25p flaw of the V1 E model is official !
 

After I send a pricing request for the new Sony V1 E (Europe) to my dealer, he talked directly with Sony officials here in Germany. They told him, that the shipping will be suspended for at least a month or so, due to the 25p flaw. He didn't comment about the already sold ones, but I guess the Silver Support will cover this issue.

So far it seems, that the V1 U (USA) model is working fine.

Anybody though can comment on the HVR-V1 P (Pacific) Version, maybe somebody from Malaysia, Singapore or Australia ?

Thanks

That sounds like the problem is more serious than just the firmware! Sony wouldn't stop selling V1E if it was so easy to fix it via a simple software upgrade - did they mention whether all machines sold so far would be called back?

Piotr

It'll be a lot cheaper for Sony to hold fire on distribution than to Silver Support hundreds if not thousands of cameras in the field all over Europe.

I am sure it's a pragmatic measure and does not necessarily indicate how the problem is going to be solved. Solved it will be.

TT

This is a very good news !! Although no official information from Sony V1 website but Tony, you have just saved the life of the whole Europe V1 users... probably the whole PAL world... :-).

One month waiting, sound good to me bcs my Canon dealer replied they can't shipped A1 to me for another 4~6 weeks.. (yes, none of them have stock, as usual). I wonder whether I should go back to fence-sitting again or not.

And Tony please can you PM me the quality concern you have over Canon picture ? Many thanks in advanced.

Ing Poh Hii,

I don't think I can take the credit after all Simon Wyndham reported the issue first. But the message didn't get through or was ignored. Shame as it could have prevented the hair pulling of the last week not to mention undoubtedly lost sales.

I am uploading clips that are as representative of the V1's quality given the size of files I can post. Have a look at some and see if you like the look of the V1 image. Remember in the clips I've posted they are a good deal softer than the original but you definitely get a feel for the capability of the V1.

I do NOT have any quality concerns over the Canon image at all. The Canon XH-A1 produces a wonderful image. I just preferred the "look" of the V1 image as judged by my own criteria. Now, if you were to ask the same question to one of the many very happy Canon owners you'd get a completely different answer.

Horses for courses...And keep sitting on that fence.

TT

Thank you Tony, I don't like to keep sitting on the horse, especially this horse doesn't move me to anyway.

I am downloading one of your clip now, thanks for it first. In fact I don't particular keen on XXp but I just scare of getting another faulty machine. Now Sony is looking into this, it is a good sight.

I would hope it is just a firmware fix, otherwise I still have worry to buy it in any Asia country as you can never fully test it out before you pay the money, here we have only mail order even the Sony center is so big in the KLCC tower.

If Canon can't give me a definite date of delivery, I may just buy one V1 directly from UK before I return (if the fixed has been delivered).

In term of personal preference, I do love the sony "look" (or just get used to it), in term of technology, i like cmos (as long as it is not a faulty design), in term of feature like wide L len, manual customisation, 1/3 sensor, i see Canon has a very solid ground.

Perhaps just like what you said, they both good, just see which one get better value for money : ).

Damn it, this fence is tall, I can't get down :@

The title of this thread has been changed from "25p flaw of the V1 E model is official" to "25p flaw of the V1 E model is official?" -- because it really ain't "official" until there's some way to verify that statement.

That's 3 of us who were in this store in the last few weeks! Must set some kind of record.

Chirs,
I understand your concern but what would it take to make it official?
There's now two of us getting the same story, that Sony have suspended shipment pending resolution of this issue and that's from different Sony distributors in different parts of the world.
I agree it'd be nice for Sony themselves to make an official statement but how likely is that.
On the reverse side of the coin not all resellers holding stock may be privy to Sony's internal communications and may try to convince prospective purchasers that it's all just rumour mongering.
I do appreciate though that from where you sit these things are a difficult call.

