February 2026 – Foxes Den

Toshiba Camileo X400 Camcorder

Let’s have a look at a non functional Camcorder from 2011 that appears to have bathed in molasses as it’s so sticky. Can I get it working once more? Why not?

What the listing stated:

It has not been tested but outside case is sticky.
Would recommend for spares and repairs only

EBay

Not one of the finest quality camcorder cameras out there, but for £7.00GBP, I’m not really complaining. This camera appears to have a battery included, it has no charging equipment or anything else included, but I’m hopeful there’s not too much badly wrong with it. However as this is a platform for repairing old knackered equipment, hopeful there is something that we can get our teeth into that is sufficiently suited to this platform. All I can currently gather from the listing is that this a bit sticky, and those of you who follow this site will know that stickiness, especially on cameras is not an issue that has caused me any problems previously. Hopefully the issue is a little more than just stickiness, and as this listing has the classic EBay “Get out of jail free – seller not tested” claim, then there could be absolutely anything and everything wrong with it, we will just have to wait and see.

Here’s a little bit of background for this camcorder.

Toshiba’s CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder offers 1920 x 1080p video capabilities, 23X optical zoom, and other great features for taking great video and making great memories.

No matter what you’re looking at, the CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder takes jaw-dropping video in 1920 x 1080p resolution. You’ll be able to capture all the color and clamor of that Fourth of July parade, or your daughter’s first soccer goal. And with the 23X optical zoom, you’ll see the big smile on her face, too.

Want to follow your baby as she takes her first steps? Follow your friends as they head up that mountain trail? Record your Jeep ride across Africa’s Serengeti plain? Go for it. The image stabilization capabilities on the CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder ensure your ensuing creation will be hunky-dory, not herky-jerky.

Video trimming on the CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder makes editing easier by letting you cut out a section of the video from the front, back or both–plus start and end the video at any point you wish. What’s more, with a built-in pause button, you can stop wasting storage space and reduce file clutter by recording multiple scenes into a single file.

Your son just learned to surf and caught a nice point break for a good long ride. Want to freeze the frame for pictures you can share in an album, email or hand out to friends? Do it without interrupting the video. Simply press the Photo button* on your CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder and your surf dude will be immortalized forever.

Features:

1920x1080p Full HD resolution video

23x Optical zoom

3″ swiveling LCD monitor

5MP CMOS sensor

4.7 x 2.1 x 2.4 inches

Weight 300g

Toshiba

Well, to be honest that has to be one of the worst background write ups I’ve read, and in reality the tone of it doesn’t fill me with confidence, all that talk of “Dudes” and “Hunky dory and Herky Jerky” my god, who do they let write this stuff? This camera didn’t stand a chance to be honest right from its release date in late 2011.

So, let’s forget the awful promotional write up, and just like true “Dudes” try to find out what is actually wrong with the damned thing.

Assessment:

It’s arrived and to be totally honest, it’s in a right poor condition cosmetically. Very poorly packaged, I suspect the seller couldn’t wait to get it out of the door. Here are two of the better looking pictures.

As soon as you pick the unit up, the stickiness the seller wrote about becomes obvious. It’s as if this camera has been immersed in a vat of molasses, it’s super sticky and if you review the close up pictures below you will see this unit has obviously been involved in some sticky situation, in places it is still wet, with liquid clearly visible, however that liquid is in a super sticky state of suspension.

The battery is in place, I suspect it is dead but it will need to be tested, thankfully the battery contacts are clean and luckily it appears that no liquid has managed to reach these areas.

Before I even start to look at anything with this camcorder, a very thorough clean is the order of the day. It’s not going anywhere, and I’m not doing anything with it, until it is in a more presentable and workable condition.

I like to use a disinfectant spray when taking on a job like this, in fact I use it on most of my old cameras especially those that have an old musty aroma. The disinfectant has cleaned this unit up very well removing all of the old stickiness and residue. I finish off with some polish and a cloth and the beast has now been cleaned and is now in a much better condition to start looking at where the problem may lie.

A good clean and it looks like a different unit

Well, to be totally honest the unit is kind of dead. There is a minimal voltage in the battery and when I find a suitable charging cable and install it, there is not a great deal else occurring. There are some lights, but they are not doing what they should be doing, I’m expecting lights to flash whilst charging, and a solid light when charged. However this isn’t happening, so let’s move on to what we are going to do to try and resolve this issue.

