Lumix FX9 w/ motion stabilzer - major problems

[galfromdownunder]

I've been using this camera heavily for 5 months, and in fact, I am at this moment making a DVD movie of biking route66 for someone. After 5 months the following serious problems have developed:

1) Purple smearing and vertical lines are appearing on movies when shooting contrasty scenes involving sunlight.

2) Mode dial has broken - no longer indexed, but spins freely

3) Looks like a hair or something has gotten on the INSIDE of the lens, resulting in a blurry gray mark on the pic.

View problem 1 and 3 (where photos are stills taken from movies) in the photo galleries at this link:

http://www.galfromdownunder.com/route66

If anyone can offer suggestions I'd really appreciate it. It's a shame as the footage I am taking will be used to make the movie.

Lynette

[mystro544]

Sounds like the perfect time to call panny support,let us know your results.

[pxpaulx]

well, things like filters and lens hoods would help with the light streaks; unfortunately, the camera you have can't accept any sort of add-ons like that. forgive me for asking, i don't want to sound rude or anything, but if you're wanting to make a real, legitimate movie, why aren't you using at least a miniDV camcorder? don't get me wrong, i love that i can take video clips with my digital camera, but thats just it; its good for clips, but if i wanted to make a movie, i'd certainly buy the right equipment for it; even something older on ebay would suffice. ghosting and lens flare are unavoidable when you take pictures facing the sun no matter what you do. with regards to your second and third questions, if the camera is under warranty you definitely need to contact panasonic as the previous poster stated!

[galfromdownunder]

Thanks guys.
Yes, of course I could buy a video camera but that would be way too sensible. I am interested in seeing how far I can push a piece of minimalist technology. A digi camera on a lanyard is perfect for a cyclist - you can whip it out of your back jersey pocket and shoot one handedly. The short clips (2 minutes or less) force you to be economical and succinct with your shooting rather than shooting reams of junk and then wading through it later. The 45 minute movie I made of my Peru trip was voted Audience Choice in the recent Boston Bike Film Festival - and I did it on 320x240 res on a Canon digital elph 3.2 Mpix camera - actually quite watchable after you put it through imovie and idvd on my 12" Powerbook! It encourages everyone who sees the movie to use their own digi camera to record chunks of their lives.

OK, so I called Panasonic. They said the repair would be $161 (labor) as it is out of labor warranty.

She said the way I am using it it is probably 'too much' for the camera. You can't put it near dust. You can't use the mode dial too much. You can't etc etc This is ridiculous, you might as well put it in a glass case and use it as a paperweight.

I asked them if they would fix it for free like Canon did because of the project I am doing, or hell, just give me a new one as what's $300 to these people?

I was supposed to get a response in 24 hours.

24 has passed, I shall call them with my case number.

I got an email from another guy who is having the same problems.

Lynette