The camera turns on fine, but the display is pure black. Then when I try taking photos, they turn out black. I go to the "view photos" screen and the older ones I can see fine, but the ones that I took after later, with the black display, are just black.
Ok. My wife's Camera JUST did the same thing and I was able to fix it. Go to the camera settings / main settings and then choose initialize. This brings the camera back to factory default settings. It worked for her camera, hope it works for you.
Posted on Aug 23, 2008
Exact same problem: LCD obviously worked perfectly, could see overlay information during capture and could see previously recorded images, but the preview image was black and captured images were black (although high ISO images showed obvious amplifier grain). I opened the camera, took over the face plate, and turned the camera on. It immediately started working, I hadn't even attempted to perform any kind of fix yet. The face plate must have been exerting pressure somewhere. Another person suggested the lens is being pushed back and short-circuiting. Seems entirely possible to me. At any rate, put the face plate back on and the camera is working fine.
To remove the face plate you need a tiny philips screwdriver. There are six that must be removed: three on the bottom along the front edge (there are three others on the bottom along the rear edge that you can leave on) one inside the string-attachment well, and two on the other side of the camera next to the lens (one holds a plate on, which when removed, reveals one more screw under the side plate). With these screws removed you can use a flat head screwdriver or a knife to gently pry off the face plate. Go slow, don't use much pressure, there are some small clips along the op edge that must be worked free without snapping or breaking. Once removed, turn the camera on and see if it's fixed. If so, turn it off and put it back together. If not, you're in uncharted territory. Sorry.
Cheers!
Keith Wiley
http://www.cs.unm.edu/~kwiley
Posted on Aug 24, 2008
I have had this same problem in the past. I just wanted to let everyone know of a quick fix for this that doesn't involve screwing anything or doing a "power reset" like the customer service guy at Sony told me to do. Here it is in 3 easy to follow steps.
Step 1 - Go get yourself a beer.
Step 2 - Open the beer.
Step 3 - Shake the hell out of the camera for about 5-10 seconds.
Worked fine for me. Now go enjoy that beer you opened.
You're Welcome,
Nick
Posted on Apr 04, 2009
I took the face plate off (put camera on white paper folded at tip to keep screws together) very easy with your instructions. Turned camera on- did not work. Then removed lens and just moved ribbons around. Camera is working fine! Lift up light very gently to replace lens. You will see it lift up when you remove lens. Also when replacing faceplate lift battery door to get little tab in. Great help. Thanks!!!!!!!!
Posted on Dec 03, 2008
I turned on my camera today after not using it for about 2 weeks to find the same problem. I also called Sony only to be told I could send it to them with $96 and they would try to fix it. So I took Keith's advice and took off the faceplate. Unfortunately, that did not work at first. I fiddled with it a few times and finally just got so mad! So I pulled out the entire lens which was still connected with these plastic tabs. Shoved it back in (not too delicate as I was still pretty mad) and lo and behold the thing turned on and is working fine. Who knows if it will work tomorrow but for now I am just hoping to get some pics of my kids first day of school!
To add insult to injury...after my W80 did not work, I broke out my old V1 which I have not used in about a year. Wouldn't you know I turned it on and the EXACT same thing was happening with that screen. Obviously, this is a recurring problem for sony.
Good Luck!
Christine
Posted on Aug 27, 2008
My wife's cameraI had this problem, resetting didn't help. Sony wanted $91 plus shipping, even to diagnose the problem, no guarantee they would fix it. Only a 90 day warranty on repairs. That is most of what an equivalent camera costs, so she gave it to me to take apart (with the promise I would throw it away if I couldn't get it to work).
I opened it up and found that it worked so long as the lens module wasn't fully inserted into the case. Even pulling it out a fraction of an inch made it work. So it seemed that the problem was a short between some parts of the lens module and the back of the case. Or maybe the ribbon cables weren't seated properly. I added some insulating tape to the case, behind the lens module, and bent (slightly) the little tab that is supposed to ground the lens module, so that it still makes contact. I reseated the ribbon cables.
There were also some wires that were routed between the ribbon cables and the rest of the camera, which were covered with some tape. Looked like motor control/power. These wires protruded, pressing against the ribbon cables. I rerouted the wires a fraction of an inch, so they fit within a depression and didn't press against the ribbon cables.
Now the camera works good as new. Obviously this is a risky procedure, but it may be a good alternative to throwing the camera away if you are used to working on things with fiddly little screws. Seems to point to the problem being a design flaw in the camera, it seems that maybe they depend on the ribbon cables to insulate the lens module, and those probably flatten out over time, allowing some lens module connections to short to the case. Or maybe the problem is that their ribbon cables are too delicate.
But it seems to be a problem that could be fixed with some good analysis, if Sony thought it was important.
