excessive vibration coming from tape transport
 

Over the last week or two I've noticed a "buzzing" vibration when there's a tape in my GL2 (in camera mode). I first discovered it when I felt it in the handle on my tripod. It's like the slight noise that you usually hear from the transport, but I can't say I've ever noticed being able to feel it on the camera before. I still need to confirm that it's getting into the on-board mic, and I'm really hoping it's not a sign of a dying transport. For what it's worth, I got the "dirty heads" message several weeks ago. I ran a tape cleaner immediately after seeing the error, but I could try again now. Aside from the vibration everything seems to be fully functional.

The camera is just over a year old (standard warranty is one year, right?).

Anybody have any ideas? My apologies if this has already been posted on this board somewhere -- I couldn't find it.

Thanks!!!

Jeremy

The question is, do you feel the vibration in camera mode only or also in VCR mode?

I would think at an unbalance of the head drum, it's the only part that rotates really fast (9000 rpm).

Good question -- I haven't checked that yet, but as far as I can tell it's when the transport is running (either REC or PAUSE mode). It seems somewhat dependent on how I tilt the camera. For example, if I hold it sideways with the transport side facing the ground, it seems more noticeable than with the LCD on the bottom (I can feel it on my hand slightly when holding it by the strap on the side).

I shot some footage over the weekend with the onboard mic, so I'll check that to see if I can hear any motor noise. I know there was always some noise there, but I'm just wondering if it's any louder now. The sound/feeling is more of a low-frequency hum (not AC though!).

It may be nothing to worry about -- I was just wondering if anybody else had noticed anything like it.

I have the same issue. It isn't so loud, and it isn't even so bad that it makes me think something is wrong, but it definitely is dependent on the angle of the camera, and if I shake it a little. I though for a moment that it might be the motors for the billows on the image stabilizer. It seems erratic.

I'm pretty sure it's not the OIS system (as I've determined that it makes a different, more random sound). Again, it may be nothing, but it just surprised me when I first noticed it. Maybe tilting the camera has always had that effect, and I just never picked up on it before.

Actually, the sound you're hearing by "shaking" the camera probably is the optical image stabilizer. Try turning stabilization off, wait a few seconds for it to settle down, and try again. The sound shouldn't be there anymore (if that is what you're hearing).

The fact that I'm hearing every single noise the camera makes probably means that I'm just overreacting. I shouldn't be too worried about sound as I use an external mic most of the time. I just wanted to make sure something wasn't going wrong with my tape transport.

It seems to me that I read a post not so long ago about some GL2s making more noise than others. Like depending on the year or time of manufacture. Some people were trying to do some comparisons. Maybe do a search for that thread.