GY-HD100 Tape mechanism at DVinfo.net

Robert Rogoz · December 4th, 2008, 11:07 PM

Last Sunday my tape mechanism broke! I had it repaired last afternoon, setting me back over $250. The interesting thing is, the tech told me this was a common problem with this model, hence JVC re-designed the mechanism. Now, if I was buying some consumer camera I would say, OK. But if you $pend over 3K on a camera, why didn't JVC recall the tape mechanism? They knew well the initial design was a junk.

Stuart Campbell · December 5th, 2008, 06:38 AM

because a business would rather repair those that do break (within warranty) than replace every single unit regardless of whether it'll go wrong or not! Wouldn't you?? It just wouldn't make any economical sense to spend millions repairing stuff that's not broken, even if there is a chance that it ...'might'!

Now, you said you got your tape mechanism repaired for 250 dollars? That sounds mighty cheap to me! Would you mind elaborating on the problem?

Robert Rogoz · December 5th, 2008, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart Campbell

because a business would rather repair those that do break (within warranty) than replace every single unit regardless of whether it'll go wrong or not! Wouldn't you?? It just wouldn't make any economical sense to spend millions repairing stuff that's not broken, even if there is a chance that it ...'might'!

Now, you said you got your tape mechanism repaired for 250 dollars? That sounds mighty cheap to me! Would you mind elaborating on the problem?

Stuart, don't want to sound rude, but this grab your money and run mentality is not OK with me. The camera is out of warranty, so there is no chance to have it covered. I had to fork off the money out of my own pocket. To me and most of people I know $250 bucks is not a pocket change. This problem was very well known from early on and JVC did not even mention this at all.
The problem is with the tape tray. In GY-HD100 units (101 in PAL land) it connects to sliding axis with little metal clips. These metal clips simply brake. The new design uses solid metal rings instead of clips. And this is what I am talking about- the design was junk from day one, but looks like JVC doesn't stand behind their product.
I called customer support from JVC and after being on hold forever the attitude I received was basically not to bother them with my problem.
This attitude might work for them in a short run, but I honestly think this is the last JVC product I will buy in the next several years. I will also tell people to avoid JVC as your source of gear. As soon as I am done with this project in February I am selling this junk and I am switching to Panasonic, Sony or Canon.

Amos Kim · December 5th, 2008, 01:11 PM

my tape mech broke down every twomonths... I switched to tapeless solution :)

Robert Rogoz · December 5th, 2008, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amos Kim

my tape mech broke down every twomonths... I switched to tapeless solution :)

It is a solution in some situations. I was on a shoot in a remote location, where there is no possibility of re-shooting. I use the tape as a back-up. I am glad I did. while hanging on a rope my firewire had to shift in one of the ports and HDD did not record a couple of takes. DR-HD100 has a super flimsy firewire port I must say.

Stuart Campbell · December 5th, 2008, 02:33 PM

Robert,

Firstly, don't worry, nothing taken as being rude!

I understand your frustration. There's nothing worse than paying money for ANYTHING only to find it doesn't work as it should. However, that said look at the bigger picture. Whilst you are right to be cross if JVC knew about the problem, how would it affect the customer in the longer term if they recalled every single camera they made just because they discovered (afterwards) that one small part was prone to breaking? The cost of recalling every camera on the basis that it 'might' break down would be astronomical. Who do you think would ultimately bear the brunt of that expense? The customer of course! Prices would go up as a result and we'd all end up paying for something that might not have happened! and to be fair, this is the first time I've ever heard of tape mech faults in this camera! (I've heard of plenty of other faults mind!)

So, I think that JVC took the right decision to just repair any that 'do' break! and in the mean time just make sure the problem was resolved on the following model, which, as you say, they did.

As for your disgust at the repair price, well yes 250 dollars may be a great deal of money to some, but you have to remember you could easily pay that sort of money to have a home movie camera repaired. It cost me (on insurance) 260 Euros alone to have a small digital stills camera repaired. You have to consider that the GYHD cameras are, as you say, several thousands of dollars to buy and are as such a professional end product. Therefore you should ALWAYS assume from day one, and factor this into your future accounting for the years ahead, that these cameras WILL cost you money in repair and maintenance. FACT. I have thousands of Euros budgeted for every year just on maintenance and repair of our kit.

Before I got rid of my Beta SP it was costing me nearly 1000 UK pounds per year to keep it going. My current Digi Beta costs me at least 500 UK pounds each year to maintain and service.....so......250 dollars was CHEAP! You were lucky!!!!!

Professional equipment is a tool. You use it every day. It's simply not possible to build precision electronic equipment, used in demanding situations, that won't ever break down.

And, don't think you won't get the same sort of problems on other brands. It's not just a JVC personal attack on its customers!

(oh, and I don't work for JVC by the way)! I'm just trying to make you feel better about forking out 250 dollars!

Corey Williams · December 6th, 2008, 09:38 PM

Mine broke also. Thank goodness, i bought an extended warranty for $80 that covered the $468 repair.

Steve Oakley · December 7th, 2008, 08:05 PM

I have to say, on a JVC camera, getting an extended warranty has saved me a great deal of cash. I had the tape transport and optical block replaced under it.

as for the tape door, I think its pretty sturdy. in comparison, I had a EVV9000 dockable Hi8 deck on my big sony camera. that tape door mechanism was _really_ flimsy. fist time I took it to sony and it cost $350 to fix. 2nd time I bought the service manual ($75) and the part for $50. it was 4 screws to change out, 10 minutes, really very simple. I changed the mechanism at least one more time while I had it. ever since then I've be done a lot of my own simple service work, just buying the parts as needed. sometimes, this work is really easy, other times I will send it out because you either need specialty tools, or the risk of more problems isn't worth it - at least if you don't the service manual.

