Hello, I was filming cutaways at a reception hall a couple a weeks ago and I noticed my pd170 made this moaning sound, you could actually feel it vibrate. It only did it for a few seconds. It kind of sounded like servomotors laboring. I played it back in post and you could here it in the audio. Can anyone tell me what this is?

Thank you,
Al

Al,
I'm not sure exactly what causes it but I sometimes get the same thing on my good ol' 150-BUT it's only been doing that since it crossed 1300 hours of operation and 1000 of tape run so I'm guesing it's time to replace the heads and transport. (Still cheaper than buying a new camera)
Fortunately I do not hear anything in the audio as it seems to make the noise only as I stop recording.
I'm sorry I don't really know whats causing it but if you have a lot of hours on the cam it could be a sign of mechanics wearing thin. I'm just guessing though.

Good luck,

Don

On my first 150, it was the tensioning roller bearings and the head bearings. Sony replaced both under warranty but ultimately gave me a new camera because of the camera's sensitivity to exterior electric fields like Police radios.

The new camera has the same sensitivity but the transport is a lot better in operation as you might imagine.

I had set the camera up on a tripod and ran it for 3 hours as I recorded an interview. About 1/2 way through the second tape it started this skritching noise. I continued and it recorded OK. No recorded self-noise because I had a wireless microphone on the interviewee.

It's the lower head drum assembly unit and bearings.

Thanks Lou!

Don B.

This also accrued when the camera was not rolling. I could actually feel the camera vibrate. I just purchased and wear Digicom headsets for communicating with my crew. They send out a digital signal instead of a radio signal. Could this be the problem? Maybe something to do with the steady cam feature. I’ve head that phones could cause problems. Any thoughts,

Thanks Al

Almost any radio keyed near the Sony will cause the OIS to jump so hard it may shake the camera in your hands.

A digital radio is still a radio. The encoding may be digital but the carrier is still a radio signal.