The dreaded Black Screen issue...let's try and fix it

[Mike Lewis]

Originally Posted by Daniel Nguyen

I mentioned in the other thread that I bought the Service Manual pdf for around $17. It has a lot of useful info but I didn't have time to try to fix it yet. I can share more if you'd like. Thanks.

Is there a picture of the disassembled camera? It would be great if you could extract it and put it up somewhere so we can have a look!

[Mike Lewis]

Originally Posted by Jacky Yew

anyone getting black screen problem, please look into the lens to check if the shutter is stuck. If you can see a little black hole (around 1-2mm diameter), that means it's open.
HD1's shutter would be completely closed when power off, opening in shooting mode.

I wondered why it clicked when you powered it up. I suppose it's a protection against leaving the camera pointing at the sun for hours. In my northern climes, it's probably unneccessary since we never see the sun!

[Ron Campbell]

My HD1 has just been struck with the black screen issue. I purchased it in April06 from Aamazon.com. I contacted Sanyo-Fisher and they gave me an address of a service center to send it too. The warranty is 90 days labor and 1 -year parts. I requested an increase in the labor warranty and was told it MAY be possible. The zoom of the lens is working fine. I will be sending it in next week so will keep all posted as to the results.
ciao Ron

[Chris Wells]

Hi Ron,

Sanyo fixed mine without hassle and it's worked flawlessly ever since. It's been 24 hours already.

Seriously, I don't know how reliable the repairs are yet, but I can tell you Sanyo was good about keeping me updated on the status of my camera. It took about a month to get back because parts had to be shipped in for it. Parts arrived Sept 1st and it was in my hands on the 8th. Pretty good considering it had to courier across Canada.

[Wayne Morellini]

Originally Posted by Daniel Nguyen

I mentioned in the other thread that I bought the Service Manual pdf for around $17. It has a lot of useful info but I didn't have time to try to fix it yet. I can share more if you'd like. Thanks.

Daniel,

Where did you buy it from, would not mind seeing one?

I am curious about a few things, component output for one, there should be some path in the camera that can be tapped. I wish i could remember what else.

Over at news we are looking at uncompressed HDMI capture card fro $250, and hooking at using component to HDMI adaptor with. Now compressed HD1, might just be worth the price.

Of note, saw Sanyo underwater enclosures recently, forget the brand.

[Daniel Nguyen]

Originally Posted by Wayne Morellini

Daniel,

Where did you buy it from, would not mind seeing one?

I am curious about a few things, component output for one, there should be some path in the camera that can be tapped. I wish i could remember what else.

Over at news we are looking at uncompressed HDMI capture card fro $250, and hooking at using component to HDMI adaptor with. Now compressed HD1, might just be worth the price.

Of note, saw Sanyo underwater enclosures recently, forget the brand.

Pls see attachment. I bought it from a Sanyo Support refered place. Thanks.

[Mike Lewis]

Thanks very much Daniel, when I see diagrams like the ones in your manual, it reminds me what an extraordinary state precision production engineering has reached!

[James Butler]

Much thatnks to Daniel!

Has anyone played with the DscCalDi.exe software discussed in the manual?

Thanks again!

[Wayne Morellini]

Originally Posted by Daniel Nguyen

Pls see attachment. I bought it from a Sanyo Support referred place. Thanks.

Stuff, I've posted a thread asking about the fix, and have only just found this thread again.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=77118

Daniel, how did it go? I'm curious about buying a secondhand black screen camera, when it gets worked out.

About the problem, now with a clearer head. Seems to be a number of possible things related directly to the lens.

ND filter:
Built in Neutral Density filter closed. Face to sun behind foreground objects, can anything be seen. Shutter and iris should still adjust brightness and depth of field.

Iris:
Iris closed down, try iris control to see if it can free up. Face to sun again, can anything be seen, what depth of field (long) adjust shutter to see if not.

Shutter:
Shutter closed (should have electronic shutter instead of mechanical, but maybe has a closable light blocking system to protect CCD while not in use) try shutter controls. Face to sun, if anything can be seen, test depth of field with iris control.

Lens loose:
Lens is loose and facing wrong direction. Face sun, some light should. be seen incorrect image, probably just blurry patch of light or grayish black screen (cover lens to test if different shade of black).

+ The other CCD mounting/connections mentioned above.


