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Panasonic DMC LC1 problem ..Help!


fishdrummer

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It seems all my images have a terrible pink saturation to them. i completely reset the camera but the problem remains .. any suggestions ?

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I looks like your sensor is failing. I had it happen to me and that was the first sign and first step to failing. White balance will not solve it. It will probably get worse and then you get a bunch of colored lines instead of any semblance of a photo.

 

You will have to send it in to Panasonic for replacement of the sensor. If it is out or warrantee you will have to pay for sensor and repair. In Japan, Panasonic covers the sensor replacement. in the USA they do not.

 

I just got mine back from them after a sensor replacement. They do a nice job, but if it is not under warrantee you will be paying for the repair.

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I just got mine back from Panasonic two weeks ago. My sensor had gone black (died) back in November 2006 and I had told them a few times that Leica replaced such sensors for free as it is a Sony sensor error.

 

Finally, Panasonic told them they replaced those on warranty. And they did (here in Denmark). So try if it is possible. Sounds to me Panasonic just recently, like three weeks ago, told their repair houses to repair these on warranty.

 

Good luck with it.

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Don't know where you are fishdrummer, but problems of the kind you're experiencing have been well documented 'from all the airts'. Evidence from these columns seems to suggest that wherever you are, Panny & Leica are now doing the right thing.

That was my experience in the US with the additional bonus of my LC1 being returned to me within three weeks.

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As a matter of fact I quite like the result on this photograph;) However, I can imagine it does not please you - it seems one colour channel has gone/is going. My brother has a Panasonic version and had the sensor replaced under courtesy warrantee by Panasonic a few months ago.

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As a matter of fact I quite like the result on this photograph;) However, I can imagine it does not please you - it seems one colour channel has gone/is going. My brother has a Panasonic version and had the sensor replaced under courtesy warrantee by Panasonic a few months ago.

 

My daughter loves it ...she is a pink freak!

 

I live in Maryland and I bought the camera off ebay a few years ago. Can someone help with a contact number/address? thanks for all the responses.

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as opposed to the magenta nutz found in Leica environs :)

 

check your serial # against the following information please

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  • 1 month later...
as opposed to the magenta nutz found in Leica environs :)

 

check your serial # against the following information please

 

 

My LC1 sensor had just gone black 2 days ago and you don't know how relieve I was to find this thread as my serial# falls in the 2004 range. I called up Panasonic to try and get help but they claim to have no knowage of the issues and the subsequence "recall" or "courtesy repair". If you could send me a link to where you found this notice would be much appreciated, then perhaps I can get a bit more leverage in dealing with them. Any suggestion would be helpful.

 

Thanks a million!

Tommy

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Tommy

the original link was to a pdf file, my image is a grab from that

 

if you google "Panasonic has discovered that the CCD image sensor used in some DMC-LC1"

 

you get this link

 

http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/digital_cameras/DMC_LC1_3CCDNotice.pdf

 

but it seems the page has been taken down, however

google provides a httml link for pdf files, so go back to the Google page with

"Panasonic has discovered that the CCD image sensor used in some DMC-LC1" in the search engine string, hit the "View as HTML" link, and there it is

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Thank You much for helping me out on this and I will keep you posted on the matter. The LC1 in my opinion was a very unique camera, and if there was a satisfactory alternative out there, I would probably just buy a new one. Unfortunately, I don't think the L1 can justify its price given the dim finder and the small gain in m-pix. I will wait for the next model for the eventual upgrade and in the mean time, I hope Panasonic will honor their words. Its really ashame that the new "digital" camera last only for such a short time, you would think sensors should be able to swap out like upgrading a CPU or memories for the next generation ones.

 

 

Tommy

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Unfortunately, I don't think the L1 can justify its price given the dim finder and the small gain in m-pix.

 

Tommy

 

Tommy, whilst I agree with you that the LC1 and D2 are wonderful cameras, I still have a D2, my L1 is better in photo capturing in "every way" over my D2.

 

I have decided to keep my D2 as a backup to my L1, and I still shoot the D2. But the D2 has an extremely 'narrow band' of shooting excellent photos when compared with the L1's capabilities.

 

The colours from each are similar, however the reduced noise, higher resolution and Image stabilisation at shots between 1/10th second to 1 to 2 secs for the L1......the D2 cannot come close.

 

My D2 is superb for bright days and flash photos, but the L1 is brilliant everywhere. When I use my D2 I know I have to be more careful and slower in shooting.

 

My first few weeks with the L1, I thought I'd made a mistake in buying It. Well not really as my D2 had died, and I urgently need a camera for a trip to Tokyo-Paris-London. But it took me two weeks to learn how to use the L1 correctly.

