Below are some helpful camera tips to frequently asked questions, please submit your query if you can't find the answer here.
Copyright © 2007 CCD Camera Service - This information cannot be copied or reproduced without the consent of CCD Camera Service
Storage
Condensation
Top 3 ways to damage your camera
Salt water & sand are the worst things to get inside your camera so DON'T TAKE IT TO THE BEACH!
More handy info coming soon............
If your camera has damaged a tape, DON'T risk losing time, money or more precious footage - here's our advice...
1. TAKE YOUR CAMERA AND DAMAGED TAPE(S) TO BE PROFESSIONALLY INSPECTED.
Once the problem is identified and your camera is repaired and/or cleaned, follow the next IMPORTANT steps BEFORE you turn it on!
2. DO NOT INSERT A TAPE WHICH HAS BEEN IN THE CAMERA BEFORE!
Your camera may have been faulty (damaging tapes) for sometime, therefore every tape that has been used in the camera should be quarantined from immediate use and treated as "possibly" damaged.
Using a damaged tape immediately after your camera has been professionally repaired/cleaned is likely to re-contaminate the head drum/tape path and cause the camera to fail, with the appearance that it is still faulty! This is because the damaged area of the tape usually “sticks” to the rotating video head drum and stops it immediately, contaminating the drum & tape guides in the process AND this occurs even if you only rewind or fast-forward the tape past the affected area!
At this point it is important to note if the above occurs, you need to return to step 1 as the camera is now contaminated and will have to be cleaned again! AND any subsequent tape(s) inserted into the camera will probably have contamination transferred to them as well and should be now considered "suspect".
3. USE A BRAND NEW BLANK TAPE FIRST
We recommend after step 1 you use a brand new blank tape the first time you use the camera as a “test”. Do as much random, non-important recording & playback as possible using THIS TAPE ONLY until your confidence in the camera’s operation is restored - obviously if any problems are experienced, take careful note of exactly what occured and return to step 1 immediately.
4. NOW YOU CAN USE OTHER TAPES (WITH CARE)
After the successful test period, feel free to use any other brand new blank tape you like however, TAKE CARE WITH USED TAPES - that is, ANY tape that has been USED in the camera BEFORE step 1. ONLY insert used tapes that you are POSITIVELY CERTAIN are NOT damaged or contaminated, if you are unsure of a tape - then DON'T use it!
WHAT TO DO WITH DAMAGED/CONTAMINATED/SUSPECT TAPES?
We strongly suggest you discard these tapes immediately to prevent accidental use in your camera. However, if the tape(s) have precious footage you wish to recover/transfer to a new tape or other format, we advise you not risk further cost and damage to your camera, take the tape(s) to a video production/data recovery specialist - it will probably be cheaper than having to go back to step 1 again!
Mechanism pic with tape loaded, close-up pic of heads/drum
Clogged heads (analogue cameras) - pics of partially, one head clogged, both heads clogged
Clogged heads (digital cameras) - pics of partially, one head clogged, both heads clogged
Most digital cameras monitor the data error rate from both heads and warn the user the heads need cleaning when the error rate exceeds a preset threshold.
Using a cleaning tape is the only way you can safely clean the heads. However, be aware that cleaning tapes are ABRASIVE and that is exactly the way they work (think of wrapping very fine sandpaper around a drum spinning at 9000rpm for 10 seconds!). Therefore, if you are someone who uses a cleaning tape frequently, sure you are keeping your heads clean.......but you are also shortening their life! Also, while they are very effective in cleaning the heads, they do very little to clean the stationary lower drum, tape guides or mechanism rollers. Dirt, dust and tape particle build-up on these parts can only be cleaned successfully by a full mechanism service.
Therefore, we recommend cleaning tapes should only be used WHEN REQUIRED and, if no improvement is seen after one cleaning pass, don’t try again - take your camera to be professionally serviced.
Here are some more important head cleaning tips:
NEVER REWIND A CLEANING TAPE - cleaning tapes should be discarded when the end of the tape is reached. Rewinding the tape in the camera can not only transfer dirt back to the heads/mechanism, it will also rapidly wear these parts!
NEVER ATTEMPT TO CLEAN YOUR HEADS YOURSELF – the heads are very brittle and easily broken, and if the polished aluminium drum is scratched in any way, the result will be a new head drum required and a very expensive repair!
NEVER SPRAY ANY TYPE OF CLEANING FLUID IN YOUR CAMERA – this will do more damage than good and definitely the worst thing you can possibly do!
Like any mechanical product, video cameras require periodic maintenance to keep them in good working order. In particular, the tape drive mechanism requires routine service - how frequently this is required depends entirely on how much use, the type/condition of tapes used and the environment the camera has been used in (i.e. moisture/dust/humidity etc.).
As mentioned above, cleaning tapes only really give the heads a wipe – any dirt & tape particle build-up on the head drum, tape guides, capstan and mechanism rollers can only be totally removed by a full mechanism service.
This is not a quick & easy task as modern cameras are designed to be as small/compact as possible, so access to the tape drive mechanism for servicing can only be done by completely dismantling the camera and removing the mechanism. Full inspection/service to the actual mechanism itself can then be performed. This is then followed by any necessary checks & adjustments, reassembly of the complete camera and finally, a full functional test & operational confirmation.