Mark Silva · December 8th, 2008, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Rogoz

The problem is with the tape tray. In GY-HD100 units (101 in PAL land) it connects to sliding axis with little metal clips. These metal clips simply brake. The new design uses solid metal rings instead of clips.

I had my HD100 serviced one time for an in-warranty ccd block replacement (one side went all purple)

I just looked inside and it has the metal rings!

Dan Chung · January 16th, 2009, 11:33 PM

The tape hinges broke on my 100 last summer, had it fixed by JVC (can't remeber how much it cost). It broke again in the winter and I had to pay again for the repair, unbelievable! JVC in China said they only operate a 3 month warranty on these repairs.

Dan

December 4th, 2008, 11:07 PM	#1
Robert Rogoz Major Player Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Bellingham, WA Posts: 457	GY-HD100 Tape mechanism Last Sunday my tape mechanism broke! I had it repaired last afternoon, setting me back over $250. The interesting thing is, the tech told me this was a common problem with this model, hence JVC re-designed the mechanism. Now, if I was buying some consumer camera I would say, OK. But if you $pend over 3K on a camera, why didn't JVC recall the tape mechanism? They knew well the initial design was a junk.

December 5th, 2008, 06:38 AM	#2
Stuart Campbell Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Hannover, Germany Posts: 400	because a business would rather repair those that do break (within warranty) than replace every single unit regardless of whether it'll go wrong or not! Wouldn't you?? It just wouldn't make any economical sense to spend millions repairing stuff that's not broken, even if there is a chance that it ...'might'! Now, you said you got your tape mechanism repaired for 250 dollars? That sounds mighty cheap to me! Would you mind elaborating on the problem?

December 5th, 2008, 01:11 PM	#4
Amos Kim Major Player Join Date: May 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 335	my tape mech broke down every twomonths... I switched to tapeless solution :)

December 5th, 2008, 02:33 PM	#6
Stuart Campbell Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Hannover, Germany Posts: 400	Robert, Firstly, don't worry, nothing taken as being rude! I understand your frustration. There's nothing worse than paying money for ANYTHING only to find it doesn't work as it should. However, that said look at the bigger picture. Whilst you are right to be cross if JVC knew about the problem, how would it affect the customer in the longer term if they recalled every single camera they made just because they discovered (afterwards) that one small part was prone to breaking? The cost of recalling every camera on the basis that it 'might' break down would be astronomical. Who do you think would ultimately bear the brunt of that expense? The customer of course! Prices would go up as a result and we'd all end up paying for something that might not have happened! and to be fair, this is the first time I've ever heard of tape mech faults in this camera! (I've heard of plenty of other faults mind!) So, I think that JVC took the right decision to just repair any that 'do' break! and in the mean time just make sure the problem was resolved on the following model, which, as you say, they did. As for your disgust at the repair price, well yes 250 dollars may be a great deal of money to some, but you have to remember you could easily pay that sort of money to have a home movie camera repaired. It cost me (on insurance) 260 Euros alone to have a small digital stills camera repaired. You have to consider that the GYHD cameras are, as you say, several thousands of dollars to buy and are as such a professional end product. Therefore you should ALWAYS assume from day one, and factor this into your future accounting for the years ahead, that these cameras WILL cost you money in repair and maintenance. FACT. I have thousands of Euros budgeted for every year just on maintenance and repair of our kit. Before I got rid of my Beta SP it was costing me nearly 1000 UK pounds per year to keep it going. My current Digi Beta costs me at least 500 UK pounds each year to maintain and service.....so......250 dollars was CHEAP! You were lucky!!!!! Professional equipment is a tool. You use it every day. It's simply not possible to build precision electronic equipment, used in demanding situations, that won't ever break down. And, don't think you won't get the same sort of problems on other brands. It's not just a JVC personal attack on its customers! (oh, and I don't work for JVC by the way)! I'm just trying to make you feel better about forking out 250 dollars!

December 6th, 2008, 09:38 PM	#7
Corey Williams Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: McKinney,TX/New Orleans, LA Posts: 104	Mine broke also. Thank goodness, i bought an extended warranty for $80 that covered the $468 repair.

December 7th, 2008, 08:05 PM	#8
Steve Oakley Trustee Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: United States Posts: 1,158	I have to say, on a JVC camera, getting an extended warranty has saved me a great deal of cash. I had the tape transport and optical block replaced under it. as for the tape door, I think its pretty sturdy. in comparison, I had a EVV9000 dockable Hi8 deck on my big sony camera. that tape door mechanism was _really_ flimsy. fist time I took it to sony and it cost $350 to fix. 2nd time I bought the service manual ($75) and the part for $50. it was 4 screws to change out, 10 minutes, really very simple. I changed the mechanism at least one more time while I had it. ever since then I've be done a lot of my own simple service work, just buying the parts as needed. sometimes, this work is really easy, other times I will send it out because you either need specialty tools, or the risk of more problems isn't worth it - at least if you don't the service manual.

January 16th, 2009, 11:33 PM	#10
Dan Chung Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Beijing Posts: 665	The tape hinges broke on my 100 last summer, had it fixed by JVC (can't remeber how much it cost). It broke again in the winter and I had to pay again for the repair, unbelievable! JVC in China said they only operate a 3 month warranty on these repairs. Dan