NZ90 camera is dead?

[sarawakian77]

I wonder if any of you guys out there can help me on this one. The camera finction on my NZ90 is only recently having problems ( I think like a few days ago). You see when the camera is turned on, no image is shown on-screen. The screen is black with no random "noise" on screen.

I then tested the Movie Recorder function. Sound was recorded, but still no image. I got all the drivers loaded, plus updates as well. Does this mean that my camera is finally dead?

It's just over a year old!

Oh I do get the same battery drain as usual, however no image still!

Help!?

[jackho]

Try to hard reset your NZ90 after you made a backup. If camera still doesn't work, then it should be camera problem.

[sarawakian77]

Ok this truly sucks. After a hard reset and a hotsync to restore all previous settings, I still get the same problem, that is my camera is dead.

Does this mean I have to send my NZ90 in? Does anybody out there what are the possible causes of this problem? Got any ideas?

Thanks again.

[NZ90 rules]

i have the same problem. i have also had my NZ90 for just over a year. the camera keeps giving me a black screen. the flash still works but still a black screen. i have tried hard resetting multiple times but the same problem occur. i am annoyed because the camera was one of the major functions and one of the reasons i bought it.

what can i do?

[kbxrx1]

buy mine and put your good screen on it. My screen is busticated.

[S'pore]

So is there any cure for the black screen problem?
Need any hardware replacements or just a software glitch....?

[NZ90rules]

The only cure cure i know of is to send the NZ90 to sony fro them to replace what they call the ccd block. Not a cheap replacement!!!

[one35th]

Hi All,

My NZ90 has this camera problem since last year.

Even if you change it, it's will happen again, it's the same design, any way.

Forget about the camera. not worth changing, unless is still under warranty.

I suspect it's the hardware design problem.

Regards,

[kbxrx1]

buy mine and put your working screen on it, this one is brand new from staples, someone broke the screen in the store.

[lombom]

Oh! The same problem happened to my NX80V. It means that the cameras of Sony have problems. Im so sad about this. I also known that my friend's NX80V have the same this problem.

I think the problem may come from the conneting cable that connect camera to the mainboard, because before this problem happen, there have some noise in the picture frame of the camera.

[virgilio]

I have same problem, I thinks it is related to design issue, so I decided to keep it for a while, because it is worth to repair it. It was a good camera, but I wonder why SONY got out for this kind of design.

[maclovio]

We need to do somethig ASAP this are like a Virus, we need to place complaint to SONY....

[kbxrx1]

YO!!!

GUYS!!!

I HAVE A NEW NZ90, BROKEN SCREEN. PUT YOUR GOOD SCREEN ON MY NZ90, NO MORE TROUBLES!

someone make me a good offer, its yours.

[kevgib]

Hello,
I bought my NZ90 from original owner who didn't use it much. I've only used it about three months. Very happy with the camera except start up time. I use a electric wheelchair so I have unlimited onboard power :) . A couple a weeks ago when using either camera or video the picture would start to look like it was melting. I'd turn it off a coulpe of times and it would work fine for awhile but occur more frequently agian.
Yersterday, the camera's viewing screen just went black as some others have been posting. I'm sure all NZ90 users are wondering is this a very common problem? If so is there something we should know to prevent this or is this an expensive design flaw in all fairness Sony should recall because many owners are having an expensive repair that is no fault of their own. Does repairing the "CCD block" mean this won't happen again? Anyone have any further insight on this?
Thanks....

[tester1979]

me too....bought from original owner....used for about two months but now seems to have the exact symptoms you are describing....

someone posted before that he opened the unit before and fixed the connector as it was loose and this fixed the problem.....

thinking to do the same things......right now i am just playing around with the settings and resets to see if problem can be solved by these adjustments

[tester1979]

welll....i opened up my NZ90 but did not bother to take pictures of the process.....did it when i just woke up.......well.....my conectors ae all tightly in place and this did not solve the problem......looks like i will be sending to sony support to see if repair is possible and i hope its not going to be a lot......

p/s - i lost a screw when trying to assemble it back......damn....