Repair:

For the moment I’m going to focus on the battery. We need power, so we do really have to start here, we can’t diagnose or do anything without some power. It’s a 3.7v Li-ion cell, and the camera can charge via a 5v USB supply. I’ve managed to locate a suitable charging cable from that drawer of collected cables that “may come in useful one day”, that we all seem to have stashed in our homes. When the cable is plugged in you should get some intro music from the camera, and I do. This should then be followed by a flashing light that should remain lit until the battery has sufficiently charged. However I manage to get about two flashes from an amber light and then that’s it… nothing else. So far it’s positive that we have seen some life, however we need to see if we can encourage this battery to take a little more charge.

These batteries though rated at 3.7v usually charge up to 4.2v at full capacity. I’ve just measured this one with a multimeter and it currently sits at 2.64v. In the world of batteries this is severely depleted and to be totally honest looks as if this battery is dead.

A fully charged 3.7V nominal battery typically reads 4.2V, with 3.7V-3.8V being the average voltage during discharge. A 3.7V Li-ion battery is considered “dead” or fully discharged when its voltage drops to 3.0V to 3.2V.

While many protection circuits cut off at 2.5V to 2.75V to prevent damage, discharging below 3.OV frequently will significantly reduce the battery’s lifespan.

2.64v This battery is more than likely dead

And it looks as if this may have occurred here. It’s looking as if the battery is a dead one.

However, I’m going to see if I can rejuvenate this battery by putting a trickle charge through it, just charging it in the camera from a USB 5v power supply. I will monitor regularly for changes in temperature or other issues. I don’t have a spare around at the moment so if I want to do some basic checks on the unit I’ll just have to give it a try.

So after 3 hrs we’ve only been able to get about another 1v of energy into this battery, and as you can see we are only just into the battery depletion range. We have sufficient power to start the unit up and see a welcome screen, the zoom works. It’s clearly visible that there is a low battery indication on the screen and then it all shuts down again.

There is just not enough life in this battery to sustain a 30 second video, the battery is just so worn down that I believe it is beyond resurrection. I may have to purchase a new battery to finish off this section of the post. It’s good though that we have tried, rather than just give up, and this has also allowed us to review what we have found out about the process, and the good news is that at this point it, is looking as if it is purely an issue with this battery.

The camera has cleaned up lovely and really looks like a nice piece of kit. For the moment I will put this post on pause whilst I await a replacement battery.

But…. Me being me, and not wanting to spend too much money at this point, I have persisted with leaving this battery on trickle charge. It has been consistently monitored to keep an eye on it, and I must admit neither the battery itself or the charger has been hot or even warm throughout this entire process, that is good.

Seeing that about 4 hrs ago the battery indicator on the screen was only showing two green bars, it is now showing four bars and that indicates it is now fully charged. Let’s get the multimeter back on, and check to see what the current battery charge is and see if that gives us an indicator to show if the nominal charge has now been achieved, I’m quite excited at this – I’m easily pleased and excitable in equal proportions – I have a feeling that with patience and persistence we may have well just cracked the issue. So what is the current voltage of this battery? Well, here it is….

4.14v

Well, I’m very pleased with that, not only has it charged fully it appears to have reached pretty much full charge beyond the nominal charge. I’ve probably saved this battery from the trash heap, but I guess it will be more of a backup battery for me as I will probably purchase a new one, for my main battery, now though, there is no rush as it looks as if this one has been rejuvenated.

I’ve put a 32Gb SD card in and the screen is indicating 5 hours and 54 minutes of recording time, however on a full battery and using the minimum of activity (Not using Zoom and other effects) you can normally squeeze two hours of recording from the battery. But I’m never going to be filming war and peace, and I’m probably never going to get that kind of usage from this battery. My best bet with this battery is to not let it deplete totally, and try to keep it in a charge cycle were it doesn’t dip below about 25% of its capacity if I can help it.

I’ve tested all settings and everything is just fine. The touch screen is responsive and all setting and special effects can be easily accessed. There is nothing else wrong with this camcorder.

At this point I am now happy that this camcorder is a fully working and very capable little unit, that should serve me well as I use it to make videos for my YouTube channel and WordPress site. Repair is complete and successful.

Result:

This little camera cost me £7.00GBP and it’s been a fantastic restoration as such as it has not cost me a penny more than what I have paid for it. All I have done is invest time, done a lot of reading up about the intricacies of Li-ion power supplies, and done an awful lot of cleaning as this unit was probably one of the filthiest pieces of kit I think I’ve ever worked on.

