[EugeniaF]

My daughter bought me a "Sony Net-sharing Cam" Everything was working perfect until this evening. Now when you look through the LCD panel, it looks like half the picture is blacked out. In fact, when you look at the lens, it looks like it's almost closed. There is no lens cover. Apparently, I turned something off or on, and now need to know how to undo what I did.
Thanks,
Mrs. Freeman

[jcdill]

There are two types of problems that can cause the symptoms you see. One is a hardware problem - the lens has partially closed and got stuck in that position. Although your camera is a video camera and not a still-photo camera, the following link has some tips you can try:

Do It Yourself Digital Camera Repair: Fixing a Lens Error on a Digital Camera


If none of those tips fix your camera, the problem is likely a software problem inside the unit and you can't repair it yourself.

If it is still under warranty, you can send it in for repair. Look in your User's Manual for information on how to start a warranty repair.

If the unit is no longer under warranty, it will likely cost ~$100 (or more) to repair it which is about what the unit is worth, so you should simply replace it (buy a new one).

[lschoeggl]

If you have not yet tried removing the batteries, that's always a good first step before you get into any serious tinkering. This will "reset" most cameras so there's a chance that will fix it. Leave them out for at least 30 seconds before putting them back in. If you still have the problem, it's probably time to send it in for a repair. Good luck!