Where do you get your camera serviced?

[Snow Patrol]

The only time I have taken a camera to be serviced, was in about 2003... I had some dust on the sensor of a canon D10... Read online about the dangers of 'DIY' and took it to a proper shop...

Went in with the (then) wife - Well known Pornstar - and explained in detail the little bit of stuff on the lense and showed them printed pics with it 'circled' in photoshop...

I was prepared for it to be expensive but happy to pay... Guy listens to me, takes in all the details, and starts removing the lense.

He just blows into it, winks at my wife, and says 'What Dust' lol

Camera still works perfectly to this day - The ex wife... Not so much lol

[jimslip]

When I was shooting on HDV I used to use Visual Impact in Teddington, Surrey, on 0208 977 1222. By the way, why do you think your Z1 needs ""Alignment", are you getting picture problems? If not and the hour meter is low those camcorders are best left alone.

[jimslip]

If the picture is stable, no skewing and absolutely no drop out or specks etc, then I'd leave the camera alone. The run data is quite high, but all the same ?200 to give it a clean is quite high.No harm in running a tape cleaner now and again (once every six months) I think visual impact is probably expensive, but they service hundreds of Z1's so they are very experienced.

[myson]

Turan,
Optionally, you could also add the Sony HVR-MRC1K to your Z1 and use "solid state" (Compact Flash) recording instead of tape.



Myson
!oldie!

[jimslip]

You need to research tapless formats more thoroughly. I can injest 2 hours of material (16 gig or so)into a a Macbook Pro via Firewire 800 and using the highest broadcast codec in Final Cut Pro which opens the compression from 16 gig to about 60 gig all ready to edit in about 2 hours. Or about the same as laying it from tape.

It is only a matter of time before tape formats are lost completely. In a way I like tape because its a great archive medium. I'm so paranoid about tapless stuff that I back up everything about 3 times and keep another hard disc abroad just in case some sets off an atomic weapon and the EMP wipes my other two discs!