Auto power off function on camcorders- workprinters

[Chris-B]

I was looking as getting a 2nd hand dv camera for my home made workprinter type set up. (upgrading from my hi8 cam)

I have seen the canon mv200 going cheap on ebay. It has manual shutter speed selection, focus, exposure, white balance and x16 zoom. I used one around 7yrs ago for an off the wall transfer and it worked great.
It also has a 37.5mm filter thread so I can use my existing close up lens set up.

The only thing is that it turned itself off after about 5-10mins if not in use, so I would be focusing the projector and camera, then setting the exposure and it would switch off while I was doing it.

Has anyone ever used one of these? Is there an override for the auto power off when not in use on this, or other camera's?

I can not find any further info on the MV200 on the web. I guess a camera with auto power off could be a problem for any workprinter user if there is not override to keep the camera on when not recording.

Any ideas?
Chris.

[videoguy326]

I'm not sure of the camera in question but I know that sony camcorders will not turn off automatically if the tape is taken out.

[Angus]

Just grab an old tape and record at the same time as you make your transfer...that buys you at least an hour.

Otherwise there can be ways of tricking cams such as removing the tape altogether or leaving the door "ejected"...depending on make and model. Some cams realise when they are on mains adaptor power too.

[Janne]

MV200 has a Control-L/LANC connector, right? The camera will probably stay on if you connect the signal wire (tip) to the ground (sleeve). Although I can't confirm this without testing. Sony cameras can be awakened from the standby mode by connecting those wires together.

[BK]

Having the camera's cassette compartment open all the time will cancel the standby off on some models like the suggestion by Angus. Try this on yours and see if it works.

On more recent mid-range camcorders there is either a switch or an internal menu setting that will let you select whether to have the standby mode on the camera constantly without shutting down every few minutes. The manufacturers decided it's a useful feature finally.

Bill

[Angus]

That "auto off" was one feature that really bugged me about the battery hungry 1990's camcorders (and earlier).

[Andreas Wideroe]

On Panasonic cameras you must have the tape compartment empty (and closed). That will prevent auto-off. Atleast that's the case on my Panasonic MV-MX300 DV camera.

I even phoned Panasonic about this 5 years ago and they confirmed that auto-off would be disabled if no tape was inserted.

Andreas