A video, of me, videoing a video of me videoing

The camcorder is now a totally different looking camera from that which I received in such a sorry state just a few days back.

I’m going to use this camera myself for little items that I will be publishing here as well as on YouTube. It is so wonderful to see old unused and unloved items, repurposed and given a new lease of life.

Another one saved from landfill.

Thanks for passing by, as always it is very much appreciated.

Photographic light sensors in older point and shoot cameras

A little explanation of the differences between the light sensors of two vintage point and shoot cameras produced 12 years apart

I’ve recently purchased two old point and shoot cameras as a lot. One was from 1960 and the other one was from 1972 only 12 years apart, but a world away in technology regarding light sensing ability and technology.

These two cameras only cost me £4:99 In total, they were sold as spare parts, and I suspect the issues could be around the light metering, as to be honest there isn’t a great deal else that could go wrong with them. Here’s a quick breakdown of the metering methods on each camera, followed by a more complex explanation around just what each method of metering involves.

The older camera, the Ricoh, dates from 1960 and just by looking at it, you can see its light sensing system is built around the face of the lens barrel, it’s that glass honeycomb concoction that is so typical of a number of cameras and light meters of this period. Here is a post I previously made regarding Selenium light meters – (Sangamo Weston Master V light meter) The meters were known as selenium meters, there was no electrical components such as batteries, it was a little bit of scientific magic, here we go with a little explanation….

How the Selenium Cell Works in This Camera:

A selenium light cell operates on the photovoltaic effect (similar principle to modern solar panels):

The cell contains a thin layer of selenium coated onto a metal base. A very thin transparent conductive layer (often gold or another metal) is placed on top. When light hits the selenium, it generates a small electrical current. That current directly drives a tiny moving-coil meter needle.

The honeycomb ring is the selenium cell, light hitting it generates a small electrical current of approximately 0.5v. That current directly moves a needle inside the camera, the needle mechanically links to the exposure system. On the Auto 35, the meter is coupled to the shutter/aperture system, meaning that in “Auto” mode, it helps set exposure automatically. In manual mode, you match the indicator.

No battery is used — it is entirely self-powered by light.

Expected life span:

The Ricoh’s selenium cell is now about 60+ years old, so condition varies.

Typical selenium lifespan:

Originally: ~20–30 years

Many survive 40+ years

After 60 years: often weak or dead, this one probably is

Common Conditions Today:

✅ Still accurate (rare but possible)

⚠️ Works but underexposes 1–2 stops

❌ Needle barely moves or is dead

They usually fade gradually rather than fail suddenly.

So that gives an idea of how 1960s light metering works, and to be quite honest it probably means that as this camera is now over 60 years old the metering cell is long dead. It does not mean the camera is useless though, it can be used manually using a third party light meter or you can always use the “Sunny 16” rule.

Now moving on 12 years to 1972 and the selenium meters have now gone only to be replaced by the CdS system- Cadmium Sulfide sensor, otherwise known as an electrical photocell. The sensor can be seen at the top of the lens ring, a little glass bubble. The downside with these sensors are that they contained Cadmium which is a toxin, replacements are no longer available so modern cameras use photo diodes instead. Here’s the explanation of CdS technology:

Unlike selenium (which generates electricity), CdS works by changing resistance:

In bright light → resistance drops

In dim light → resistance rises

The camera contains:

A CdS photoresistor, A battery, A small electronic circuit, A meter or automatic exposure mechanism

The battery sends current through the CdS cell.

Light changes the resistance, which changes the current.

That signal controls the exposure system, and a 1.3v battery cell is required to power the meter.

Why CdS Was an Improvement:

Compared to selenium cells, the CdS photocell was much better in low light, it was smaller, more accurate and required a battery that could be replaced to extend life whereas the selenium cell in time would naturally just die away.

CdS cells generally last a very long time — often decades — and usually outlast selenium meters.

Hopefully this gives an explanation regarding the two types of metering sensors that were present between the 60s and 70s. It is always worth considering when purchasing such cameras that the light meters may not, and will probably never work again, the camera itself is probably fine, you’ll just have to find other ways to ensure your lighting conditions are sufficient, and that really is no big issue, it’s easy and second nature to most camera users. As stated earlier just use the “Sunny 16” rule. Just enjoy your photography, experimentation is half the fun.

