Theta SC2 never shuts off

Camera Hardware and Software
1

My Theta SC2 started misbehaving when I was shooting a virtual tour. I can still connect to it and take photos, but I can’t turn the camera off anymore and it’s warm to the touch.

The green LED is blinking, indicating sleep mode. If I press it once, it turns white momentarily and then starts blinking again. The OLED display turns on.

If I press it again, the OLED turns off and the green LED keeps blinking.

If I hold down the power button for 6 or 12 seconds, it pauses for a bit and then starts blinking again. Same with holding power+wifi.

Turning off wifi doesn’t help.

The battery percentage seems to alternate between “20%” and “almost full”. I don’t know what the real charge level is, because it keeps jumping around.

Any ideas?

2

in my opinion, there may be some problem with the firmware. Can you connect to the SC2 with WiFi (your mobile phone)?

I would try this in order:

  • update firmware using USB cable and desktop app

If the above does not resolve problem:

  • clear saved settings inside of camera (backup all your images and videos first)

If the RICOH mobile app does not have a “reset” button, you can use this API:

This is an old tool, but maybe it still works???

More old videos that still might be useful

3

Firmware is (and was) reported to be the latest version:

theta
theta1125×2436 136 KB

After the JSON factory reset, it briefly returned back to normal. One thing I noticed is that prior to the reset, the power button LED was solid/blinking green, even when running off battery. After the reset, it was solid/blinking white. I saw other posts that said it should be solid green while charging, but that isn’t the behavior I observed when it was acting up.

Now it doesn’t power on at all (regardless of whether USB power is applied). Wondering if it’s time to try a battery replacement.

4

try official customer support. may be a hardware-related problem.

I changed the battery on a THETA V, but I did not have the problem you are experiencing.

If you take apart the camera, it will void any warranty and it may brick the camera.

This guy had a similar problem, but no solution posted. maybe try contact him with DM.

Good luck.

5

Good news! I replaced the battery yesterday and it’s been acting normal ever since.

The replacement battery from aliexpress took about 2 weeks to arrive (China to California). It looked exactly like the one pictured in Ricoh SC2 battery replacement - #15 by HiStephenT

My old battery had a date code of “202112”. Sad that it didn’t even make it to the 4 year mark.