Had two consectutive failures of my PD-150 over the holidays.

This is an excerpt from the letter I've sent Larry Bush, the Sony Norcross Service Center Manager.

The first problem is one that apparently occurs on quite a few VX-2000/PD-150 cameras. A strong whirring sound starts. A sound that other owners experiencing this same symptom say portends the replacement of the drum mechanism on the camera.

The whirring sound started about 12-15 minutes into a 3-hour recording and became stronger over the time period. Strong enough that it was recorded by the on-board microphone. The camera had not been subjected to any significant temperature or humidity changes and was on a tripod at the time.

Other than the sound, there appears to be no problem with the recorded signal as I was able to play it on my DSR-20 with no complications. This problem seems to appear on this camera only on extended operation, not when operated in a start and stop use.

The second of the failures, an intermittent random and abrupt full-range motion of the SteadyShot mechanism, is the same problem for which it was sent to your facility in 2002. The failure symptoms are slightly different this time.

Although the camera will still occasionally experience a single strong diagonal displacement of the image accompanied by a strong and audible click (original problem), it also will break into a regular diagonal displacement of the image accompanied by a slightly less strong click but the click is heard on the sound track as a sound I can only interpret as an electrical interference within the camera. The camera image would become entirely stable if I switched off the SteadyShot feature. I have this captured on tape and have placed a sample on the tape as well.

Conditions under which the fault occured (background info for the technician)

Although I cannot understand any connection between the events, the first occurrence of the problem this time was when I focused on the strobe light bar of a Police car. It seemed to occur whenever the light bar or the light from the bar was in the scene. The camera continued to exhibit this problem even after the power was cycled several times over a period of time, tape running or not and whether there was any bright flashing light in the scene or not. I don’t understand how a strong light could initiate such a failure and this was not the first time the camera had imaged Police car strobes in any case.

This all happened with the camera hand-held, tape running or not and me standing outside the car. The camera was either in a moderately heated (approximately 60 degrees) automobile or abruptly outdoors with the temperature between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit and around 50% relative humidity. It was not subject to significant vibration as it was in my hands the entire time. Over the space of 14 hours, the camera would randomly exhibit this failure but became more normal over the time period until the SteadyShot feature could be left on. I continued to attempt SteadyShot operation because of the need for that assistance.

The camera was powered by a Sony NP-F730 battery of about 5 years of age during this time. Later, the camera was powered by a Sony NP-F960 battery of approximately the same age as the camera. I do not recall the camera exhibiting any SteadyShot problems after switching batteries however; I recall that it had ceased to do so before I replaced the battery.

Uuggh. Sorry to hear about the problems you've had.

I was again pleased on how rugged my PD150 was over the holidays after banging it around severly during a ski trip.

Please keep us updated on any resolution, or lack thereof, you find to the problems.

Rick

Sony called me about 3 hours after I faxed the letter to Larry Bush, the manager of the Norcross facility.

They said they would call me when the camera arrived on Monday.

Only $90 to express it this time.

Sorry about your problem, Mike.

Should it happen to my PD150, it's comforting to know the Sony service center is in Norcross... since I live in Atlanta.

Keep us posted!

Mike, please keep us advised of the outcome. Good luck and many thanks,

Mike, is your PD-150 new or have you had it for awhile.

10 months old.

Tomorrow is show time. They get the camera and should call me.

Just about 100 hours on the heads

The name of the game with Sony is Follow-up, Follow-up and more Follow-up.

FedEx emailed me that the camera was delivered to Sony at 9:25 their time. By 4:30 their time I had not received the promised phone call.

I called and gave them the incident number, the model and serial number. The person on the other end said that she could find all of that but nothing that said they had the camera. She excused herself for 5 minutes and came back to state that they would be evaluating the camera tonight.

I know that if I had not called, the camera would sit around for a few days.

On this, my third experience with Sony Norcross, I know it is imperative that the camera owner stay on top of their operation. Because they do not.

I'll keep you posted.

I called Sony Norcross to follow-up on the repairs.

At this point they have replaced the drum, slip rings and brushes, pinch rollers and tensioner bits and pieces. Then they put it on the test bench and the color went pink. So they replace a circuit board and the motherboard (I think that may just be an interconnect and might even be a flex circuit).

Now they are attempting to get the SteadyShot to fail. Both a technician and an engineer are scratching their heads over this one. I don't think they will find it. They suspect that the lens may have to be replaced.

Fortunately I sent them an example tape that clearly demonstrated the problems.

So basically I'm getting all the important bits in the transport and new heads.

I told them I need to take it with me to Pennsylvania next Thursday and the coordinator told me she would put more pressure on them.

Even though the camera is 10 months old, Sony is not going to charge me and will return the camera via FedEx next day air.

Stay tuned.

I vote for Sony sending Mike a brand new camera! LOL

I second the motion!!!!!!!!!!Go Sony, a tampered Camcorder is not safe to use anymore.

JUN

Another vote for a new one, Sony!

These cameras ain't cheap, so if Mike's needs THAT much work... give 'em a new one!

No charge? Sony - no charge? Excuse me I am going to lie down now.

Hope the repaired camera has a long and prosperous life.