At CCD Camera Service, we take before/after microscope pics of your camera’s tape drive mechanism like the example below, so you can rest assured that when your camera actually needs a "real" service - you get what you pay for.......a professional full mechanism service!
BEFORE AFTER
Your home VCR works fine with any brand of tape, right?........RIGHT!
And your MiniDV camera uses tapes as well, right?..................RIGHT!
So any brand of MiniDV tape should be fine to use, right?........WRONG!
Apart from being smaller in size, MiniDV tapes are very different from your standard VHS tape.
Unlike VHS tapes, MiniDV tapes store data…….an incredible amount of data. The standard 60/90min tape stores approx 17GB of data (in LP) and is wrapped around a very small, highly polished aluminium drum spinning at 9000 rpm (6 times faster than VHS). To address these two issues, ultra-thin MiniDV tapes are made by a process called Metal Evaporation and a lubricant layer is normally applied to the tape to minimise head/tape friction.
Now, both the type of lubricant layer (wet or dry), as well as the chemical composition varies with different tape manufacturers, and they all leave residues on the head drum and tape path. While the lubricant itself isn’t an issue, foreign materials can be formed when one type of lubricant is combined with dust, debris and another type of lubricant, and this foreign substance ultimately clogs the recording/playback heads……..and in worst cases, cleaning tapes don’t offer much help!
There is plenty of strong evidence to suggest mixing miniDV tapes in your camera can result in frequent head clogging. Our statistics show that when multiple tape brands are used in a miniDV camera, the chances of head clogging increase dramatically. Tape brand usage feedback from customers and other service companies support this theory as well.
Therefore, we strongly advise all customers:
DO NOT MIX MiniDV TAPE BRANDS IN YOUR CAMERA……….ONLY USE ONE BRAND OF TAPE!
Are your batteries going flat after taking just a few photos?
Is it switching off when you take a photo?
Does it turn off as soon as you turn it on?
Or doesn't your camera turn on at all?
The first thing you need to check is what type of batteries you are using!
Digital cameras require a substantial amount of power when taking photos and in particular, when you first turn them on. The start-up sequence of the average camera is: the shutter opens, the lens extends, the LCD screen & backlight turns on, the built-in flash charges, the memory card is read, every part of the camera is reset/initialised........and then it is ready to take a photo!
Every step of the power-on process draws increasing current from the batteries, and if at any stage the camera detects the battery voltage drops below a preset cut-off level……..the camera will shut off completely. This is NOT a fault in the camera, simply the batteries are unable to supply the necessary current to complete the camera's start-up sequence.
Manufacturers realised this would be an issue as standard carbon & alkaline batteries basically do not have the high current capacity to operate these cameras for long, if at all, and being re-useable was also important....so they developed high-capacity rechargeable batteries especially for these products.
We strongly recommend you use these rechargeable batteries in your digital still camera. Remember, it is the current capacity that is important and these high-current batteries usually have their capacity clearly labelled on them (carbon/alkaline batteries generally don't) – we suggest batteries rated at greater than 2000mAh are more than sufficient for most cameras.
Your camera’s DV port makes it possible for you to connect your camera to computers, and other devices with a DV port, so you can transfer digital data directly with no loss of quality. This is a great feature but, care must be taken to ensure you don’t damage your camera as DV communication problems are common.
Firstly, the DV interface (also called IEEE1394, Firewire, iLink) was designed to be (like USB) a hot-pluggable interface. “Hot-plugging” is the term used when both your camera and the device you are connecting to (usually a PC) is powered on or “hot”, when you connect the DV cable. Unfortunately, there is strong evidence to suggest that not all cameras like hot-plugging the DV cable.
What frequently occurs is damage to the sensitive DV interface chip inside the camera, exactly how and why is not widely known or acknowledged.
What we do know however, is if the camera is not already connected to an earthed device, hot-plugging the DV cable will instantly ground the camera via the DV cable to the PC (as most PCs are earthed via the mains plug). The theory is, because the camera is floating (not tied to earth) at a potentially high voltage (possibly due to electro-static build-up in the camera), the instant the cable is connected an electro-static discharge to ground via the DV port to the PC, causes damage to the DV interface chip in the camera. This is the most common cause of DV communication problems and usually results in a very costly repair.
Also, physical damage to DV plugs & sockets is common as they are small and very easily broken, even with liitle or no force applied. Another issue is computer software conflicts, which can upset the communication path from camera to PC.
With all the above information in mind, please follow our IMPORTANT advice below when using your camera’s DV port:
REMOVE power completely (AC or battery) from your DV camera
Also turn off PC/other device (preferably remove power also)
Connect your DV cable between the two
Apply power to both & turn on both devices
DV plugs/sockets are “keyed” so check you have the plug/socket key aligned correctly BEFORE plugging cable in
DO NOT USE EXCESSIVE FORCE when plugging/unplugging cable
DO NOT BEND/WIGGLE the DV plug/socket when the cable is connected
If you have installed new software on your computer and then experience DV communication problems, try uninstalling the new software first.
Handy battery info coming soon............
