I'm calling them first thing Monday morning, and I'll definitely tell y'all about it. I'm booked every week for the rest of the month, so I guess I'll be borrowing one of the company's VX1000s for a while.

I have a female colleague who has a VX2000, and I called her this afternoon (I had a few hours downtime between the ceremony & reception) to tell her what happened and to warn her to start bringing a backup (and pray that if it breaks down, it's by Oct. '07!). Unfortunately, her only other cam is a crappy old Samsung, but if the choice is to shoot with that or miss the whole thing, I think I know what I'd do. Fortunately, that Panasonic 3-chip is a very good cam - it gives images that, while not exactly rivalling those of the big Sony, are quite acceptable. It's a perfect backup/secondary cam, and $600 well spent.

Link to the proposed lawsuit settlement:

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTE...galNotice#list

Link to a troubleshooting page that contains the above disclaimer:

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-i...EN&news_id=118

They told me my serial number does not qualify for the free repair. Buy gun, shoot self in head...

John, I noticed in the Wedding / Event Techniques forum you mentioned that it's "$575 down the drain." Is that the Sony flat rate for fixing your 150?

I recently had a problem with my VX2100, and the Sony flat rate was either exactly $575 or close to it. Anyway, based on a couple of strong recommendations from this forum, I sent the camera to Armatos rather than Sony. (The camera is out of warranty & I had never done business with Armatos before.) They fixed it for $195 with a 2-week turnaround between the day I shipped it until it was returned.

Dude, you rock! Unfortunately, since it's now 5:15 EST, I just missed being able to call them, but they'll be hearing from me in the morning. What did you have done to yours? It looks like I need a new CCD chip, and I'm going to have those flexible circuits fixed (a display problem it's had since I got it) and a good cleaning of the tape path.


Yes, Sony's flat rate for the 150 is $575. Pretty damn high, if you ask me...

John, my fix didn't require any parts -- only a realignment of the tape path and a check of all the innards 'cuz it fell. I guess just as a matter of routine, they threw in a cleaning & lube. Came back in perfect working order.

Before sending it in, I had no idea what it would cost. But, I figured it had to be lower than the Sony flat rate -- and it was by almost $400.

Here's hoping you're as lucky with your camera.

UPDATE: I sent it to Armato's per Tom's recommendation. It arrived on Monday, and just now, only 3 days later, they called to inform me it was done. They replaced the CCD & flexible circuits and gave it a cleaning. Total bill? Would you believe $295 (+ return shipping, $43 in my case)? That's just over half Sony's flat rate. Un-frickin'-believable. They've got a customer for life here.

Could someone post Armato's web page or phone number for future reference?

http://www.armatosvideo.com/

They're EXCELLENT. I live only a few minutes away and they've saved my rear several times.

If you buy your camera from them they'll give you a FREE loaner when it's in for repair.
http://www.armatosvideo.com/deusshow...D=1998&ID=4307

Having been in their stor a few times, it's a real mom & pop place. So down home friendly too!

Here's picture of the store.
http://www.armatosvideo.com/deusshow.asp?catID=1998

Had them overnight me the camera so I could use it this weekend - I used a loaner VX1000 last week and, even though it was the same cam I used to use before I got mine, I hated it. I forgot just how badly that thing ate batteries, and the image is rather grainy compared to the 150.

I don't think they actually had to replace anything - the work order states that they fixed several bad solder joints in the CCD's and the side screen, and cleaned/lubed/adjusted as needed, so it should function very well now. I seem to recall reading somewhere (might have been here) about bad solder joints in these cameras. I've powered it on and everything seems fine, but I'm going to do a little shooting at my nightclub tonight to give it a real test. Of course, the true test comes tomorrow - I'm confident, but that little Panasonic will be right there in my duffle bag.

Yeah Well
 

I dropped my VX2100 about 2 weeks ago. Saw my life pass before my eyes. Armato's is asking $640 to fix it. Apparently the whole lens mechanism needs to be replaced. THAT BITES!!! but, what do you do? I dropped it. Live and learn.
Bill

When my VX fell, what I saw was a bunch of hundred dollar bills with wings flying away.

My VX had a relatively soft landing. It was tripod mounted, outside, unattended, when this lone wind gust came out of nowhere & had just enough oomph to tip the whole outfit over. Fortunately, it fell on grass rather than a hard surface, but that was enough to throw the tape alignment off a hair.

Bill, in your case, the Sony flat rate would probably have been the lower charge. However, I think the Armatos techs will give your camera more personal attention than it would get at a service center.