When you rely on electronics for work, it can be a really great excuse that "my computer isn’t working" or "the network is down" if you want to take an afternoon off. On the other hand, the unreliability of electronics makes me look bad. On our recent trip to the Blue Hole in New Mexico our nearly brand new video camera came up with the error code "cylider lock – auto off". The instruction book contained no hints as to the reason for this, just "if you see this message, the camera will shut off automatically."
This was only half way through our trip. So to say the least, it was a major inconvenience when you are trying to shoot a promotional video for your sponsors. The worst part was still the fact that the only help we had was "the camera will turn off automatically", thanks instruction book man…we already got that from the fact that the camera automatically turned off right before our eyes. Then we called panasonic to find out what we could possibly do to fix the problem.
Response: Turn the camera off and on.
Great advice for someone using a very expensive professional grade camera. They are really breaking ground in tech support these days.
None the less, we have the camera back. Panasonic did pay for shipping and found us a special dealer that rushed the camera back to us, so all is good now. By rushed I mean over 2 weeks without a camera, and by good now I mean I am still really annoyed but have come to grips with the situation. I can’t say it enough times, electronics are the BEST!!!!!!
