DEAD Canon VC-C4R cameras

[jwax]

On some computers, holding CtRL + Alt and Arrow left (or right) would rotate the video on the screen. Depends on your video card.

[dacflyer]

yes,, we have a bunch of Pelco PTZ cameras throughout the city ( traffic observation )

KB short cuts.
right / left arrow = pan
top / bottom arrow = tilt up/down
+/- = zoom

i also have the canon software that can control up to 8 cameras.

[dacflyer]

i got in my remote control today.. all functions work. cameras are 100% functional

[Clyde Crashkop]

In 1992 I bought a Canon E40 camcorder for $500.00 or more with accessories. With very little use, it wouldn't go into play mode. I got it into play mode with the remote. I rewound a little bit and pressed play. The picture was jagged and then it stopped and was flashing eject but it wouldn't eject. I turned it off and back on and in record mode, it had a picture but it was jagged, then flickered and then went blank and would not record. I sent it to their repair facility.
They charged me $224.00 and insisted on cleaning it, in spite of so little use. I figured okay, I didn't want to give up on a $500.00 camera.
I got it back months later. I turned it on and tested it. It seemed to be working fine so I put it away.
4 months later, I went to use it and it had the same problems as before the service.
The repair facility said the 3 month service warranty was expired and they wouldn't fix it.
Now I had $724.00 invested in a camera that didn't work and I wasn't going to spend more so I threw it in the closet. That was a lot of money in the 90's, it still is.
Being an electronics hobbyist, I decided to salvage the lenses, motors, range finder etc. from it before throwing it away. When I opened it up, capacitors started rolling out of it. At least 9 of them, from 5 different circuit boards! It looks like acid had corroded the solder away and corroded nearby components. The camcorder battery had NOT leaked. It was NOT battery acid.
Canon said it's "Out of Service Life" It wasn't out of service life in 1997 when I gave up on it.
I went searching and only found these two references. Canon covered their tracks pretty well but they missed these two. Apparently that was a well known problem.
In 1999 a man had the same symptoms as mine. A repair shop said the capacitors go bad if you don't use the camera much. They replace ALL of the capacitors.
In 2004 a man was given an E40. He said it had "the usual problem of capacitors leaking".
Over the years, my capacitors had rotted and fell off 5 circuit boards!
I have never seen that happen!
Canon knew what the problem was and didn't really fix it when I sent it for repairs. Then four months later, wanted to charge me $224.00 again!
If this had happened to a car, there would have been a major recall or class action lawsuits.