Hello,

I put a regular ol' tape in my Z1U today, and the mechanism stopped halfway down.

I get "Reinsert the cassette", but I can't eject, nor insert the tape any further.

I took out the battery, waited 20 minutes, nothing. Hit the reset button, nothing.

Has anyone had this happen? I would REALLLLLY appreciate any tips.

Thanks,

-Andy

I would have it looked at by a pro repair center since it sounds like you've tried all the obvious things. That mechanism looks really fragile and you could probably do a lot of damage by messing with it. Sony repair info is here:

http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/markets/10018/serviceCenters.shtml

Maybe they could provide some help by telephone?

http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/markets/10018/fee.shtml

This is taken from the official Sony FX1 repair manual.

I expect the same applies to the Z1.

I accept no responsability if you try it.

TO TAKE OUT A CASSETTE WHEN NOT EJECT (FORCE EJECT)

1 Remove the power supply (Battery and AC power adaptor).
2 Open the cassette lid.
3 Remove the MD lid.
4 Supply +4.5V between the LM UNLOAD terminal and the LM LOAD terminal from the DC power supply and unload the cassete.

Hope it works.

Thanks guys.

Looks like we are going to have to bring it in.

In theory the 4.5V could be supplied by 3 x AA batteries or whatever in series, but those terminals are a long way in and super fiddly to get at. Looks like a job for a specialist to me.

Tried as hard as I could with 3 x AA batteries in a battery holder and some tiny solid-core wire with a few mm of the insulation stripped off. Didn't work. No response or motor noise or anything from the camera.