Sony camcorder, TRV33 piece of junk, display probs.....

dzgear
Member

I just got finished building a brand new desktop video edting computer and my camcorder goes out on me! :x The problem is in the display. I cannot get a picture through either the viewfinder or the touch screen display. The image I get looks as though it has been "scrambled". Sort of like in the old days of cable TV. I have tried turning it off and back on, taking the battery out and back on, taking the tape out then back in. Nothing works. However, when I rewind the tape and playback the video in there it plays back fine. What gives? any suggestions?

Posted 6 years ago #
KBVP
Member

Try a cleaning tape first. It may just be a piece of junk in the transport. The fact that it works when rewound says that the transport isn't seriously broken. The other possibility is that the reel brakes are dirty. This will cause a tape tension problem with the result being the tape in poor contact with the heads.

Posted 6 years ago #
Video-maniac
Member

If I'm understanding you correctly, when you have it in camera mode and you are trying to shoot video, the picture is scrambled in the viewfinders but when you are in VCR mode you can play the tape and the display (viewfinders) are fine... is that correct?

Also what kind of camera do you have and how old is it? Don't say a GL2 because if it is then I have a pretty good idea what it might be.

Questions:

Is the write protect switch on on the tape?

Did you try a different tape?

Have you cleaned the heads lately?

You said you built your new PC... did you connect your camera to it yet and try downloading anything? If so did the camera start to not work correctly after you did that?

You don't have anything else plugged in when you're trying to film do you?

If you can give us more details, one of us might be able to come up with the solution to your problem.

RAM

Posted 6 years ago #
dzgear
Member

Yes. When it is in camera mode the picture in the viewfinder or LCD display is scrambled. It will play back perfectly in VCR mode. The camera is a 2 yr old DCR - TRV33 Handycam. No the write protect switch is not on. I tried a different tape, same thing. I cleaned the heads, no luck. I have not connected the camera to the computer in any way yet. And finally no, nothing was plugged into the camera when it started acting up. Hope this answers your questions. And thanks for the help.

Posted 6 years ago #
dzgear
Member

I just did a search on the internet about this. THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL OF SONY CAMCORDER!!!! Apparently the connector to the CCD corrodes or gets misaligned and you get a black screen. (which mine is now doing.) Again this is a common problem with this camcorder, sony knows about it, and unless the camera is under warranty it will cost upward of $300.00 to fix it. THIS IS THE LAST SONY CAMCORDER I WILL BUY. And I was getting ready to buy the VX2100! All I can say is hello GL2. Here is the link to the info:
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/t110280.html

http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/camcorder/sony-dcr-trv33-reviews.html#user_reviews

Posted 6 years ago #
Video-maniac
Member

Boy... that's a bunch of BS! One of my first cameras was a Sony DCR TRV-70 and I haven't any problems yet (knock on wood). It's about 3 years old as well.

After looking on your links I think I can feel your pain. I know what I would do if it was me. I would smash it all up with a hammer, stuff it in a box and send it to SONY's repair department with a nastygram inside. You think that with a chronic problem like that they would make good on fixing them.

I have 2 GL2's and I love them. They have all of the features I need. If there was any fault it would be that they aren't the world's best low-light camera but all you need is a little added light and it's fine. Other than that they are very sweet! The picture is AMAZING!

The camera that you were going to get (VX2100) is probably one of the better ones if not the best low light camera out there. I was actually going to get this one but I had a need for more optical zoom so that's why I went with the GL2.

I would ask around the fourm about the VX2100. I know a lot of guys use them and I have yet to hear any crap on them. You'll just have to treat the TRV33 as a bad deal and a bad-engineered camera.

Besides... it's two years old already. Treat yourself to a new one to go with your new PC.

RAM

Posted 6 years ago #
BTS
Member

I have the TRV 22. Should I expect the same?

Posted 6 years ago #
dzgear
Member

perhaps. Check the sony website under support for your camcorder. If it does go out sony will fix it for free. Hope it doesn't happen to you.

Posted 6 years ago #