I TALKED TO CANON OVER THE PHONE ABOUT SENDING IN MY ZR 60. THEY GAVE ME AN ADDRESS OF JONESBURG, NEW JERSEY. IT IS JAMESBURG, NEW JERSEY. ARE THEY TRYING TO TELL ME SOMETHING? WILL KEEP YOU ALL POSTED.

THANK YOU

OLD JOHN

I'm having the same problem as everybody else here. My ZR70 will not record anything but a black screen from time to time. If I play with the tapes and batteries I can get an occasional image but I can't duplicate it.

Stinks because I just went off warranty when this started and I cannot afford another camera. I really can't afford the repair either.

I found this forum after the same thing happened yesterday to my ZR65. I've had it two years, but haven't used it too much--maybe 20 hours. I took it out yesterday and saw the black record screen.

I called Canon this morning and they suggested that I take out both the main and backup battery to "reset the video processor." I'm at work and don't have the camera with me, so I'll have to try it tonight.

If that doesn't work, they said to send it in because it's a mechanical problem with the shutter. I was going to mention a possible CCD failure, but it was obvious that the rep was just reading copy off a screen.

Ok, I just tried the battery thing and so far it seems to be working again. I'm going to do some more testing tonight. I've got a family wedding to film in a month and need feel confident that I can rely on my ZR60.

Can anyone else with the same problem try taking out both batteries and see if it works?

There are several complaints about a problem with the ZR series of Canon cameras that happens suddenly: You turn off the camera normally but next time you turn it on... no more video, only a black screen. The menu functions appears normally on the display, the camera reproduces pre-recorded tapes OK, even erases and record the sound of a new scene but... no video anymore.
The problem seems to be the CCD itself, the more expensive piece on camera, responsable by the image capture.
My camera was brand new when this happened. There was the very SECOND TIME I use it. But I live in Brazil and the warranty doesn´t apply outside USA (Believe it or not). But I´m not alone. Here and in others camera foruns the same complaints are described.
I write to Canon describing the problem, asking about the solution for the EVIDENT issue. If they are a serious company as I thought they are, they should do a RECALL.
They answer my email today. Read by yourself the beggining of the text Canon write to me:
This is not a known issue with Canon's ZR series camcorders. Verify that the lens cap has been properly removed. If this is not the issue, then the camcorder may be set to an incompatible recording mode. While in Camera mode press the Set button and use the Selector dial to change the recording mode.
I think Canon is joking about us. Or, sorry, the americans didn´t land on the Moon really...

I tried the removing all battery trick mentioned in the previous post. Unfortunately it doesn't work on my ZR40. Yes I did remove both batteries, the rechargable lithium one and the backup button battery.

I'm gonna try to call the number also provided in a previous post to see if Canon would solve it for free, coz obviously till now it's not an accidental quality problem. They should have recalled it.

It looks like the battery trick was only a short-term solution. It doesn't work, again.

I shipped my camera off to Canon yesterday, and in my letter I copied three pages of posts on this forum about the same problem. I'm not paying for this.

All,
Just got off the phone with Canon.. The conversation went something like this (CA service office) " I understand there is a known problem with the CCD on the ZR70, and Canon is fixing these units free of charge, is that correct? I also explained that I only buy Canon products and have a Canon Dig camera. And that I would love to stay a loyal Canon customer, but only if they stand behind there products.. They agreed to fix the unit FREE ... Its a year out of warranty, but they didn't even ask.. Hope this helps everyone-- don't take no for an answer...

good luck
BF

Just got an e-mail from Canon. They're gonna fix it for free.

I want to thank everybody (to include this website & forum) that provided help / solutions concerning the black screen. Because of your help - - I'm was able to get help. Within 6 hours of emailing Canon they sent me everything I needed (via email) to return my ZR65 (free of charge) for repair.

Has anyone in the UK got theirs repaired for nothing?

Add My ZR60 To the list. My sister had borrowed it to tape part of her trip to Hawai last week and when she turned the camera on at Pearl Habor...... Black screen.... I emailed Cannon tonight so I'll see what happens now. I read in another forum the Cannon didn't have anymore of the CCD's and were offering a replacement for $150.
I'll post a reply when I have more info.......

Well, add me to the list. Just last night I tried to get video of my pet birds playing and having a great time but as soon as I turned my ZR65 camcorder on, removed the cap, uh oh, the dreaded black screen made its appearance.

I know I bought an extended warranty but I don't know whether I bought a 2 or 3 year and of course, I can't find it now that I need it. But I'll look around more thoroughly tomorrow. My camcorder is about 2 1/2 years old but I really haven't used it that much but I guess that makes no difference with these LCD's crapping out like that.

I noticed that they're having the same problems on the Sony forums too, so it's not just limited to Canon.

Keeping my fingers crossed I can get this thing fixed.

Hello -

I have now sent two Canon camcorders back to have the CCDs replaced. Both times they were relatively quick and didn't charge me a thing. So although I would rather that the sensors had never failed, I do feel pretty good about how they've been dealing with the issue.

Except that today I tried one of these cameras for the first time with a cassette. It looks fine on-screen while recording, but on playback there are five think grey horizontal lines that cover up most of the image. When I play a previously-recorded tape the image looks fine (as do photos taken to the SD card), so this is only happening when recording to tape.

Could this imply damage to the recording heads in transit? Or might they just be very dirty? Anyone have any suggestions as to how I might correct this new problem?

Thanks in advance for your replies.


Edit: Looks as if it was dirty heads after all. After I recorded for a while the bars went away. If the problem comes back I'll post again.