[john key]

A colleague of mine has a Panasonic DV DS 65b camcorder she's having problems with. It will playback old tapes, but when she tries to record new stuff, it won't playback either thro' the viewfinder/screen, or when linked to the telly (just a blank screen, although the sound is there). One person, who wants to sell her a headcleaner for 25quid, has told her dirtyheads is the problem, while another has told her the camera needs servicing and probable repair, and this will start at 250quid ! My Sony DV manual states that a blank screen with sound might be caused by dirty heads, but thats as far as I know. Has anyone any ideas, suggestions or experience of this? Sorry if this has been covered in an earlier thread, but having just done a 12 hour night shift I don't have the inclination just at the moment to go thro' all the earlier stuff, and she needs the camcorder right asap as shes going to Florida next week !

[jaymac]

I'm sure you should get a solution on this site but just in case as speed is of the essence try www.camcorderinfo.com there are forums there dedicated to each brand

[klr10]

Is there an image on the lcd viewfinder while she is trying to record?
If there is then the problem could well be dirty heads.

If the screen is blank even when trying to record then it could well be a fault with the camera's CCD sensor which in some cases can be the subject of a free repair (not sure if this applies to that particular model).

[rickyt]

I'm not familiar with the Panasonic DV DS 65b camcorder , although I own a Panny nv-gs11 ,but on no circumstances would I spend £250 on a service bill when you could buy a reasonably good basic model new Panny for that price.Is it 8mm or DV tapes used ?? .Surely a head cleaner is cheaper than £25 and that's what I would try first.

[john key]

Many thanks for comments. I misunderstood when she described the problem, there is no picture at all in the viewfinder, so dirty heads is not the answer. It does sound like there is a problem with the CCD, and this is what she was quoted £250 for (by Jessops). She agrees there is no point spending this amount of money for what is now an old camera, and she leaves for America tomorrow, so shes decided to bite the bullet and buy a new one.