Camera turning off and on upon starting!
 

Hi all,

I have a friend, who will soon be a member, who has a problem with his FX-1. He sent it off to a company to have an underwater housing fitted for it, and when he got it back it had a strange problem.

When he turns it on it will cycle on and off several times and then finally stay on.

Anyone have similar problems or know what this is?

Thanks in advance----Mike

Wow... I've never had that problem, nor have I heard of it before...

Sounds like your friend's cam got messed up... Sorry man...

I couldn't imagine how MAD I would be!

He is in NC right now, and will have to get home to check serial numbers to make sure it is even his own camera, but ya----he is not happy. Got the basic response form Sony----For $580.00++++ dollars we will check it out-----!!

Thanks for your reply

I remember hearing about a similar problem someone was having when using a LANC controller. Is that the case with him?

Does the battery "minutes to go" numbers on the LCD screen change for the better a few seconds after it finally switches on and settles down? Maybe try another fresh battery and see if that helps and check the connecting pins for scunge.

Is the battery Sony or non-genuine?

Is he powering up the camera from the mains power supply without a battery already in the camcorder? "No battery in place" is not really recommended.

If there are any mains power fluctuations or sudden current draws by the camera as in switch on and boot up, the battery will help even them out and maybe soak up some surges.

I doubt the shop would have done a swimming test with his camera in the housing, however extra-curricular recreational usage doubling as a test???

Wrap some coloured paper serviettes tightly around the lens barrel control rings and the seams along the tripod base, with elastic bands, remove the battery and stuff a serviette into the lower battery enclosure.

Then give the camera a good shake up and agitation, let it stand for 30 minutes or so, then inspect to see if any moisture has wicked out into the paper from the joints. Also check the tape bay to see if anything has splashed up.

Possibly LANC issue
 

Yeah, that was me with the LANC issue - I posted the update at that time. It was a defective new camera, B&H replaced it so I'm now happy. It was turning right off when the LANC was connected, but did not stay even after several attempts.

I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago - when I was trying to get my Mac to recognise the camera (it normally recognised it OK).

Problem was, it got rapidly worse and I had to send the camera back to Sony. It was back inside seven days though - been perfect ever since.

Andy

Andy,

Did they say what was wrong with it? Thanks for the reply.

Mike

No - sorry.
Not a word.

Andy

A few years ago I made the mistake of continuing to film and outdoor even after it started raining!
Later, when I was back in my studio, my camera began to have a life of its own. It would suddenly switch itself on! When I tried to switch on it wasn't interested. etc etc.
The diagnosis was moisture in the camera! (Not so surprising really)

I suspect that Bob may have hit on the reason for the problem.

The logical follow up might be that on the way to the service station the camera "dried out" and in fact they could not find any fault when it arrived.

Glad to hear all is back and working again,

Douglas (not the famous one...... just the one in Japan)

I'm glad other people have had this problem, because I've had this problem two fridays ago. It clicked on, it made the beeping noise like it does the battery has run out and then just clicked off. And plugged into the wall into the wall!

Could it be humidity? I have nothing to base this on other than it was foggy the morning of the shoot.

I just sent my Z1 back to Sony, it is only 6 months old so they took back no questions asked. Still waiting for it to return.

I'm sure the problem with mine wasn't moisture.

Andy