View finder and LCD both show grey

There is nothing user friendly on these, if your not factory trained on this type of repair then it should be done by someone who is. The view finder is a small LCD and is not meant to be repaired, but they can be replaced. Get an estimate and decide if you want to repair or live without it,

i think you are able too see the video in play back mode. so there is no problem in your LCD.
i think the CCD has got damaged in your CAM. that is why you are not able to view anything in shooting mode.
because CCD is the layer which converts the light falling on it to a electrical signal and shows us as a complete image.

Its a camera CCD Problem. If the View finder & LCD both showing black then its 100% CCD problem. Let me know Lcd also black? Also make sure lens is not covered by any thing.

If camcorder shows old recorded tapes picture with correct colors in LCD but does not show live view in camera mode to record new movie then its ccd imager chip failure.
And if camcoder shows live view and old recorded tapes in its eye piece view finder but does not show any thing in LCD the its problem of broekn/ cracked flexible wire between lcd board and main board of camcorder.
Let me know your finding with bit detail to provide you solution/ helpful info.

Is your camera an SLR, if so then your mirror might be at the wrong angle, if that is the case then you need to have a specialist tilt the mirror, if your camera is not a SLR then this is a common problem when taking pictures from a short distance away from your subject, as the view finder is above the lense so what appears centered in the view inder will be much higher up in the lense, there are two ways to fix this, one is to use the LCD, or most cameras have correction marks in the view finder,and these show where the actual edges of what the lense sees are, use the correction marks.

I have a similar SONY camera. Turn the camera on and to the right of the viewfinder (or perhaps in a different location on your model) there will be a small button that reads, "FINDER/LCD". Press that button once to see if your view switches back from viewfinder mode to LCD display mode.

The XT does not have a "live view" feature. You have to use the viewfinder.
The LCD is strictly for data and picture viewing.

With the camera on, have you tried pressing the DISP button once? It's the lower left button on the back of the camera. It manually turns the display on or off as desired to save batteries (you can then aim through the optical viewfinder).

SLR's don't show what your seeing through the view finder on the LCD. That is a function on point and shoot cameras, not on SLR's.

Is it only in the Viewfinder, or also on the LCD, or also transfers to the recording?