Just came across this article that says Sony has made a batch of faulty CCD chips that are used in many still cameras and also camcorders. From the list it appears to affect only Pal-based cameras such as the VX-2100E. Also affected are camcorders from other vendors, such as Canon.
I'll post again after getting more info, but this looks serious. It seems some of the chips may fail under conditions of high heat and humidity. I assume failed units will be repaired for no charge.
EDIT:
Oh, man. It appears the faulty Sony CCD chips have been used in a bunch of digital still cameras also, as outlined here. This link says that the wiring somehow gets loose under high heat/humidity conditions. The bad chips were made between October 2002 and March 2004, so presumably if your camera/camcorder was manufactured before October 2002 you're in the clear. I guess you can't say the same for any model made after March 2004, in that they might have used bad chips still in the pipeline.
I'll post again after getting more info, but this looks serious. It seems some of the chips may fail under conditions of high heat and humidity. I assume failed units will be repaired for no charge.
EDIT:
Oh, man. It appears the faulty Sony CCD chips have been used in a bunch of digital still cameras also, as outlined here. This link says that the wiring somehow gets loose under high heat/humidity conditions. The bad chips were made between October 2002 and March 2004, so presumably if your camera/camcorder was manufactured before October 2002 you're in the clear. I guess you can't say the same for any model made after March 2004, in that they might have used bad chips still in the pipeline.