Camcorder Seiing Red

[Zentraleinheit]

I have a Canon USC1 Hi8 Camcorder that I have not used in a while.

When I went to use it I found that:

1: The image in the viewfinder looks like someone turn the contrast way down
so only the brightest of images can be barely seen.

2: When a recording made from the camcorder is played back on my 8mm desktop
player. It looks like it was done in infered.

The image is a dull noisey red with black areas denoting lights or
Windows.

However, when I use the camcorder to record using Line-in, or play back pre
recorded tapes, everthing is OK

What happen?

Has the CCD gone bad?

Does not regular use of the camcorder somehow damaged it?

Any thoughts?

 

[James Sweet]

I have a Canon USC1 Hi8 Camcorder that I have not used in a while.

When I went to use it I found that:

1: The image in the viewfinder looks like someone turn the contrast way down
so only the brightest of images can be barely seen.

2: When a recording made from the camcorder is played back on my 8mm desktop
player. It looks like it was done in infered.

The image is a dull noisey red with black areas denoting lights or
Windows.

However, when I use the camcorder to record using Line-in, or play back pre
recorded tapes, everthing is OK

What happen?

Has the CCD gone bad?

Does not regular use of the camcorder somehow damaged it?

Any thoughts?

How old is it? If it's more than 4 or 5 years old I would suspect surface
mount capacitors are leaking.

 

[James Sweet]

I have a Canon USC1 Hi8 Camcorder that I have not used in a while.

When I went to use it I found that:

1: The image in the viewfinder looks like someone turn the contrast way down
so only the brightest of images can be barely seen.

2: When a recording made from the camcorder is played back on my 8mm desktop
player. It looks like it was done in infered.

The image is a dull noisey red with black areas denoting lights or
Windows.

However, when I use the camcorder to record using Line-in, or play back pre
recorded tapes, everthing is OK

What happen?

Has the CCD gone bad?

Does not regular use of the camcorder somehow damaged it?

Any thoughts?

How old is it? If it's more than 4 or 5 years old I would suspect surface
mount capacitors are leaking.

 

[Zentraleinheit]

How old is it? If it's more than 4 or 5 years old

The Camcorder is 12 years 4 months old.

But, I have not used it as a camcorder since the turn of the Century
(New Years Eve 2000)

I would suspect surface mount capacitors are leaking.

It this a part of the CCD?

 

[James Sweet]

The Camcorder is 12 years 4 months old.

But, I have not used it as a camcorder since the turn of the Century
(New Years Eve 2000)


It this a part of the CCD?

No, they're spread all over the circuit boards inside the camera, 12 years
old is definitly past the expected lifetime of these capacitors. Most
camcorders have several hundred of them, open the tape door and sniff it, if
you smell fish then it's the caps for sure.

 

[Zentraleinheit]

open the tape door and sniff it, if you smell fish then it's the caps for
sure.

Put my nose right in the tape door - didn't smell anything.

I would suspect surface mount capacitors are leaking. They're spread all

over the circuit boards inside the camera

What would these capacitors have to do with the image that the camcorder is
picking up via its CCD?

And why would only "live" pictures be affected while everything else is
working OK?

 

[Tim Mitchell]

sure.

Put my nose right in the tape door - didn't smell anything.

over the circuit boards inside the camera

What would these capacitors have to do with the image that the camcorder is
picking up via its CCD?

And why would only "live" pictures be affected while everything else is
working OK?

There's 2 main parts of a camcorder - the CCD pickup (the cam) and the
tape deck (the corder). If one bit goes wrong, the other bit may
continue to work. THe capacitors are part of the electronics which makes
it work (or not).

I have an (even older) Canon E60 which went the same way. First the
camera section stopped working, but the tape deck would still play back
tapes OK. Then a few months later the tape part stopped working as well.

It will be cheaper to buy a new camera than to try and fix it.

 

[Zentraleinheit]

It will be cheaper to buy a new camera than to try and fix it.

Been there - done that

But, it still seems waistful that a $1100 camcorder only last 12 years :-(

Especally since almost every other electronic equipment I have is "falling
apart"

At lease my 1988 Zenith and 1975 Sony TV's are still working (Knock wood)
for now!