Morris Minor Owners Club

I have a Sony camcorder which I dropped yesterday. Not very far and onto a soft surface so I didn't think too much of it at the time. When I looked later the memory card (a Sony MemoryStick Pro Duo) had popped out of its slot. I pushed it back in but it wouldn't lock - it just kept popping out again so the drop caused a problem of some sort. No bits have obviously dropped out but something clearly isn't right.

I have peered into the slot and compared it with my Sony camera and as far as I can see nothing obviously different stands out. The camera is otherwise working fine so I am loath to replace it just because of this.

Has anyone come across this issue or has any suggestions as to how I might proceed?

You obviously know your camera better than me but could there be a reset sequence to go through prior to inserting the memory card?

Not teaching you to suck eggs, but did the card pop right out, and are you trying to put it in the right way round? It won't latch of in upside down/back to front. Other than that, you could treat it like a fuel pump and hit it with a hammer More seriously, can you take the side off and look inside properly to see what's happening?

Simmitc:

A fair question but I've checked it is the right way round. It won't go in the wrong way and I checked the manual just to be sure.

I have to confess I did try thumping it to see it it jolted anything back into place but no joy.

I have been studying it to see which screws to remove to get started. It's a little unclear which panel will give best access so it might be trial and error.

Les:

Worth considering. I will go back to the manual and start again as if it had just come out of the box.

Thank you both for your suggestions so far.

If you (or someone you're able to get hold of) has a usb multi-card reader or a laptop with compatible sony slot you could try the card in it. That way if there's anything you want to rescue off it as a precaution you would have that chance and it will tell you whether the card or the camcorder is the problem.
Also it may well be that it then all magically works again because that's what cameras, computers and everything else IT related is like

Thanks Chief. I've already done exactly what you suggested - transferred the card to a card reader and copied all the video I took that day. Everything came across fine so the card looks okay. I have even tried the card from my Sony camera and that won't lock in either.

I've checked the manual just to make sure I'm not missing something obvious but no joy. Next step is to start taking screws out.

Given I never normally take the card out I did think that worse case I could take the spring out and just wedge the card in with Blue-Tak or something.

If you don't normally take the card out, one other silly thought: Are you pushing it ion far enough? I have known devices where the card has to be pushed well below the threshold of the slot, using a finger nail, before it will latch. I fear, though, that you are going to need that screwdriver.

simmitc wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 11:18 am If you don't normally take the card out, one other silly thought: Are you pushing it ion far enough? I have known devices where the card has to be pushed well below the threshold of the slot, using a finger nail, before it will latch. I fear, though, that you are going to need that screwdriver.

Agree. The memory card in my dashcam requires inserting well below the edge of the slot.

Sony have designed it quite well in that there is a groove one side so that although the card is below the surface when seated you can still get your finger in to seat and release it without resorting to screwdrivers etc. Sadly not the answer.

I'm looking on the internet for a diagram of how the locking mechanism actually works, but all the responses I find are concerned with the card being locked for updates which is a different problem.

A quick update. I took all 16 visible screws out of the camera earlier and managed to get the side and bottom covers off. That didn't really help much as you can't really see or get to anything even with the covers off. I then reassembled it with 15 of the 16 screws, took it apart for the second time and reassembled it using all the screws. It still works, but the exercise hasn't really moved me forward.

I am going to have to either disable the spring that pushes the card back out somehow, or come up with a way of permanently wedging the card in the camera. Neither should be a problem as I would only ever remove the card if I filled it up in one session, something I have never done.

It’s such a shame that these things aren’t really designed to be repaired. It’s buy, use then throw away.

I am going to have to either disable the spring that pushes the card back out somehow, or come up with a way of permanently wedging the card in the camera. Neither should be a problem as I would only ever remove the card if I filled it up in one session, something I have never done.

Its great that you at least have a work-around to keep it working.

Don

As a test I shoved a lump of Blue-Tac to wedge the card in and hold the retaining flap in place. Not elegant and it may fail when the Blue-Tac hardens but it was still okay this morning. If it works in principle I may swap the Blue-Tac for Sugru which SteveClem put me on to when he suggested it in another post to replace the window frame to front door rubber. Thanks Steve.

I'd personally advise against Sugru for something like this based on my own experiences, though maybe if you sandwiched some between a cut out of cereal box cardboard or milk bottle plastic it would work as well - that's just going from other cameras i've seen which had the space to do something like this.

Chief wrote: ↑Mon Oct 19, 2020 3:14 pm I'd personally advise against Sugru for something like this .....

Fair point - thank you.

An update on this topic as so many of you kindly contributed your suggestions.

We haven't had much opportunity to use the camcorder for real since last October until last week when we took our new Discovery 2 off-roading and the passenger video'ed the other one driving. The rides were suitably jarring to give the camcorder a proper test and it performed perfectly. Indeed it wasn't until I came to put it back in its pouch that I remembered the memory card was still held in with Blu-Tac.

Thanks again for everyone's help.