Here's a strange one.

I was testing an old fuji zoom control which has been dodgy lately, and the camera suddenly powered down and back up again. I was using a power supply, via the 4 pin when this occured. When I went to power down the disk made the appropriate sounds, but the picture remained on the monitor. Turn the switch back on, and the disk spins up as usual. Power down, again the same problem. The camera will not record(power switch on or off), the red light just flashes. I try a different power supply, and the condition remains the same.

I tried a battery, and the camera works normally.

Any suggestions? Perhaps reload the firmware?

I have a couple of shoots this week, but I'm going to try to get it into Sony as quickly as possible.

Sounds like your power supply is getting dragged down to the critical voltage by current draw. Are both supplies the same make and model? It's not out of the realm of possibility that the 4 pin connector has an issue internally that doesn't supply adequate voltage to the camera.

Since the camera works fine off the battery, you shouldn't need to reload the firmware.

-gb-

I think Greg is right. There are some large power consumption spikes on XDCAM cameras. This can easily overload a poorly designed or marginal power supply or battery and lead to symptoms similar to yours.

Thanks for the comments,

I've tried three different power supplies(Anton Bauer, Aspen, Sony), but the condition remains. The camera will not shut down when I turn off the switch. It also seems to be drawing a heavier load, as one power supply(an old Sony) causes the low voltage alert in the camera(usually it works fine on this camera). I have used different 4 pin cables, with the same results.

It's a holiday in Canada today, so tomorrow I'll call my dealer and make arrangements.

I have a news shoot this afternoon, but I'll run battery and hope for the best.

Peter

Peter, I should clarify that in my earlier post I was referring to the 4 pin connector having an issue inside the camera, not the cable side. Although good job on your part trying different cables.

That low voltage alert on the old Sony supply is very telling. There is excessive current draw by the camera through the DC in connector. When a device sucks too much current from a supply, the voltage will start to fall. Three supplies and different cables all point to the camera.

Definitely get it in to be looked at.

-gb-