[tester1979]

just sent it in today......hoping they will be able to quote me a low price for fixing and I hope its not the camera.......

[kevgib]

Tester1979,
Thanks for keeping us informed on your repair progress. I contacted Sony support and they indicated that I could send mine in to have it repaired as a "Tier 1" item for $138.00. I tried to talk to someone in person to get conformation that replacing the CCD Block could be done as a Tier 1 instead of finding out after sending unit in it would cost some unreasonable amount. The person told me I would have to send it in to find out. Has anyone out there been through this process and had Sony "fix" there blacked out camera/video screen....can it actually be done for $138? Any feedback I'm sure would be appreciated not only by me but the many in the future who will have to travel this road....

Thanks again!

[tester1979]

well.......sony help centre personel just got back to me and she quoted the price of RM438 including labour which cost RM78.......this is in ringgit malaysia.......

if you are to convert it to USD it would cost USD115.28

anyway.....in my case it was not the CCD that spoilt.....it was the camera module board..........

now i am thinking over whether to change or not.......its most probably I will plus sony will be giving 3 months warranty on the repaired parts

[tester1979]

one more thing is that in Malaysia, and I am sure else where might be the same, you can just send in your unit for checking and if you do not want it to be repaired because the sum of repair might be too high you can just ask them to cancel the repair but you will need to pay a certain amount.

in my case, it wasstated in the repair resit that I need to pay RM20 if they found out the problem and I do not intend to repair. If you convert that it would be less than USD5

[tester1979]

well just got my nz90 back at about 4.00 pm just now....anyway i would say sony has a very good support in my case....sent in about 3.00pm yesterday and they got it done in 24 hours (it was actually repaired and ready for collection at 3.00pm)

they gave me the damaged camera board back and to my suprise the ccd (camera with the lense) was attached to the board.

well this means i paid RM434 for the whole thing....circuit board + lense + CCD.....and i get to have 3 months warranty on these parts....

but they could not answer my question on how this parts was damaged in the first place because i hope i do not have to bring it in for repair again after 3 months

[tester1979]

let me know if you guys want to see the camera module (the damaged one).

i could take a picture and post it here

[miaowmiaow]

well...
i want to see the picture so please upload it here

thank you :)

[kevgib]

Thanks again tester1979 for relating your repair experience it was helpful to me and I'm sure others. Posting a pic of your camera module would be a kindness that others who read this thread I'm sure would appreciate. If you module breaks in the near future for no apparent reason be sure to let us know.....
Thanks...

[tester1979]

As per requested....here are the pictures:-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/tester1979/DSC00013.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/tester1979/DSC00012.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/tester1979/DSC00010.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/tester1979/DSC00009.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/tester1979/DSC00011.jpg

[TJ37]

For $138 you can buy yourself a nice dedicated 3-5 MP digital camera online!!!

[tester1979]

yes you are right but that is one whole gadget. There were some reasons that made me go ahead with the repair and these are my personal opinion. Pls dun get angry if any of this unintentionally hurt anyone:-

1) I paid USD115.28 and not USD138
2) Another gadget means another thing to bring along wherever you need it plus you need to maintain it...charger...memory card etc.
3) I already have a 5MP camera and 4MP camera so this clie camera just works fine for not so important stuff that does not need 5MP or 4MP plus I bring nz90 where ever i go
4) It would have value if i ever need to sell this nz90
5) NZ90 without its camera is just another tom, dick or harry on the pda market
6) no dedicated camera on the market has a screen as beautiful and large as nz90 for viewing and taking photo/video
7) I thought that better to repair now before Sony really stop support for NZ90.

Well.....sony will continue support for any product for 6 years only down the line for a product starting from its discontinued date.

[kevgib]

Tester1979 I agree with you on reviving the NZ for many of the same reasons but perhaps with a little different circumstance. I am a quadriplegic as a result of a motorcycle accident. I have limited hand use. I try to fit as many devices as I can in the one small space I make available on my wheelchair which also conveniently powers the device too. I personally value a camera as an important tool and comunication assest and so add that to all the other things an NZ does and that is a lot of gizmos in one that I don't have to manage separately. So that combined with what you already stated except that my repair appears to be $20 more than yours still keeps it in a range that is practical to fill my needs that can not be met for the same amount of money elsewhere.
Thanks again...

