How to Troubleshoot a Digital Camcorder

Digital camcorders offer great picture quality, excellent sound, compactness and lots of features. Combine one with a computer for digital editing and output to DVD, and you could end up the talk of the next Sundance Film Festival. Although these cameras don't have many (if any) parts you can repair yourself, it's still possible to troubleshoot some common problems yourself.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Colors appear off or look different when you view video on TV or monitor. Learn how to do a white balance for your camera to compensate for artificial light when you're taping. If your camera has a color-bar feature, include color bars at the start of each video. Then you can compensate for color idiosyncrasies by adjusting the TV or monitor.
2. A tape won't eject. Try turning off the camera and then turning it on with the eject button pressed down. Remove all power (including lithium batteries) and leave the camera off for 30 seconds. Then reinstall the batteries and turn the camera on with the eject button held down.
3. FireWire connection to computer keeps getting dropped. Check with manufacturer to make sure you have the latest driver and firmware updates for your camera and computer. Always turn the camera's power on before making a FireWire connection. Disconnect the FireWire cable before turning the camera off. Use the camera's AC adapter when making FireWire connections. Try a different FireWire cable and try connecting the camera to a different computer. FireWire cables and ports sometimes fail.
4. Camcorder won't power up when you turn it on. Remove all power (including lithium batteries) for 30 seconds. Reinstall batteries, connect AC adapter and see if camera will reset. If not, it probably needs service.
5. Camcorder won't focus. Check to see if there's an auto/manual focus switch.
6. Audio and video are degraded. Try a fresh tape. Although digital-video tapes should be good for several hundred plays under good conditions, they can wear out. Clean the camera heads with the manufacturer's head-cleaning kit.
7. Audio records on only one stereo track. Check to see if you're using a monaural microphone. If you are, you can buy a mono-to-stereo adapter plug for it.

Tips & Warnings

• Never try to disassemble a digital camcorder yourself, especially for a stuck tape.