CCD ICU
[Sony, camcorder, recall]
For a recent trip to Ithaca and Boston, we dragged 2 digital cameras (including the new Sony DSC-W55) and a camcorder with us. The standard vacation drill is I am in charge of moving pictures and The Better Half handles the stills, but as the Sony camera was bought just before we left we hedged our bets and took along my aging but trusty Fuji FinePix A210.
All was well until I thought I would film the interior of the Cornell chapel (complete with pipe organ playing!) and discovered my viewfinder was black. No problem, I can switch to the flip-out side screen. Nope, still black. Had I somehow left the camera in a VCR-like mode when I was recording from our DVR? Fumble, fumble fumble with the on-screen menus (proving the viewfinder itself was not dead), nothing.
Trying not to swear (too much) in a church, I looked at the same menu choices over and over trying to see if maybe I had missed something. Nope. Disappointed I put the camera back in my bag and tried not to let it ruin our day (much).
Over lunch (at the Big Red Barn, yummy!) I fiddled with it a bit more – it played back scenes from New Year's and Christmas. It would record sound, just no picture. Decided it was a lost cause and mentally prepared myself to have to pay for a new one, weighing between a new Sony (should be able to reuse my larger battery) vs. anyone but Sony.
Later that day at the free PC with internet at the business center, I thought I would see if I was alone in having this problem and/or how much it would cost to get fixed. Well, turns out Sony had a problem with the CCDs in my model (and others) and was fixing them for free. Feeling a little better about the Sony corporation, I went back upstairs.
The UPS mailing label came yesterday so soon I will send it off and see what they say. Stay tuned!
For a recent trip to Ithaca and Boston, we dragged 2 digital cameras (including the new Sony DSC-W55) and a camcorder with us. The standard vacation drill is I am in charge of moving pictures and The Better Half handles the stills, but as the Sony camera was bought just before we left we hedged our bets and took along my aging but trusty Fuji FinePix A210.
All was well until I thought I would film the interior of the Cornell chapel (complete with pipe organ playing!) and discovered my viewfinder was black. No problem, I can switch to the flip-out side screen. Nope, still black. Had I somehow left the camera in a VCR-like mode when I was recording from our DVR? Fumble, fumble fumble with the on-screen menus (proving the viewfinder itself was not dead), nothing.
Trying not to swear (too much) in a church, I looked at the same menu choices over and over trying to see if maybe I had missed something. Nope. Disappointed I put the camera back in my bag and tried not to let it ruin our day (much).
Over lunch (at the Big Red Barn, yummy!) I fiddled with it a bit more – it played back scenes from New Year's and Christmas. It would record sound, just no picture. Decided it was a lost cause and mentally prepared myself to have to pay for a new one, weighing between a new Sony (should be able to reuse my larger battery) vs. anyone but Sony.
Later that day at the free PC with internet at the business center, I thought I would see if I was alone in having this problem and/or how much it would cost to get fixed. Well, turns out Sony had a problem with the CCDs in my model (and others) and was fixing them for free. Feeling a little better about the Sony corporation, I went back upstairs.
The UPS mailing label came yesterday so soon I will send it off and see what they say. Stay tuned!
posted by -idogcow at 1:19 PM
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