SERIOUS FLAW with Canon MiniDV camcorders

SERIOUS FLAW

I have owned a Canon MiniDV camcorder for less than a year and I am VERY dissatisfied. Upon conducting research I have learned that Canon MiniDV Camcorders have a SERIOUS FLAW that has forced many owners to pay considerable repair fees and made many consumers reconsider ever purchasing another Canon product. For documentation of this problem, see this user forum:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/t19001.html

Also, see this thread:

http://www.dvspot.com:8080/WebX?50@@.ee79d95

To make matters worse, Canon denies any such flaw exists, while continuing to take customers' repair payments.

CAVEAT EMPTOR

Apparantly it is not very widespread.

How long have you owned your camera?

People have owned their camera for well over a year and this issue has never happened to them. Then there are some people that have it happen to them in a few months.

I have searched on this further and it seems like a tape problem, not a camera problem. What kind of tape are you using?

Also, only one guy on the internet (search google) seems to be complaining.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by [mooninite]

I have searched on this further and it seems like a tape problem, not a camera problem. What kind of tape are you using?

Also, only one guy on the internet (search google) seems to be complaining.

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Thanks for posting on this, mooninite. I was concerned about this when I saw the post. I looked at the links posted to follow up and it looked legit. But if it's only one guy, he could be the same one who posted here. This might be an anti-Canon campaign by one disgruntled customer. Does it look like that to you?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Photo-John

Thanks for posting on this, mooninite. I was concerned about this when I saw the post. I looked at the links posted to follow up and it looked legit. But if it's only one guy, he could be the same one who posted here. This might be an anti-Canon campaign by one disgruntled customer. Does it look like that to you?

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My GL2 is in the mail! heh... can't really check it yet.

I am not sure what the equivalent model is in Australia, but it has been well over a year since i have seen a broken canon video camera at work other than those models that had been swimming when they shouldn't have. I was curious so followed the links, it look legit but it doesn't sound right. I actually left with the impression that it was the same guy posting under several names. I didn't want to say anything though because i have no way of verifying the claims one way or the other. I have seen various technicians struggle to identify fualts in cameras b4. sometimes it is something silly like a more humid environment where the camera is being used (although i doubt it in this case). My gut feeling is this guy has a genuine gripe but he is going about complaining the wrong way, trying to create an artificial "known fault" with the camera.

Skyman-
I can check to see if it one person. I have my ways...

But if it is, we've countered the post enough that I think it's ok to leave it. I've been waiting to see if the original poster would reply. That he hasn't really makes me think he's just posting complaints all over the Web. I doubt he has any intention of following up on his post here. And I sincerely doubt there is a problem with all Canon DV cameras. If there was, it would have shown up in the reviews a long time ago.

Thanks guys, for posting in this thread because I was concerned. I feel fine about it now.

I actually came back to these forums (I originally used them to research a digital still camera I was buying) to look for opinions on 3 CCD camcorders.

I will say though that I bought my camera a little over 1 year ago and I encountered this very problem for the first time last night, just as I was attempting to pop a tape out and take a picture to list my Canon ZR60 on eBay (I hat the darn thing and would like to replace it with a Sony 3 CCD cam).. I would hold these claims to be credible, just that the one guy is keeping the discussion going. If it is a tape issue (I used Sonys occasionally, but mostly Panasonic), Canon should put it in the instructions that users should stick to one brand of tape.

i have not yet had a single problem with my canon optura 20 MiniDV Camcorder

I've got about 20 of my students that are shooting Canon cams, from the ZR series to the XL1S. We haven't had any real problems yet. I've been using the sony DVM60PR premium tapes in our machines. It is a great bang for the buck tape and has the least amount of drop outs during repeated use. That can be important, less material falling off the tape, means cleaner tape heads and lower yearly maintenance costs. I think that the guy on the web site is someone who got the one in a million lemon.

MJS