Z1 Dead Again ... Can I manually eject tape?

[Nick Hope]

13 months ago I killed my Z1 by getting a drop of sea water down one of the screw holes near the shot transition buttons. That resulted in a USD1000 repair (new main board and power supply etc.) but since then it's given a year of great service.

A couple of months ago I started getting C:31:22 errors (T Reel Fault), typically when I'd recorded to the end of a tape, removed it, and then inserted it again. Should have had it looked at but didn't.

Today, on the 4th day of a hotel promo shoot I reinserted a tape that had previously been partially recorded and the END SEARCH function refused to work, and it gave me a C:31:42 error (Drum FG Fault). I tried a brand new tape and all was OK again for an hour or two more shooting.

Then suddenly the camera totally died with a tape stuck inside it. No life whatsoever with any battery or power supply installed, and the tape is stuck inside. The "HDV", "DV" and "Shot transition" LEDs blink repeatedly when a battery is installed.

So the camera is off to Sony service again on Thursday.

Anyone know if it's possible to manually eject a cassette so I can send it to the producer before the camera goes into service? If so, how to do it?

Thanks

[Simon Battell]

Affraid the only way to eject the tape is...


http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...nual+eject+fx1