Mea culpa, it’s just a typing mistake, because I reedited the headline wrongly. Anyhow, the information is based on ‘lose talking’, so until there isn’t anything printed ore elsewhere wired by Sony themself, it’s sort of unofficial. And even then, one always has to consider sales rhetoric’s and politics.

I called Sony Support by my self, but they didn’t have any information whatsoever. I guess my dealer, which is trustful, is using different informal or non-customer communication lines.

I guess shipping in Germany is late compared to the rest of Europe, so they postponed it.

What about the HVR-V1P (Pacific) model ?

We were destined to get a "P" variant down here but the dealer (official Sony dealer) told us although our unit is in their hands Sony have advised not to deliver it pending resolution of the problem.

John Eldon
 

I was at The Apple Macintosh Show at London's Olympia a few months ago and visited the Sony stand. One of the Sony reps there said that he knew then that there were serious problems with the new Sony V1E, and that his advice for me would be to cancel the "pre-order" I had then with Mitcorps, and to re-order the V1E in July 2007, by which date he expected Sony to have the camera sorted out. The other Sony reps on the stand were slightly more evasive, but admitted the actual VIE on their stand had other problems. (ie excessive hunting on autofocus, dificulty of access to certainn menus, etc).

This is very un-sony like. It sounds like they maybe rushed to get the camera out there to compete with Canon's new boys. This could really damage the future sales if It's June 2007 before a good'un hits the shelves!

I thank the techno gods I went for the A1 over the V1 as it was 50/50 at one stage! I would have been wounded as I only shoot with the 25p effect on my cameras and the Canon frame 25fps mode is as good a progressive mode as I have seen to date.

In my experience, Sony have always been quick to repsond to these kind of problems, I'm sure they'll get some manpower behind it in the coming weeks. I hope those people who already own them get a quick fix as it can't be nice having put their faith into a product that is not performing as it should.

In the Netherlands there is more information on this. The Global DVC video network has reported the following:
"SONY DID NOT OFFICIALLY CONFIRM THIS BUT: from more than one internet contact we heared that V1E shipping is suspended for at least a month. Sony Germany and
Holland are putting HVR-V1E (Europe model) deliveries on hold due to alert on 25P picture problems. After our tests we also noticed slight paint effects. It seems a software fix can solve the problem. We are waiting for official Sony Report on this!" See www.global-dvc.org

On the Dutch website www.global-dvc.nl the information is better updated as follows: "Again problems with new Sony camera. .... After several tests it appears the first released V1E camera's with serialnr's S01-1210001-1211330 and 1211581) show an unwanted paint effect in the new 25P mode. Sony has confirmed this officialy and will do a recall on all delivered camera's to give them a software update. This will be done by Prime Support. The first responses on the rest of the camera are excellent and the 25P is not often used in the Netherlands. The distribution of the camera has been suspended. The software update appears to be available and soon the distribution should be restarted".

In Dutch:
"Alweer problemen met nieuwe Sony Camera. Sony HVR-V1E in P25 stand veroorzaakt painteffect.
Zandvoort dinsdag 20 december 2006.
Na diverse Global-DVC studio / praktijk tests is gebleken dat de eerste uitgeleverde HVR-V1E videocamera's (met serienummers tussen S01-1210001 tot 1211330 en 1211581 ) in de nieuwe 25 Progressive stand een ongewenst soort painteffect te zien geeft. Sony heeft ons dit nu officieel erkent en gaat middels een recall alle uitgeleverde camera's direct softwarematig herstellen. Dit zal worden afgehandeld via Prime Support.
De eerste reacties op de verdere kwaliteit zijn prima en in Nederland wordt toch weinig gebruik gemaakt van die 25P stand. De distributie is per direct stil gelegd. De software update schijnt dus al klaar te liggen en uitlevering kan spoedig hervat worden."
Source: http://www.global-dvc.nl/index.php?o...d=26&Itemid=28

I can also confirm NZ deliveries (P model) on hold until a firmware update is released. This would cover the Asia/Pacific region as the Sony supply hub operates out of Hong Kong.