HDR-FX7 LCD not displaying video
 

new to the camera, but im trying to import video to adobe elements 8 and the tape is playing but the video is not displaying on the computer, and it isn't displaying on the LCD. when i rewind the tape while it's playing, the picture comes up on the LCD but does not display when playing. am i not importing this right?

The first time i downloaded the video it kept stopping every 5-7 minutes and i wanted 1 continuous video not 30 clips.

when i disconnected the camera, and just wanted to view the video nothing comes up on the LCD again.


any ideas?

Sounds like you have several issues here, all of which can probably be run down by reading the manual.

In terms of splitting scenes, Elements has scene detect turned on by default because that's a better way to capture and edit. But if you insist on importing one long clip only to have to slice it up again to edit:

Adobe Premiere Elements 8 * Split scenes by timecode or content change

In terms of previewing in Premiere while capturing, many NLEs can't do this with HDV. Is the capture screen blank or does it say "Playing on video hardware"? If the latter, that's the issue.

As far as capture stopping after a few minutes, read this:

Adobe Premiere Elements 8 * Capture footage using device control

and this (from a prior version but may be helpful):

Video capture stops unexpectedly (Premiere Elements 7)

As far as your FX7 not displaying on the LCD, no real way to know without looking at the cam. You might have a bad cable leading from the cam to the LCD. When you say "nothing comes up" on the cam's LCD, is the screen black or is it blue? And you do mean the flip-out LCD on the side, not the Viewfinder on the top, yes?

Is the cam brand new or used? If used, might need a cleaning and/or head adjustment. This description of video being visible in FF or REW mode but not during normal playback is often indicative of this. But if the screen is totally black, then the aforementioned ribbon cable in the LCD Hinge could be a goner. What happens when you connect the cam to a TV?

I've not seen it documented in a manual, (it might be)...

A couple years ago I discovered by accident that on many Sony prosumer cams, you can switch the LCD backlight off by leaning on the "Display" button for a few seconds. And switch it back on the same way.

With no backlight, you wouldn't see much image unless you had a strong light shining on the LCD.

Worth checking...

Was the tape you're playing back on the Z7 recorded by that camera? I suspect not. Is it DV (DVCAM, SP or LP), HDV or CF footage? You're sure the Firewire cable's ok? Do other tapes play/download to the pc ok? Tried a head cleaning tape? Or the reset button? When you film does the screen and v'finder work ok?

tom.

Seth, that's a great point. It's on p.22 of the manual, and it does give the appearance of being totally black when the Backlight is off -- only the merest image remains. I took Josh literally when he said "nothing" is on the screen, but it's possible it's just really dark.

Tom, I don't think there was any mention of a Z7 at all... But you bring up a great point. The symptoms point not only to the video being recorded on a different camera, but a different format as well. Which, of course, leads to another suspect, the dreaded VCR HDV/DV setting in the cam. But as we don't know if he's seeing blue or black, timecode or dashes or anything at all, we can only guess.

I guess we'll have to see if Josh comes back and answers all these very good questions.

OOps - Josh has an FX7 that I read as a Z7.
But it still suggests that he's replaying an HDV tape recorded on a Canon camera in his Sony (I've met exactly the same symptoms as he describes).

Thanks guys, im going to try what you guys suggested..

in Elements 8 when i play the video the time frames are counting..but when i try to "capture" if it is even trying to capture, the frame counter isn't.. sorry i hope this is making sense..

i've tried resetting it, when i turn the switch to camera, i the lcd viewfinder display shows up fine..

im using a firewire pc card do you think that's what's screwing things up cause i don't have any ports on the computer?

I think there's a limit to how much advice we can give at this point, without having more info. There have been some really good questions asked and the more you can answer, the more we can help.

You're not too far from me so if you want to pop down with the camera I'll be happy to take a look at it and give you a quick tutorial.

Now there's an offer. Josh 2 Posts, meet Adam 2698 Posts. Go for it. Wish I could tag along.

Tom, if you're ever in the Great Northwest I'll buy you a beer too.

I'll start packing, and get my coat.

sorry for such a late reply... as you guys probably figured i don't get on here a lot.. just tried to plug in the camera, just the blue screen with all the number counters are showing.. nothing again is showing up on the capture window.. sorry im not great at explaining the problem im pretty new to all of this..

Once again, Josh, buddy, if you can answer all the questions above, we can diagnose this in about five seconds. But unless and until you do, we're all at a dead end.

The generic answer, and I'm reasonably sure it's the correct one, is that you have a settings mismatch somewhere. But we're stuck there until we know more.

Less likely is that there's something wrong with the camera, but this is usually not the case with the symptoms you describe. But again, no way to know until you tell us more.

What Adam said. 'if you can answer all the questions above, we can diagnose this in about five seconds.'

Re: HDR-FX7 LCD not displaying video
 

Late again, but in case you're still following... I've already seen that. Damaged tape.
It happened to a friend of mine a couple of years back. He had a brand new Canon HV20, and took it on holiday. The first 2 1/2 tapes were perfect, until they once drove with their convertible in a bank of sand, which threw up a cloud of sand while he was filming. Some evidently got into the camera mechanism. He didn't notice or play back in the evening, but when he came back home he could read the tapes right until that moment. Everything after that was just a blue screen. Fast forward did show the preview, but normal speed was just blue screen with erratic/jumpy timecode. I tried his tape in my FX7, and it was just the same.

I've also had that once when playing back the tape from a rather old HDV cam (which could play its own tape fine). So, if you recorded that tape with your FX7 and it doesn't play back, either your tape is old/damaged, or you have a video head problem. You can try to run a cleaning tape and see if it improves.
If the tape was recorded by another camera, it can be that either of the cams has misajusted tape transport mechanism, misaligned heads, or the like that means it's too far off standard so that it can read its own tapes but is too far off to accept a correctly recorded one.