Video Camera Problems

[Mikey Gribble]

I have a Sony VX2100 I got in 2005. Over the last year or so I've noticed that the video quality has dropped off dramatically. When I watch the tapes of my storm footage you can see lines on objects in the video (especially when there is movement, like me turning the camera). It's like the pixels just form up into lines of the same color. It's kind of hard to explain. I would post some video, but I'm having trouble publishing to my website right now. I don't know if I'm just screwed and it's time to get a new camera or if this is something that can be fixed. Has anybody else ever had this problem or know what it might be?

 

[fplowman]

Have you ever had the deck cleaned? I mean professionally and not one of those abrasive tapes. How many hours do you have on the heads?

Fred

 

[Mikey Gribble]

I've never had it cleaned. It is exposed to a ton of dust and dirt too because I don't keep it in a bag when I'm out chasing. I usually just set it on the seat next to me for easy access.

 

[John Diel]

I'll go with Fred on this one. The recording heads are the most likely culprit and the way it sounds, they are in dire need of cleaning. As old as the camera is and the use it gets and lack of adequate storage, etc. also lend to the problem.

Time to take it to the shop and let them do a real cleaning job on it.

 

[Hank Baker]

If you send this to Sony repair they have a set fee of around $ 450.00 I cant remember if its 425.00 or 495.00, which basiclly includes refurbing everything back to new.
There were some bad CCD,s that were recalled on a large number of certain modles and Sony is repairing those for Free... No charge.

 

[Mikey Gribble]

Thanks for the help. I'll get it cleaned and see if that fixes it. I figured that might be the problem.

 

[Sheila_Ward]

This doesn't sound like your problem, but thought I would throw out the link. This is the recall Hank mentioned:

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/news-item.pl?news_id=161&mdl=DCRVX2100

I recently had the "no picture" problem with the TRV19 I use as a dash cam. Sent it in and Sony repaired/returned within a week, no charge. This is good info for all Sony camcorder owners to be aware of since it covers several model numbers. The only kicker is you must be experiencing the problem for them to replace the sensor (no preventive maintenance).