I posted this in the appropriate forum but it gets little traffic and I know a few of you use these cameras so here goes...

My CX730 has a baseplate (the plastic bottom) that has cracked badly all around the tripod mount and I'm finding it hard to source a spare

UK preferably but anywhere will do. I've tried my normal place - Digiservice UK but am getting no response - maybe gone out of business.

anyone?

Hey Pete

If you cannot find one surely you can repair that one with a patch?? Maybe just a thin aluminium plate over the damaged area and some good ole epoxy ?? Might run a bit longer until you find one .. You could just make a new plate also from aluminium but the little tabs at the end might be tricky ...nice project to do on a cold Winter's night???

Hi Pete,

Try this:

EET Europarts Ltd (http://www.eeteuroparts.co.uk)

I've tried them when my tripod adapter for my sony actioncam went missing.

Normally they would display the spare parts on the website. If not try contacting them directly (number on website).

Regards,

Bryan

Bryan I tried them - they cannot source one.

Chris good Idea but I'm selling this on soon and it's in good nick apart from this so would hamper getting a good price

The search continues...

Any chance of looking for a faulty/dead one on eBay?? They do actually sell camcorders quite often that need repairs ... ??

I see the issue if you want to sell it later ...it needs to look original and cannot have a DIY repair/plate.

This is likely to be a tough quest for you Pete unless some kind soul has one lying unused in their storeroom cupboard !

Hi Peter
Have attached a link to parts breakdown in PDF of camera you may have more luck searching by part number I found parts for my SONY FX1 by doing this after finding part numbers to search for. Hope this helps
https://docs.sony.com/release/MDSM/983465634_sm.pdf

Peter, I part things out from time to time, and there are quite a few guys on ebay that part things out as well.... BUT parts aren't cheap, especially the ones that break regularly (like your baseplate....). I see a lot of cameras in the "resale" market that have that plate busted - either from user error, or it used to be that the anti-theft mounts they used in stores (stores aren't carrying videocams or point and shoots much nowadays) had to be "tight" to work, and many were OVER tightened, busting and scarring the bottom of the cameras...

Sony likely will NOT sell the base plate for the simple reason that it has the serial # on it, so I doubt they would either make extras or encourage swapping, for obvious reasons (of course this raises the other obvious question of why the heck the serial # is on a "relatively" fragile part!?).

All that said, there's a very small chance I might have a plate from a PJ760 if it doesn't survive the major surgery it requires.... and I think it's the same plate as the CX730... I'll see if I can get to that particular unit and see how the repair goes (busted cable between the body and LCD, major nightmare to replace!!).

One other option that might be worth considering in the new age of "3D printing" is having someone just print you a replacement part? Not sure of either durability or financial feasibility, but there are LOTS of things just being printed out on demand now, so perhaps it's a crazy idea for consideration?

That would be awesome Dave - I would buy that if it's the same fit. I also have 2 PJ780 Handycams and I think it's the same fit for them as well - oddly enough both these cameras are showing feint lines around the tripod mount - a design flaw then!

Hi Peter
Have attached a link to parts breakdown in PDF of camera you may have more luck searching by part number I found parts for my SONY FX1 by doing this after finding part numbers to search for. Hope this helps
https://docs.sony.com/release/MDSM/983465634_sm.pdf

Cheers Mark - I'll look into that!