Posted on Aug 24, 2008
From this symptom.it indicate the camera len module is faulty need to replace and is very costly.hope it help.
Posted on Aug 03, 2007
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Same as above...what you are trying to shoot at, is pitch black...you can see the little items (like battery life, etc), but the "picture" is black!
I have a Sony cyber-shot DSC-T1 camera. When turn on, the screen the display is blank, it seems turn on normal. I tried to correct the problem by changing the settings to all options but none solves it.
The same, sundenly the cameta stop working, the screen is black, i can see my pictures that i shooted before the black screen problem, i can see the icons, but i can't take pictures, all of them are black, it seems to be a problem with the len (s)
sorry my english it's bad.
but the sony cyber-shot seems to be worst than my english.
i buyed 9 months ago.... :(
Yup. Same problem here. Everything appears to be functioning except the image is pure black. I can even still easily upload all my new "black" pictures to my pc through the cradle, or check out my memory cards separately to view all the solid black pics.
I did however notice that this happened soon after I tried to take some movies. I couldn't get the movies off of it, because they weren't showing up. I really think it may be a memory issue, as my Treo 650 had a similar problem once, which was corrected when I was finally able to dump off some movie clip files. Anyone else notice this problem soon after recording with the filmstrip option?
Mine is older, a DSC-T1 which we've had for close to four years. I've LOVED this camera and took tons of great pictures with it. But now, I guess if I can't find any solution on my own, I may have to pay some bucks to have it repaired or replace it. Boo hoo! If anyone figures anything out, I hope we can all get this solved!
black screen, can see icons, only can take black picture
Same problem-mostly black screen (I can see part of the picture) and that's the way it develops! Was hoping for an answer-looks like I need a new camera. UGGH!
I have the same issue - there's a black screen when I turn the camera on, so only way to see what I'm shooting is through the viewfinder. No point though as the picture comes out black anyway. It's strange because one day the camera was working fine, the next it was black. I've only had it 7 months so it's really annoying that it appears to be broke already. I can't seem to find any support on the Sony website for this problem but as there seems to be numerous people on this site who are suffering from the same thing it must be a widespread problem.
Black screen with specifications. Perfect disply of pictures allready on memorystick. Camera DSC-T1.
iv had this camera 5months and am currently in travellin in new zealand so am not happy at all!!!
mine to started to do it after i was using movie mode so maybe a connection with this!!! iv tried numerous things with the settings and memory cards but it is not correcting itself!!!
very annoying as on a limited backpacker budget a new camera was not in the budget!!! arrrrhhhhh!!!!
Hello, I recently started experiencing the same problem. Black screen and pictures, although camera 'seems' to function normally turning on, screen icons, etc. Pictures are taken, but turn out black. Currently have a support call open with Sony as the camera is only 10 months old.
I have the exact problem. It worked fine yesterday morning, and then yesterday afternoon had a black screen. I went through the troubleshooting online chat at Sony's site, and the end result was they recommend sending it in for repairs. Mine is just out of warranty by a month. If yours is under 1 yr. warranty it looks like they won't charge for the repair.
Same exact thing is happening with my camera, that everyone else is saying. I've rarely used my camera if really at all for one, I barely bought it a couple months ago for two! And it was working fine a few hours ago. Then next thing I know, I turn it on and the screen is black! When i take pictures, they are black! I can view pix i've taken earlier i can see the menu and when the camera is turned on I see the sony welcome screen thing. I can see the display stuff and the menu things, but the screen does not show anything but black and it takes pix that come out black as well!..HELP!!! =[
Same problem. Just turned on ... nothing.
Screen is black when the camera is turned on. Tried to change the settings & see if I get any results but did not achieve any thing. Please Help !!
I took a few pictures, turned it off and a day after i turned it on and the screen was black! It takes pictures but they turn out black too. I can see nothing at all. The camera flashes and everything perfectly fine except for the black screen. I can see all the pictures i took before perfectly fine, but the ones i take with the black screen turn out just as a black screen. HELP ME ASAP plz....
The fella with the solution below is a genius. I paid $3 for a tiny screwdriver, removed the faceplate (easy) and I now have my camera back. Makes me wonder if the SOBs at Sony would have done the same thing for $96!!!
Same problem with black screen when taking pictures (but able to view prior pics and all menus); removed face and it fixed the problem! Thanks for great advice!
same problem, but easy fix by taking faceplate off and putting back on as suggested below.
Thanks for th help, had exactly the same problem !
same
I had the same problem and the solution below worked great, thanks!
same thing happened to me today. hardest part was finding a tiny phillips to unscrew the faceplate. borrowed one, did it and camera is as good as new! thanks very much for the great advice. 1 small problem- a little plastic piece fell out- don't know from where or how important it is, but hey camera works!
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