Hi, all! I have a Canon ZR300 miniDV camcorder, and I was trying to connect it to my PC with the firewire cable and having problems. Upon very close inspection (practically microscopic!) of the DV port on the camera, I see that one of the 4 pins is damaged - folded back where it shouldn't be - making insertion of the cable connector impossible. Since the camera is only a few months old, I should try to get it repaired under warranty, but I am afraid that Canon will say that it's my fault and not repair it under warranty. My query is this: what are the reasonable repair options? Informed opinion is that even if I manage to make a tiny hook out of, say, piano wire and try to un-smoosh the pin - it's too narrow a space for even a fine dental tool - the pin will probably break off rather than just unbend. I called a couple of local places and asked for a ballpark figure for replacement of the 4-pin DV connector, and one said that it should be shipped to the manufacturer (very helpful!) and the other said that it would be around $200, which seems a bit steep, since the camcorder cost about $300. I see people have asked whether one can obtain a mini DV player, to be left permanently connected to one's computer via Firewire, but that the answer is yes, and they are more expensive than the camcorders! (Maybe around $600.) Anybody have any other ideas/options? It seems to me that this must be fairly common, since the 4-wire DV connector seems not very robust and such damage due to misalignment upon connection must occur with some frequency. Thanks in advance for your replies! Best regards, Bob P. SD, CA
Hi, all, again: Well, nobody ever replied, so I thought I'd just say what happened. Sure enough, attempting to fish out the pin led to the pins just fracturing. So I had to have the Firewire (DV) connector replaced. I had it done by Kurt's Camera here in San Diego - they had the lowest labor rate by a little bit. It cost $78 labor and the part, which consists of a circuit board with the three connectors on one edge and presumably some kind of ribbon connector on the other edge, cost $65 and it took a couple of weeks to arrive from Canon. So the total cost to repair was $150. Lesson: be incredibly careful with the 4-pin Firewire connector on one's camcorder - there are clearly plenty of lousy connectors out there, and one has to be certain that the four pins in the male connector are up where there supposed to be - firmly attached to the underside of the curved edge of the connector - before inserting it into the camera. Best regards, Bob P. SD, CA