 

It has been reported many times here, that a in-shop test drive of an L1 or D3 will leave most potential customers under-whelmed as the out-of-the-box default settings produce less than desirable shots....... for example the AF goes crazy if you use the 3-zones AF. I believe all D3/L1 users now change this to Center-only AF for regular AF use.

 

The dim (?) viewfinder of the D3/L1 is very much a non-ssue if you are used to the LCD of an LC1 or D2. The D3/L1 viewfinder is 100x times better than the LCD of the D2.

 

I used the Olympus OM1 and OM4 for 20+ years which had probably the industry's best viewfinder with a multiplication factor of 0.97 and light transmission of about 0.91 and moving to an L1, I don't feel that cheated.

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Since the release of LC1/D2 things have moved along a bit. As dugby points out it had fabulous IQ when conditions were right, they just weren't always going to be right. But I think losing access to LC1/D2 as a product still leaves quite a hole, there is a need for a serious replacement, and the componentry seems to be available in one form or another.

 

I would rightly be a bit gun-shy of SONY sensor products, and might prefer either an LC1/D2 just as it was with the Fuji 1/1.7" sensor from the F30, Fuji is a four-thirds partner and so some marketable interchange already exists.

 

The difference in size between the Fuji 1/1.7" super CCD 9.5mm diagonal and the SONY 2/3" sensor 11mm diagonal would mean the current F2 zoom would have an EFL of 26.5-85mm, and an effective iso up to iso800, with shooting up to iso3200 available. With 6.3Mp upgrading from the rather thin 5Mp of LC1/D2.

 

I would stand in line for this...

 

But if I couldnt wait, I might score a F30 and tear the sensor and board out,

Replace the LC1 speed control set with the Fuji mode dial (((shudder))) and shutter release.

Re-orient the same sized Fuji LCD into the LC1 LCD aperture.

Graft the F30 4 way control set onto the back of LC1, reorient the 4 control buttons to the 4 available above the LCD of LC1

Fit the F30 flash strobe into the LC1 jack-knife arrangement

Utilise the LC1 access door for the I/O ports, same/same for the card slot

 

Just 2 remaining issues, to hook the lens and aperture control into the Fuji F30 control suite

(which I have not the first idea how that might be done, ditto to the AF implications);

and change the power on switch arrangement to the LC1 toggle.

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... The colours from each are similar, however the reduced noise, higher resolution and Image stabilisation at shots between 1/10th second to 1 to 2 secs for the L1......the D2 cannot come close....

 

??? image stabilization ??? on D2 ???

 

Wowsers!

 

--HC

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i think the AF issue might be solvable using the focussing motor from the F30 on the LC1 lens, or adapting the AF drive from LC1 grafted into F30 wiring (necessary power adaptions taken into account).

 

The actual AF systems are quite different, with LC1 using a module before the EVF window, and F30 using a contrast mechanism from the image on the chip (i think!). Separating the AF motor power from the ribbon loom might prove interesting, but once found should be doable.

 

This leaves the remaining issue of utilising the aperture ring on the LC1 lens, and in this would probably mean that it would always be aperture priority or manual, not that i see that as a bad thing. But really I am quite in the dark about this position.

 

One more detail, the EVF would be useless of course, and might be replaced by a OVF from an older film camera, perhaps there is one with a 26-85mm range, but i doubt it. More likely a 28mm.

 

Images I have gleaned today are, from Mark Norton's disassembly of D2, the sensor element on the lens, with visible AF motor. There are 4 pole contacts on the motor (pray that F30 has similar)

 

And this one of an opened up F20, see the sensor, backboard to the LCD and buttons which probably means a circuit board and ribbon looms. Sensor is aided by a ribbon fitment too, which gives some flexibility for positioning.

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  • 3 weeks later...

i did make a mistake before as to crop factors, but on your leading..

F30 1/1.7" 7.60 x 5.70, 9.5mm diag, 4.557

F40/F50 1/1.6" 8.0 x 6.0, 10mm diag, 4.3

LC1/D2 2/3" 8.80 x 6.60, 11mm diag, 3.936

 

therefore lens FL for 7-22.5mm lens would be longer not wider, respectively

4.557, 32 - 103mm

4.3, 30 - 97mm

3.936, 28 - 90mm

 

as a project not all the problems are solved

the need to ascertain aperture register between Leica lens and Fuji sensor. Frankly, the S6000/S6500 bits are better suited and actually cheaper to acquire than the now hard to find F30 (which has the best noise performance by far).

 

maybe the F30 is better suited to this diminutive SLR the Pentax 110 Auto,

 

db_110_Mar81_Cover1.jpg

the smallest interchangeable lens SLR ever made. With slightly stretched body via PS to fit F30 circuit board, purely MF, electromagnet lifting mirror

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