My Panasonic DMC-TZ3 has a black screen can't get it to view. Does anyone have any ideas why?

SOURCE: Black Screen on Panasonic DMC-LX3

The symptoms which you describe are very strongly suggestive of a failed CCD imager. Either the one you have is faulty or the ribbon cable which supplies power to the CCD has failed in some way. The CCD is not involved in producing the on screen icons and their continued presence plus the ability to view pre-fault images confirm that the LCD screen and associated electronics are unaffected.

Sorry, but there is absolutely nothing you can do to try and fix this: I'm assuming that you've tried a camera reset and already learned that it will not solve this particular problem.

As the camera shouldn't be much over a year old I suggest that you contact the seller. The Sale of Goods Act basically says that goods must be "fit for purpose" and of "satisfactory quality". In practice they'll probably tell you to contact Panasonic: even if the camera is out of warranty they usually are very supportive if the defect is due to an original manufacturing fault. If you're in the UK then the Sale of Goods Act was amended recently to the effect that a seller is liable for up to six years after the date of sale for faulty products. There is now an automatic assumption that faults were present at the time of sale (even if it takes time for them to appear) unless the seller can prove that the fault is due to misuse. If you're in the UK then you can search for more details of these rights for yourself, but it's important to note that it's the seller, not the manufacturer, who is ultimately responsible under the terms of the Act.

If you're outside the UK then some of the principles of the UK Sale of Goods Act may well be covered by your own local laws. In the UK "satisfactory quality" depends upon the product: you wouldn't expect a cheap disposable razor to last six years, nor would you expect an expensive pair of trainers to last that long simply because of the way that they're used. The former would be expected to last up to around one month and the latter up to around a year (more if rarely worn, much less if actively used for sports). But an expensive camera from a prestigious brand in non-professional use would certainly be expected to last at least three years by many people, and some may well reasonably expect it to last a full six years. You'd also expect a cared-for pocketable camera to survive being knocked from a chair or table to the floor at least once in it's expected lifespan but not necessarily to survive a fall from six feet onto concrete.

Whatever you do, do not attempt to open the camera and fix this yourself if you hope to get a free repair: there is quite literally nothing inside which you can fix without specialist tools and knowledge and all bets are off if the seller/manufacturer sees evidence of a non-authorised repair attempt.

Sorry there's no quick fix but I hope that you've found my answer to be useful and I ask only that you return the favour by rating my answer.

Lee Hodgson

• 4810 Answers
• Posted on Jun 22, 2009

SOURCE: How do you unlock the memory card on the Panasonic

Hi,
Make sure the write protect lock is off by taking the card out of the camera, face the card towards you, look for a small white tab on the left hand side of the card, to unlock it push the tab down, it will be at the side of the card like this .

Hope this helps.


Good luck

SOURCE: Its a Panasonic DMC-TZ3. all

Hello

If you can view the pictures previously taken with the camera on the camera LCD, but the new photos just come out black, this is most probably a blown ccd.

This is a expensive component to replace, and you will also need specialized equipment to do this yourself.

I would suggest that you take your camera to your nearest repair shop and let them test the ccd.

Hope this can be of help.

Kind regards
Andrea

SOURCE: panasonic dmc-fx8 black screen

Hi

Sounds like either your aperture is stuck shut so no light is getting into the lens, or the CCD is defective. The CCD is what changes the light into a digital signal for the camera to record.

If you find a defective camera with a good lens you can make one good camera from the two.

If you can't do it yourself, we are an affordable digital camera repair business (Google Darntoothysam) and can get pricing for you for a replacement lens. Most lenses are are able to install and ship back to the customer for only $70. If we can help please let us know.

Good luck from Darntoothysam com

Thomas

SOURCE: Video playback problem on lumix dmc tz3

I don't have a solution to the first part of your dilemma (why it won't playback) but I do have a solution for deleting the file.  On your camera are "hidden" file folders.  When you connect your camera to your computer, you probably only see two folders (that's all I see for my DMC-LZ8).  But there are more, and your undeletable picture/video is in one of these folders.  Find the folder and you'll find the file.  Delete it from your camera using the computer to do the command.  Problem solved.  Okay, so how do you find the hidden folders?  I have a Mac, so my process was this:  1) Connect camera to computer; 2) Select/open camera icon (looks like "volume disk"); 3) From top Finder bar, select File then Find;  4) Select the camera volume to limit your search to the camera (not HD or other external hard drives you may have connected to your computer); 5) Select "Kind" and in the next dropdown button "Folders".  Voila.  Happy searching.  My hidden "undeletable" video files were in a folder called "100_PANA".  I selected them then moved them to the Trash.  Be sure to eject your camera properly (don't just turn it off or disconnect it).
Good luck.  I hope this helps.
PS - My theory is that this occurred after an upload to my computer got unexpectedly disconnected before everything finished loading or else the camera got disconnected from the computer incorrectly even if the upload had already finished (see above comment to eject camera properly).  In either case, the blank/black screen, unviewable but "there" on the camera taking up memory photos/videos problem happened to me, too.  The above actions resolved it for me.