Alan's experiences with replacing his camera ...
As some of you will know, my trusty Sony A1 camera has recently suffered a serious problem. The side-screen has failed; a well-known problem with this model, and something that had to be fixed for the first time not long after I bought it. Without the side-screen, it’s not possible to access most of the functions, or even play back footage on the camera itself. (Fortunately, I can still do this on the computer). It’s a tape-based camera, now many years old, and really needs replacing. So, what to buy Gordon alerted me to a used Canon HA 20 HD camera, being sold in Chesterfield so, having arranged to do everything in the garden, I went up there to take a look. John Fox, a member of the recently-defunct Chesterfield Movie Makers, has the same model, and very kindly came along to help explain the workings. It’s a fairly complicated camera, with touch-screen, joy-stick and other controls. One problem was that the handbook had been lost and, without it, understanding all the functions would be almost impossible. The bigger shortcoming, however, was the very dim sidescreen. Even in overcast daylight, it was almost impossible to see anything; despite the screen brightness being turned to maximum. I recall that, when filming “Time’s Up”, using Angie’s camera (can’t remember the model), we found the screen to be much dimmer than would have been liked, making it very hard to judge exposure. Many shots turned out to be over-exposed when the iris had been opened-up to get something visible on the side-screen. I’ve been looking for reasons why LCD screens can become dim, and it seems that it can happen due to exposure to sunshine, overheating, long hours of use or simply old age. So, beware! Have any other Club members experienced similar problems? Sadly, I felt that I could not use a camera in this condition, and came home empty-handed. So, I’m still looking for a replacement.