Please tell me my Just out of warranty Canon Vixia HF200 is not a goner! I am just sick at the thought of this... Please tell me there is a magic button to push to reset this...

YouTube - HF200GOOFY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRRN3p9BTPw)


I was using the camera the battery was extremely low. I turned it off, then on again and this is what is showing on the LCD. It does absolutely nothing.... the telescopic function does not do anything, the whole camera does nothing!


SOS!!

Any suggestions greatly appreciated...

Charge the battery, put it in, find the camera reset button (it'll say in the manual) use a toothpick or similar and push it into the (reset button) hole for at least ten seconds.

Should sort it.

It's the same as doing a reboot after a BSOD.


CS

PS: Belay that, the reset for my HV 20 is UNDER the battery, which means you'll probably need the battery out.

Tried that..... No Luck :-(

Bit short on further ideas.

You sure you definately had the button down for at least 10 seconds or whatever it says in the manual?

Over to anyone else who has a bright idea.


CS

I'm afraid it's a trip to Canon service, David...

It looks like a faulty ribbon cable in the screen hinge, this would be confirmed if you're still getting clean recordings out of it. It looks like the menu controls are functioning, they're just difficult to see. Have you tried recording? What happens when you go to playback mode?

Regarding repair: It's only worth about $300 now, and Canon will probably want $200 to fix it. Considering that you bought it one year ago (that's the standard warranty, right?) you probably already paid $500+ for it. If you get it fixed and sell it, you're out $400, if you do nothing, you're out $500, and if you fix it and keep it, you now have a $300 camera that cost you $700 to own. Camera repairs suck. If it's your only camera, and you really need it, get it repaired. The positive view of this is that repairs are the best "new" camera you can get for $200.

I don't know what the law is in the USA but in the UK, regardless of warranty, a product is expected to last for more than a year and a day. I would contact Canon and explain the situation. If that doesn't help, do you have an equivalent to our Citizens' Advice Bureau that you could turn to?

It looks like a faulty ribbon cable in the screen hinge, this would be confirmed if you're still getting clean recordings out of it. It looks like the menu controls are functioning, they're just difficult to see. Have you tried recording? What happens when you go to playback mode?



It does nothing in Playback mode, Nothing if I reset, Wont record, even tried playing out on AV cable...

Sure wished I would have spent the extra 109 bucks and bought the extra 3 year warranty right now. Its mechanical...I understand..

Ill be calling Canon this morning to see if they can shed any light on it.

Ask about their customer loyalty program. They seldom advertise it, but sometimes they're willing to take broken out-of-warranty products like yours and either exchange them straight for a refurbished equivalent (limited to stock on hand, of course) or offer a sizeable discount on a new item. It can't hurt to ask. Here are their refurbed consumer camcorders:

Canon Direct Store - Refurbished Consumer Camcorders (http://shop.usa.canon.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/subCategory_10051_10051_-1_17252)

Thanks Chris.... Unit is boxed up heading to New Jersey Service Center....

If I hafta bite the bullet and buy a replacement I will most likely save my money and get the XA-10. My final decision will be after your review of the camera...

My HF200 arrived in New Jersey on Thursday Feb 3. I received a call from Canon yesterday Feb 7, 2011. This morning at 9:45 am I get a knock on my door from Fed Ex looking for a signature. Canon had overnighted my repaired under warranty camcorder back to me! (I did discover it was under warranty when my wife gave me the receipt)

KUDOS to CANON.

The work order says the following:

" Your product has been examined and it was found that the circut board had suffered some kind of shock damage causing the LCD to not display an image. The circut board was reworked. Other inspection and cleaning were carried out."

Great, congrats Dave, happy to hear that this was resolved nicely.