Reviews on these cameras will be following soon.

Thank you for passing by, it’s always appreciated.

Blah de blah

I’ve been a bit slack with my posts recently. It’s been busy, here’s a brief update as to what’s been going on this month so far.

It’s late February and I’m conscious that I haven’t posted anything this month, and that does play slightly on my OCD, as I like to see each month ticked off on the archive page.

It’s a me thing really, it frustrates me that I haven’t been posting regularly recently, but there have been a few things that have kept me occupied elsewhere, probably too boring to write about, but in the interest of maintaining a monthly contribution to my archive, I’m going to tell you what’s been going on anyway.

Feel free to move on at this stage, if you have more important things to do such as washing your hair or counting the hair follicles on your other half’s head.

The overriding elephant in the room here has been the aftermath of the house move. We’ve only moved about 12 miles out into a more rural area, away from the noise and pollution of the city of Leicester, the difference in noise and pollution is instantly noticeable in that we can sleep uninterrupted by wailing sirens, boy racers and inconsiderate road users, my intake of asthma stopping medications has reduced considerably, and occasionally we have to speak up just to check that our ears are still working as the noise levels are almost zero. It’s lovely.

So for what has been the last three weeks now we have been unpacking immense quantities of cardboard boxes and realising we didn’t pack as well as we could. We’ve found a lot of stuff that we have been looking for, stashed away in boxes that they shouldn’t have been in, for example a box of biscuit crackers in with the bedding of bedroom number two, obviously just thrown in at the last moment to occupy a space. We’ve now found most of what we require and are now only left with a number of suitcases of clothing awaiting new storage.

We are fortunate to have a garage as extra storage and this has been where the mass of cardboard is stored. It’s taken to the local tip for recycling, and when I breathe a sigh of relief that I now have my garage space back and available, another batch of boxes arrives and I lose the storage space again. At the moment it seems like a never ending cycle, but I know we have broken the back of it all and the recycling visits are starting to dwindle and hopefully before long they will stop completely. Fingers crossed 🤞

It’s a new house so fortunately decorating is not something we have to worry about just yet, thank heavens.

My workspace, that the wife has kindly allocated me, is situated within the second bedroom and is more than sufficient for my needs. However as the priority is getting the rest of the house up to the required standards of the foreperson (My Wife) unfortunately my area has to take a step back for the moment, and I doubt it will be anytime real soon where I am in a place to resume my hobbies and interests. Although I am still purchasing items to repair, I now have in excess of 21 projects in draft that need attending to.

A snippet of some of the projects still in draft

In our old house we had quite a bit of furniture that we had to downsize on. A lot of these items went to charities, and earlier last week the last piece of furniture, a 3 seat sofa had to be transported to the south coast, Ramsgate, in Kent to my niece. The wife and I decided we would take this our self and use it as an excuse to get away for a few days to see the family.

We hired a suitable vehicle, loaded it up and then hit the road for the 4 hr drive down to Kent.

Sofa, in place in my nieces house, with the wife posing behind

The journey was a success and the sofa is in place being used at my nieces house in Ramsgate. Whilst here I couldn’t resist going along to the Hornby/Scalextric/ Airfix museum in Margate (The wonder works) to relive some of my childhood memories.

Another 4hr trip back to the East Midlands as we had some wardrobes being delivered from that large Swedish furniture company that needed construction (And yet more Cardboard 🤦‍♂️)

Then we had another six boxes of blinds arrive, the garage is now overflowing with cardboard once again.

It’s fair to say that we are almost there and settled now. Just a few bags to find homes for and then maybe I may be able to get my space finally finished and ready to use, and get all my gear out of storage a couple of miles away.

On top of this my shift pattern has changed at work meaning now that I am on continuous 12 hr shifts. It’s long days and nights, but I do get to spend more time at home now due to the way the new system works, believe it or not.

So that’s what I’ve been up to, pretty much for the last three weeks, and hopefully a somewhat normal return to service will occur as soon as the demands of the house and my wife, bless her, start to dwindle and normal day to day living returns to our household.

Stay safe, and may peace and comfort be with you all.

Thanks for passing by. It’s very much appreciated.

Features:

Assessment:

Repair:

Result:

Rate this:

Share this:

How the Selenium Cell Works in This Camera:

Expected life span:

Why CdS Was an Improvement:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this: