The ND filter wheel is slipping on our hdx900. The larger color temp wheel is fine. I loosened the allen screws and lined things back up but that didn't work. It just went out of whack after a few turns. The knob is tight and not actually slipping on the post so I think the problem is deeper in. At times it won't even engage the wheel and I have to jiggle it a bit to get the filter to catch. The filter will sometimes line up even though the knob didn't lock into the detent.
Also, sometimes the indicator inside the viewfinder just shows a dash rather than the nd number even though the filter is in place.
Is this something someone has dealt with before and can offer an easy fix or is it time to send out for repair?
Re: slipping filter wheel on HDX900 by Mark D'Agostino on Oct 13, 2008 at 1:02:09 pm
Hi Ernie,
We've had the camera since July 2007. I was holding off sending it in in case I or someone else could come up with an "at home" solution.
Thanks!
Mark
Re: slipping filter wheel on HDX900 by Ray Palmer on Oct 29, 2008 at 4:21:36 pm
We had an HDX900 and the filter wheel knob would turn but the filters would not change.
We sent it into Panasonic in Burbank and it was repaired under warranty.
Ray Palmer, Engineer
Salt River Project
Phoenix, AZ
602-236-8224 office
There are three types of people in this world, those that can count and those that can't.
Re: slipping filter wheel on HDX900 by Mark D'Agostino on Oct 29, 2008 at 5:26:19 pm
Hi Ray,
Thanks for the reply. Our 900 unfortunately was out of warranty. We had the plastic gear replaced with a brass one. On another subject, I know you have shot HD from a helicopter. In fact I spoke with you about a year and a half ago when we first got our HDX900. We have shot many times over the years with SD lenses. What HD lens have you found gives the most stable image? I had less than ideal results the first time I tried an HD lens. They are much more sensitive and prone to vibrations than SD lens,(actually the lower resolution of SD helps to hide it). After speaking with folks at Tyler I solved that, (the bracket to support the lens would not fit the HD lens the client rented and we had to fly without it. We stabilized the footage in post with Smoothcam).
We typically use the Tyler mount, no gyro stabilization, and shoot at a focal length of 7 - 10mm.
Re: slipping filter wheel on HDX900 by Mark D'Agostino on Oct 22, 2008 at 1:22:29 pm
The problem with the ND wheel turns out to be a broken plastic gear. I've been told this has happened to a few HDX900s and that Panasonic is replacing that gear with a brass one. Ours was repaired at Abel CineTech. They were very helpful and quick... Nice folks to do business with. Another place I checked for repair didn't know about this issue and contacted Panasonic. They were told a service bulletin would be coming out but that the brass part wasn't available yet. I guess Abel CT got theirs because they sell the camera.