Rick

Dear Mike,

I'm new on the forum and just read your post, maybe I can help if Sony has not troubleshooted your pb. I was filming the work of police officers last year in L.A for British tv with a PD150 and had the same pb that you describe; ie frequent lateral displacements of the picture with a clicking noise inside the camera block. The fault repeated itself regularly when I was inside a cop car I called Sony who were not particularly helpful but then I gathered after a lot of head scratching that the problem seemed to coincide with the cops using their radio to communicate with other patrol cars or the station. I concluded that it must have been the short wave radio intefering with the electronic of the picture stabilizer, I switched off the SteadyShot function and the fault never reappeared. So, not a particularly technical answer here but maybe elements of answer, I don't think that the light or strobed created your problem, rather the radio waves... I guess stay away from cops or switch that Steadyshot function off and work on your hand held skills ...
regards,
Juan

In other words---don't drink and shoot. (Couldn't resist)

OK Guys......Just had the same problem with my VX2000.

The whirring/whining noise got so bad that the high pitch noise was bothering the dog :-) Anyway---sent the VX2000 to the SONY Service Center in Bristol PA. It arrived on December 23rd.
WELL...................the day after Christmas, SONY notified me that it was the lower head drum assembly. I already knew the problem so they were honest.

YIKES!!!! It cost me 460 dollars to repair BUTTTTT...............LUCKILY, I had an extended warranty under the G.E. Plan. G.E. stated----"NO PROBLEM" a check will be sent out to me for that amount as I sent them documentation and a SONY contact number/person.

The Camera arrived right after New Years----PERFECT JOB--WELL DONE!!!!!

Now as far as the strobing problem: This is the SAME problem exhibited by the SONY DSR300 as it relates to the DJ's flashing lights. Contact Laurie Batwin on the WEVA Bulletin Board as she had a fix for this problem. Lou Bruno gocycle@optonline.net

I don't understand, Lou. The DSR-300 does not have SteadyShot which is where the problem lies.

The DSR-300 problem may be different but because I have one of those, I'd like to know if you have any further information. I've posted a question to Laurie so I may get a response there.

Juan,

Thanks for the information. I'll relay that to Sony on Monday.

One would think that Sony knows enough to shield their products from radio waves.

That would explain a lot of how this bit me.

Those of us who work with the police never talk about Shooting anything, especially them. :-)) Just like we never ever point at a police dog after the first experience.

Thanks for the input, Juan. I had ignored the contribution that radio might make to the problem even though I know, for example, that automotive ignition systems can sneak noise into the audio circuits quite easily.

It would appear that Sony does not adequately shield their cameras. They probably depend on the digital nature of the camera's internal circuits to ignore that source of problem.

To compound the issue, I'd bet they've reduced the operating voltage of their digital circuits from the normal 5 volts to something much less so they can extend the operating time of their batteries. Only someone forgot to consider outside interference.

Lou, I had a long talk with Lauri today. wow, what a information source she is on cameras. She is on the WEVA camera committee and will be sitting down with Sony next month to discuss new camera features and existing camera problems with them.

What a resource she could be if Chris Hurd could talk her into moderating a general forum on camera performance and setup!

Lou, the strobe light issue is as follows:

On the DSR-300 and 500, especially if a DJ is using a blue strobe light and the bride is wearing a white dress, the color of the dress goes into sort of a negative mode and gets recorded on tape. Ruined clip, ruined reception video.

The solution is to switch the camera filter/mode into flourescent mode which will stop the problem and not effect white balance.

That said, I cannot find such a filter on the camera and conclude that that may be only a DSR-500 tool.

Thanks very much for connecting me with her. A huge source of information. I learned more about setting up my DSR-300 than I ever did by reading the manual.

My pleasure-HOWEVER---I still think it is related. I remember taking a camera with me in my sector patrol car years ago and also had a problem with my roof rack which I fixed via shutter speed. At the time I used a Panasonic 3260.

Here is an email I received from Paul Basile today:

Mike, there is definitely a problem with the steady shot feature on the PD150 and radio signals. I own three PD150's and seven of the 2-watt UHF Motorola radios. From day one, the radio, when used close to the camera would make the picture jump. We had to turn off the steady-shot when using our radios in the church. This was not a problem because we use them on a tripod.
Paul basile

Lauri Batwin, a member of the WEVA camera committee said she is going to contact Sony this week about this problem.

I'll keep you informed.

Sony Norcross called this AM and told me although they had repaired the transport section of the camera, they could not replicate either failure of the SteadyShot.

Because of this, they have already FedExed me a new PD150.

Although this doesn't solve the RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) problem, it does handle the random failure of the SteadyShot that happened when the camera was new and once in a while over the past 10 months.

Kudo's to Sony for this action.

A NEW camera? WOW!!!!! Can't beat that for customer service.

WAY TO GO SONY!!!

PD-150's and Radio Frequency Interferance. Guys I think all of these problems are related.... even the DJ's strobe lights. If you ever put a radio or any type of receiving device near a set of strobes you will understand why you won't do that again (although if your working on a sci-fi flick you might like it!)

The police use several different types of cars and you will notice the police running around with handi-talkies. In a lot of situations te HT will not be able to communicate with the base station so they will roll in what appears to be a normal police car but is actually a radio car. It receives the low power HT transmissions and re-transmits them on a different frequency at a much higher power level with a much better antenna. Several police departments has problems with these vehicles. They were putting out so much power and interference that they were fooling with the vehicle's computer system (motor would race or shut off).

Notice the length of the PD-150 on-board microphone cable. Look at the antenna on the police car. Notice anything? Yeah, thats right, about the same length. Just because it is not connected to a radio does not mean that it is not an antenna! You could be sucking RF down that cable.

You would be amazed at the RFI that is running around in the average 'emergency sitauation' where you have police, fire and anyone else who owns a radio!

I agree. And never never let the police point their radar gun at your camera.

Which leads me to another question. Wait, I think I'll start another thread . . .