I have a Canon H680 Hi8 camcorder that fell off a shelf many years ago and hasn't been used since. Now I want to use its optics in a low-budget live video system for my church. Basically, I'm impressed with its ability to zoom way in, focus manually, then zoom out to frame the shot without losing focus. I don't need to record with it.
I asked some local shops in Kansas City (USA), and I got a unanimous, "Sorry, we don't work on those anymore".
What still works:
- It still powers on, using the original AC adapter.
- The viewfinder displays the text overlay clearly.
- All the buttons that I tried change the overlay as expected.
- The autofocus hunts around smoothly when enabled. No gear grinding or other suspicious noises.
- The last time I could get a testable image (see below), the optics seemed to be okay, which is how I know their capabilities.
What doesn't work:
- I can't get a decent picture in the viewfinder. The closest I can get is a set of very garbled dots that change when I move the camera, but are not clear enough to recognize. Sometimes I can't even get that, only solid black with some faint analog noise. At one time, I could get a badly distorted but recognizable image, but not this time.
- The video output seems to be completely dead. While I saw in the viewfinder that it was trying, the VCR that I had it hooked up to never showed anything. This could be operator error.
- I suspect that the autofocus range sensor may also be damaged because its almost-opaque cover is broken off from the fall and it never settles down when enabled. This isn't a deal-breaker though; I'd rather use manual focus anyway.
Anyone know how I can get this working?
- Edit: The lens is indeed good, determined by taking it out and looking through it from the sensor end while wiggling the controls. I still can't make the sensor work.