Another Sony DCR TRV-39 Camcorder That Doesn’t Record Anymore:

Greetings,

I bought a Sony DCR TRV-39 camcorder from Butterfly Photo back in August 2003.

The camcorder worked fine through December 2004. When tried to video "The Gates" exhibition at Central Park in February this year, here's what happened:
1. Opened camcorder LCD Touch Panel Screen and pressed Display/Battery button. Got normal data display, including battery condition horizontal graph, on blue field. COOL.
2. Moved Power Lever to VCR. Got normal data display on blue screen. I rewound a bit to previously recorded material and PLAY and got normal video and audio ... as if nothing was wrong. COOL.
3. Moved Power Lever to CAMERA, that is to record. Got vague, gray, "horizontally ripped" video display with little definition ... certainly nothing identifiable. "Scene" changes as camera is moved. Data at top of screen displayed OK. NOT SO COOL.
4. Moved power lever to MEMORY/NETWORK. Got same vague, gray display as mentioned in #3. Data at top and bottom of screen displayed OK. NOT SO COOL.

On a couple of video forums earlier this year I learned that Sony has been besieged with this problem by other TRV-39 users. Seems the culprit is a faulty CCD assembly board, which is a widespread occurrence and the apparent fault of Sony. Has any progress been made in getting Sony to “own up” in this regard?

My wife and I need to have this camcorder fully operational for an extended trip to San Francisco in mid-August 2005.

So, we are open to any effective suggestions on what to do next.

Many thanks,

Mike Mooney