New Sony Digital 8 WalkMan Units

[Jerry Jones]

Anybody had a chance to see one of these new Digital 8 WalkMan units?

I understand the GV-D200 and the GV-D800 RETAIL for $700 and $900, respectively.

The GV-D800 has a screen.

http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/corpcomm/news/consumer/632.html

[Patrick]

I'd be interested to know whether or not the "guts" of these units is any more durable or robust than that of a D8 camcorder. Not that I'm critical of the durability of D8 camcorders, but if the WalkMan units are built no more robust, what would be the point of buying them? There's not a whole lot of difference in price between them and the D8 camcorders.

Maybe a Sony technician could give us some feedback. Is mynx in the house?

[mynx]

I hadn't even heard about these. The D8/8mm mechanism (both are the same) are actually very durable. Almost all problems are do to abuse. Ie trying to help it to load or eject faster or see how well it performs with sand in it. I find the sony mech. the easiest to work on.

[wkulecz]

Your comment made me wonder, which camcorder mechanism performs best with sand in it (or is best at keeping it out). I go to the beach a lot.

--wally.

[Dr Mordrid]

If you're going to use it extensively on the beach or will use the cam in incliment conditions I'd strongly advice either;

1. getting a housing for it or

2. taping most of it into a plastic bag with a UV filter on the lens for protection.

You can order an underwater camcorder housing plan for $ 25 from Midwest Engineering & Design if you want to build it yourself, or you can ask them to build one for you at much more.

http://www.angelfire.com/ks/diyplans/index.html

I built mine from one of their plans for under $100 USD.

They also make plans for 1 and 2 man submarines, scuba tows, ultralights and other goodies....

Yeah, I've been known to dive too

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 26 January 2001).]

[mynx]

I just had to give someone a $500 estimate for a unit full of beach sand. The best advice is don't. Here are a few tips if you don't have a case.
1. If its windy don't take it. The is sand being blown around, This is the worst problem. This sand is very small and will cause all sorts of problems.
2. Load the tape inside of the car. Don't open the tape door while on the beach.
3. The salt moisture in the air is equally dangerous. salt is highly corrosive and conductive. What it doesn't corrode it will short out.
4. Don't put the unit into the carrying case until it has been wiped off. If sand gets into the case, you might as well just sit the camera on the sand at the beach.
5. VHS-c and 8/hi-8/D8 mechanisms are stronger and more able to deal with sand than mini-DV. However a single grain of sand can jam any motor or gear.
It is impossible to remove all of the sand from a unit once its there its there forever.

[Sciascia]

mynx,
A fellow tech it sounds like, we have our guys going to the desert all of the time and you wouldn't believe the condition of the equipment when they come back. And they wonder why they can't black balance with sand all through their $12,000 Fujinon lens. It got so bad that we actually paid for a Fuji tech to come out and train us to disassemble and realign a lens at our own shop. It's amazing, they'll leave for a trip and won't even take a camera case. I bet if they had to pay for the repairs themselves it would be a whole different story. Of course if it doesn't work, you know who's fault it is...