Broken Camera

This may be a good place to start, if you haven't already tried it.

United Camera

Thanks, I tried their diagnostic tool but I end up needing a 'custom repair'.

This definitively sounds like it's a problem with the CCD Sensor.

I'm assuming you're getting pictures like these?:

If so, it's the CCD Sensor. From what I understand, they're quite expensive to repair since they are an integral part of the camera, and the cost of fixing it is close to comparable to buying a whole new unit altogether.

You can click here for some explanations on what might've caused the problem. The same article seems to believe that some manufacturers have extended warranties on these particular problems, so it might be worthwhile to contact the manufacturer

Mine is like your first picture but with the addition of several horizontal white lines.

When you say "the screen shows lots of vertical shaded stripes and several horizontal white lines" are you referring to the LCD screen on the camera itself, or are you looking at the image from the camera on a computer screen?

I'm just wondering if the problem is with the LCD or the CCD. When you display the menu on the LCD does the menu appear bright, crisp and readable? If not, then maybe the problem is the LCD not the CCD.

Also, the obvious questions: Fresh batteries? Is the camera in fully auto mode including auto-focus?

This is the LCD screen on the camera. If I try to access the menu I can only see a faint image of it, not enough to read sensibly. Could be the LCD.

I tried a freshly charged battery & the spare battery, no help. The camera is in 'intelligent ISO' mode which is fully automatic.

This might help...

http://www.techjamaica.com/forums/showthread.php?100366-Panasonic-DMC-TZ3-CCD-Replacement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHW6jUM161o

Thanks, that's a comprehensive disassembly of the camera.

There are couple of ways to quickly find out what is faulty.

The best way is to connect the AV leads that are supplied with the camera to a TV, If the display is still faulty when connected to the TV then CCD will be the issue.

The other option is to take a Photo, remove the sd card and insert it into a sd viewer or reader and see if the picture taken is ok, if pic ok then suspect LCD failure.

The fact that the osd menu is unreadable would lead me to suspect LCD is the issue but once you connect to tv you will know for sure.

As a side note, be careful if you pull one of these apart as the flash Capacitor will give you an awesome belt if you dont know what you're doing ( you'll only do it once!)

I'll have to see if I have a lead to connect to the TV but won't that just read from the SD card? If I connect the camera to the PC it reads the images OK. I can't take a picture as the camera has locked up & won't respond.

No , it will use the ccd for preview, I do actually have a couple of spares for tz series cameras, if youre really desperate to fix it I can send you some but realistically it isnt an expensive camera and you might be better off just replacing it.

You could be right.

I got this off the web ↓

"Introduced in January 2007, the Panasonic Lumix TZ3 is the sophomore version to last year's compact TZ1. The TZ3 is an ultra-zoom camera designed for movers and shakers who want the automation and convenience of a point-and-shoot but the zoom capabilities of a long lens."

I have a Fuji that I love. It's at least that old. But, when it breaks, I'm going to buy a new one that will do everything that one does, and more, for less money.

I think the most likely outcome is that I will buy a new camera, I can get one that does the same job but is lighter & smaller for a reasonable price. I will also probably buy a cheap TZ3 with a broken lens & try to fix my one just to see if I can.

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Panasonic-LUMIX-DMC-TZ3-7-2-MP-Digital-Camera-Black-/100101799
get another for $25...
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=panasonic+dmc+tz3

Yes, I've been looking, they commonly have faults like the lens drive failing & get sold on cheaply. This would give me a CCD & LCD to cover either possible fault.

I got me a new camera, a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX100, even better, I got it for nothing. I remembered that I have a piece of software on my PC thats counts visits to web sites for Nielsen NetRatings. This earns me points every month which I can use to obtain goods from their on-line catalogue. I checked & found that I had enough points to get the Sony camera.

I only got the camera last night so I'm looking forward to playing with it over the weekend. So far I've resisted the temptation to dismantle the old camera as I'm thinking that I might sell it for spares on e-Bay.