[tester1979]

I hope you will manage to get yours fix too.......afterall......it a great pda...........

[maximus_44]

Hey ppl,

Like evryone here i have had the same problem with my clie.and it drove me nuts till i found this forum.thankx to tester and everyone else who brought me closure.. :)
I have had the problem for about 3 months.And it was a all of a sudden if u know what i mean.To add to my injury i live in a beautiful place but unfortunately things like these pdas don`t get repaired.anyways thankx again.

[Ricardo-Rodrix]

My problem looks different from all of you.
I see perfectly the image in real time from the cam display(sometimes the display show color little bit red and very blurry) when I using the Digital Cam to take pictures, I´m able either to see and rec movies. The recorded video is perfect. But when I use the cam to take pictures just after I press the shutter button the file captured show these images http://public.fotki.com/rrodrigues/misc/.
The pink one is the image captured when the display show the error of display blurred.

So so sad... this equipment looks so fine, but this kind of problem make it to loose its shine.

Take a look at my post
http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88314

[tester1979]

hm....yours seems to be a totally different ball game....

anyway.....some other people has complained about their camera and some said due to dust or film on the lense....

but since you said that when you bought it was perfect...again I would think the problem lies with the camera module hardware rather than software or your fault in configuration....

experience with sony service centres tells me that if you want to send your unit in for repair.....do take note of the charges....you can always request them to inform you of the estimated charges for the repair before they proceed to do the real repair.

[Ricardo-Rodrix]

Do you know exactly how can I contact the Sony´s suport to request information about the charges?

[tester1979]

hi i am not sure which country you might be from. The number that I have is the phone number for Malaysia.

you need to look for the repair centre.

[vitz.runx]

i had the same issue as everybody else. i sent mine in to sony for repair and due because mine was still in warranty, i got it repaired FOC. they didn't give anything back to me, so i guess mine was the "CCD Block" that messed up.

cheers, vitz.runx

[ronkar]

Hi guys!

It was really good to find other ppl with the same problem. I've been searching for a while to see if it was me or the camera.

The last video recording i did started with a messy screen, then it became clear. The pictures after that were becoming distorted, and now the screen is just blank. Everything works fine (even flashes), but no image.

I'm in Jamaica (bought mine off ebay), have no sony fix support out here, so...

[ewb49]

It sounds like the camera circuit croaked. If that is the case it isn't too difficult to repair. If the main circuit board it bad, that is more expensive and complicated. I have parts and can repair Clies for less than Sony and far faster. I also use an NZ90 - love it.
If you need help, contact me at ewb49@go.com

thanx,
ed

[tomsrig]

Hi, all,
I thought I posted this before but it may have not been done right.

I am the orignial owner of the NZ-90 here in the States. I've had it for just over two years now.

Two months ago my camera started acting up. When camera started I got a blank screen with some purple wavy lines down the center area. I did a soft reset, but problem still persisted. Tried a hard reset but again same thing. Then, a few days later, when I tried it again, I noticed a huge drop in battery life on the little battery display. It went from a full charge of 100% to 10%. After a couple of seconds, the whole unit shut down. Nothing would turn it on, except removing the battery and re-inserting it. But the camera still remained dead with a black screen as noted.

I replaced the battery with a brand new one. The camera was still no good. However, I no longer noticed the huge drop in battery life. Then a day passed. I tried the camera again and to my surprise, it started working....for a few days, that is. THen it went dead again with a black screen.

I Emailed Sony repair and gave the symptoms to them. I'm waiting for someone to contact me. I'll post any comments.

Tom

[ewb49]

It is probably the camera circuit that has gone bad; there is a separate one which is located behind the camera and attached to the main circuit board by cable. If the circuit is bad it can affect the rest of the unit when you try to operate the camera.
ed
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