CX-240 Is it possible to disable zoom rocker control?

[CX240-USER]

Hi folks - I have several Sony HDR CX-240 camcorders. Does anyone know if there's an elegant way of disabling the zoom rocker control at the top of the camera? I hire these little cameras out for people to shoot their own footage, which I then edit together for them. Despite repeated warnings (and some big labels on the camera, itself), clients will insist on constantly zooming in and out, which makes some footage unusable. I'd like to fix the zoom at wide-angle, and make it impossible to adjust. I've tried a couple of mechanical 'fixes' which both work, after a fashion. One was to lodge a short length of cocktail stick under the the control button to prevent it moving toward the 'T' position. It doesn't look great, tho. I also made a half-hearted attempt opening up the camera to detach wire from the rocker switch but without a tutorial, I chickened out! I was hoping there might be a software upgrade which would allow you to disable the control in the Menu setup. But, no. And I don't suppose this'll ever happen. Any ideas? All thoughts appreciated. Thanks!  

[IamNic]

Hello @CX240-USER,

I feel your pain, constant zooming is the definition of "amateur-look" for videos.

I personally like the idea of desoldering the cables or adding a switch to electronically disable it.

But as you already explained, that solution is hard to implement as you would need to disassemble the camera.

I personally would 3D print a little "cap" to put over the rocker and glue it into place with 3M double sided tape.

Your clients should still be able to zoom via the buttons on the touchscreen, right?

- Nic

[CX240-USER]

Thanks for this, Nic. Unfortunately, the 240 doesn't HAVE a touchscreen (!) so I'm probably stuck with a mechanical fix. I'm toying with the idea of running a narrow bead of transparent bathroom-type sealant under the cap of the rocker switch (instead of cocktail stick) which would prevent the rocker activating the tele.

FYI - If that's successful I'll start thinking about disabling the auto-focus s everything's sharp  from a metre (?) to infinity. The 240 struggles to lock focus in subdued light (which is not as critical if the zoom is on wide, to be fair) but I've noticed a rapid ticking noise which is quite noticeable in quiet conditions. Switching to manual focus eliminates this.

Thanks for taking the time to reply - Martin 

[HannahEd01]

Hey CX240-USER, other than DIY ways, there's no way to disable it, I've tried all the possible settings, there's just no way.