Worth paying out to get camcorder repaired?

jbaker · 16-01-2007, 1:05 PM

I have a Sony minidv camcorder (I forget the model number as I'm at work!)), cost me about £500 three years ago, which is playing up. It only had a 12 month warranty...
Both the LCD and viewfinder are blank when I set it to 'camera' and try to film with it. It does record sound tho'.
However, it can play back recorded tapes fine on the LCD and viewfinder.
I recently damaged the 'dv out' input using the wrong type of lead. Could this be the cause?
My local camera shop quoted a ball-park figure of £150-£180 to repair it. Is it worth it as I'm thinking of upgrading in the next few months to a High Def camcorder. Would it fetch much second hand?
I was tempted to claim for accidental damage on my
household insurance policy but there's a £100 excess to pay, plus increased premiums next year...
Do these things sell even when damaged...maybe someone will buy it to cannabalise the parts?
I'd hate to just bin it...

Any advice welcome,
Thanks
Jono

redsox_mark · 16-01-2007, 1:17 PM

It's probably not worth repairing. DV camcorder prices have dropped in the past 3 years, so can probably get a similar quality replacement for £200 or so (could answer more accuratly with your model number).
Resale value on used camcorders isn't very high.. for broken used camcorders would be very low.

jbaker · 16-01-2007, 1:34 PM

I think it is this one...the DCR-TRV22...

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content...der_review.htm

redsox_mark · 16-01-2007, 1:46 PM

That camcorder has DV and AV input, which in the Sony range you dont' get until you go to the HC96 (£400 ish). But the Canon MVX460 (approx £320) or MV960 (~£240) should give you similar quality and features.

felix2 · 16-01-2007, 4:48 PM

Hi Jono,

This sounds rather like the 'Black Screen of Death' problem that has affected 1,000s (or 10,000s, 100,000s or possibly more!) cameras, camcorders and PDAs with CCD (image sensor chips) made by Sony. A small proportion of the chips, used in a wide range of cameras etc including Canons and JVC, between the end of 2002 and very early 2005, had a manufacturing fault which they have since identified - and will rectify, at no cost to the customer. In fact, my Dad's 3-year-old Nikon digital SLR (Coolpix 5700) has just gone the same way, and he's applying for a free repair. If you dare, try reading this massive thread (I found Page 16 mentioned Sony!):

MV600 Problem

Which links to Sony's announcement here:

http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowArtic...site=odw_en_GB

...where the Sony DCR-TRV22E is included in the list. (Aargh, just realised mine's on there too!!) If it is the faulty CCD problem, they have said they will repair the camcorder for free. Just call their service centre to check, and if they agree, send it off... Otherwise, you would still have to pay for repair. Hope that helps (hope it's relevant and right!!) - let us know how you get on,

Giles.

Calpolaholic · 16-01-2007, 5:05 PM

YES GET IT REPAIRED

I had the same fault with my TRV22E. Sent it back to Sony and they fixed it for free. Turning the whole thing round in about 10 days over christmas. More details on this thread.

sony trv22 problem

jbaker · 16-01-2007, 10:09 PM

felix2 and skysdad,
thanks so much for that heads up...I was all ready to throw it away!
I'll give Sony a ring tomorrow.
It's actually the DCR-TRV14E I've got, which is on their list of affected products.
Wonder if they'll fix the dodgy 'dv out' input while they're at it!

Don't you just love forums..

Thanks a lot...I'll post if it's successfully resolved.
Jono

P.S....Is 'dv out' the only way I can get my movies from the camcorder onto my computer? Can I use any of the S-video/USB/video out ports to do this or are these simply for connecting to a tv to watch the movies from the camcorder?

redsox_mark · 17-01-2007, 8:22 AM

DV out from the camcorder is the only way to copy footage to the PC in full quality.

If you use the analogue outputs from the camcorder you would need some sort of video capture/tv card on the PC end... and a drop in quality.

USB generally won't work copying DV footage at all, or if it does it will be a low quality webcam type function.

Art van Delay · 19-01-2007, 8:13 PM

Contact Sony, their repair centre is in Wales. My TRV245E had the same problem last October. Sent it off &was back repaired in about 10 days.

**senu** · 19-01-2007, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbaker

felix2 and skysdad,
thanks so much for that heads up...I was all ready to throw it away!
I'll give Sony a ring tomorrow.
It's actually the DCR-TRV14E I've got, which is on their list of affected products.
Wonder if they'll fix the dodgy 'dv out' input while they're at it!

Don't you just love forums..

Thanks a lot...I'll post if it's successfully resolved.
Jono

Let us know whichever way it goes
They may or may not repair the faulty DV terminal at thier discretion as it is not part of the known CCD recall problem.
There was a batch of Sony camcorders which had dodgy DV terminals

(kept blowing) though but they might say this is way out of guarantee.
No harm in getting a quote

Quote:

P.S....Is 'dv out' the only way I can get my movies from the camcorder onto my computer? Can I use any of the S-video/USB/video out ports to do this or are these simply for connecting to a tv to watch the movies from the camcorder?

...In addition to the info posted by Mark you can also get stills off the camcorder to PC via USB ( it is not for TV) but losing DV out is a fundamental functionality loss to the use of a DV camcorder and any other means is needing additional hardware/software support and still getting less quality