Interesting solution:

Apart from fixing the lens so that it just doesn't happen, what about. Replacing lens with SLR, 16mm, Super 8, or high grade electronic controlled security lens. Most of these lens would require a special triplet condenser, which certain optics suppliers will give free advice on which lens. The security lens aren't that good, but the electronics might be adaptable to the existing system.

As it is, I did read about a certain Canon lens adaptor for the XL1s, that has condenser built in (1/3inch, not quiet big enough).

Such a hack and whack on SLR lens conversion has been done before for the Sony Z1/FX1 (cannot find related links or thread at the moment).

Add a good variable density filter to control exposure.


Altogether not worth it for the camera, unless you want to ( or can record from CCD). This is all the sort of stuff you don't do unless you know what you are doing, are good at it (even trying to keep track of screws from a camera, and electronic trips is a nightmare) and you have no option but to throw camera anyway.


Thanks

Wayne.

[Mike Lewis]

Originally Posted by Wayne Morellini

Stuff, I've posted a thread asking about the fix, and have only just found this thread again.

Shutter:
Shutter closed (should have electronic shutter instead of mechanical, but maybe has a closable light blocking system to protect CCD while not in use) try shutter controls. Face to sun, if anything can be seen, test depth of field with iris control.

I believe this was probably the issue. Looking into the lens, when you shut down and power the camera up, the little click you hear is when a shutter can be seen closing or opening over the ccd. Mine has so far had no probs.

[Milan Stojakovic]

My HD1, after about 400 stills, started in July to burn out all exterior stills. I understood that with manual settings, "ND on" the problem has been corrected, while for movies it was better to set on "P". In September, after one short time black screen on power-on, I sent my HD1 to the Italian service center and they replaced the lens assembly in about two weeks. Sanyo support (Germany) explained me that both the problems had the same origin.
In the past, I had the C1 and it was perfect. Now I have hours of HD clips, the picture is perfect on my PC screen (1280x768) as well as on LCD TV Samsung (1366x768) using component connection.
That's all, Folks
MS

[Wayne Morellini]

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

I believe this was probably the issue. Looking into the lens, when you shut down and power the camera up, the little click you hear is when a shutter can be seen closing or opening over the ccd. Mine has so far had no probs.

Mike and Milan, interesting. I suppose the test is to examining this on a black screen camera, that it looks the same as the closed mechanisms on the normal camera. If anybody could verify, or share shots of this lens.

Does it still click when it comes on with a black screen?

Milan, thanks for that, it looks confusing. I would not have expected the two issues to have the same direct cause. If an ND filter then you should get something from strong light. It would sound more like an Iris thing, but then I would not expect the click.

An interesting solution:
Assuming it is some power down block out shutter sticking, there is a possibility to get it to open. If the clicking is metallic in origin, the mechanism might be metallic and an powerful magnet might effect it. Rare Earth based magnetics can be very powerful and have large fields. This is also hazardous, moving a very powerful magnet around the camera (i.e waving it around) could induce electrical currents that could damage the camera, bend mechanisms etc. Also letting them "fly" together can cause damage to your fingers and smash them. I have some large ones here (3cm long) and I would not suggest using them. So, a smaller button (even mini button) like rare earth magnet might still work. They might be available from speciality and electronics stores.

Once again, potentially hazardous for your camera, and not worth testing unless you were going to toss the non working camera anyway.


Thanks

Wayne.

[Milan Stojakovic]

I revert back to two aspects of the black screen issue on my Xacti HD1: the noise (click) during bed operation was that you can hear when turning ON and OFF the ND filter manually. That’s why I believe that, in my case the ND filter and not the shutter, caused the problem. It is not easy to get the correct idea about that from drawings included in the Service Manual. Some assemblies (as focusing unit, ND filter and shutter) are not clearly drawn. As I have no experiences with other units (my equipment never required dismounting!), I can’t imagine how they operate.
Having my HD1 back with new lens assembly, last week I had the opportunity to test it in very good lighting conditions. So, while the colours and lights are perfect, I had a new surprise: it is not possible to adjust focus of distant objects (> 5 - 10 meters to infinity) when the zoom is set to TELE. I sent e-mails to Sanyo Support and to the Service Centre and hope to read some news soon.
The question is: bad assembling or bad tuning?
The answer in one of the next visit.
Milan

[James Harrison-Bodle]

Well I finally took my HD1 in to get repaired yesterday at my expense. It is going to cost £88 to get it fixed - once they give it back to me i'll ask what had failed in it.

[James Harrison-Bodle]

Well I got my camera back - they rebuilt the optical block and fixed some dry solder joints.