I have a NVDS29B camcorder that now will not play or record - just flashes the power light. I have seen plenty of posts about this problem but no solution so I called Panasonic. The mong at Panasonic didn't even know what this meant. Does anyone have a clue what this means please ?

Did you check the manual? I'm sure it's described in there.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

Dennis

Mousebat, have you found a cause for this problem yet? I have a PV-DV53 model and have the exact same problem...flashing power light and won't playback or record.

Ed

I bought another one of ebay (cheap) but it has the same problem. I reckon it is something to do with the transport and I am annoyed that those muppets at Panasonic didn't know what it means.

I will be buying a new camera too, but never again Panasonic. I contacted customer services via their website about the problem I have with my camera, and they never even bothered to reply. I will be calling them instead, but I am sure I will encounted a dummy too, that hasn't a clue.

Has anyone bothered to read their manual?

Good luck.

Dennis

I seem to have the same problem with my Panasonic PV-DV203D.

I looked through the manual and found nothing related.

http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/PVDV203.PDF


My power light will be ok initially when turned on, but it will only do an action (FF, rec, play) for like 1 second before stopping and switching nearly off and blinking the red LED power light very slowly. I can turn it off and unplug to make it go away, but I only get another second out of it.

No warnings, no nothing but crappy behavior.

I tried with a recharded battery and plugged directly into the power cord, same behavior.

I tried with different tapes just to see, same behavior.

I looked through and searched the manual, nothing.

Any thoughts? Am I screwed out of a $500 (when I bought it) camcorder?

I tried to contact Panasonic but nothing yet... Still waiting. Will call Monday. And I am just a week past my one year warranty.

With all due respect Dennis, it is fairly obvious that myself and the other persons with this problem, first consulted the manual - that's just common sense, especially as the power light flashes at a specific interval, possibly corresponding to a specific error. However, the manual does not mention anything closely related.

Regards,

Ed

With all due respect, it wasn't obvious to me. That's why I asked. Twice. No one replied the first time so I gathered they hadn't.

You'd be surprised the things people forget to do when they get in the heat of battle with cams, computers, Firewire cables and the like. It's very easy to forget something simple. Quite often the answer to someone's problem is the thing I fail to mention because it's so obvious.

I'm sorry you were offended. But I'd rather ask what seems like an obvious question than assume they already did something. Besides, the number of people who read their manuals if by far the minority.

Sorry I couldn't be of assistance.

Good luck.

Dennis

It is no surprise that Panasonic used to be called Matsu ****a - never again. I just got a Sony mini dvd camcorder though and that is very good. much better low light performance, anti-shake and no flaky tape mechanism.
But I have all those tapes to transfer and I really need to get one of my two Crapasonics working. I am going to keep phoning until they tell me what the flashing light means.
Sorry Dennis, I should have said, no mention of it in the manuals.

Probably a totally dumb unnecessary response but does this unit have a reset button which returns the camera to its factory settings, I had a Sony camera a while back that used to throw a wobbly occasionally and the reset did the trick.

Just a thought....

More probably equally dumb thoughts...

Does the internal lithium battery control anything other than the clock? does it power a rom chip which retains other settings. Is it accessible?

I am wondering if some setup in the camera has gone awry and could be reset by removing the internal battery for a while.

It works with computers when the bios setup gets messed up.

I promise.. no more dumb ideas.

I submitted a request to customer support at Panasonic and I have heard nothing after a week.

Looking on the internet, my wife and I cannot figure out what could be wrong.

Now, do I send it in and pay the $150 labor charge to get back a crappy POS partially repaired prone to break down again camera from a company I can't trust, or do I just go drop $350 and get a fresh new camera that my last more than the 11 months I had with this crappy Panasonic camera? Wife says repain, I say get a new disposable one.

Bastards.

If anyone figrues anything out, please post! Thanks!

Ed

Thanks for the probably good idea of removing the battery, there is no reset switch, the latest from Pan****e helpdesk :
"It is not possible to diagnose a fault without sight of the unit. I apologise if this seems unhelpful, however we are unable to give any further advice."
Really ? so the designer decided to make the power light flash in a particular sequence just for fun without it meaning anything.
Not impressed - I will let y'all know when I take one of my units apart.

I have been sitting here scratching my head over this problem and a couple of things came to mind, however you may have already gone down this track.

1) Is it possible that you are experiencing a power drop from the battery? Over-discharged (left on the camera for a long period and gone flat) NIMH and Li-ion batteries will sometimes give the appearance of being charged but in reality the chemical process involved in storing and releasing the current has failed.

2) Does your cam have an integrated charger/power supply? maybe this has failed and is not charging the battery sufficiently, or delivering enough current to the cam when connected as a power supply.

Might be worth trying a power supply/battery from another source (friend, shop etc) just to prove that the power is not the problem.

I have sent an email to the Panasonic tech people here in New Zealand, maybe SOMEONE at Panasonic can help even if it is on the bottom of the world.