Sony confirms backfocus problem

Michael Mann · April 7th, 2008, 07:08 AM

Good to hear that you have a sharp cam now, Holger, after laying hands on yourself.
Anyway, returning it to you with focus slightly off for the two main ND settings is not what I would expect from a Prime support. Don't forget that Europeans pay a premium of about EUR 1,500.00 for this service.

Holger Neuhaeuser · April 7th, 2008, 07:14 AM

Well I didn´t pay extra for premium support.
I bought my camera in late december at videocation in munich an got 2 years of premium support included.

Holger

Michael Mann · April 7th, 2008, 07:16 AM

What I am referring to is that the much higher European price is a result of the included Prime support.

Paul Cronin · April 7th, 2008, 12:20 PM

I like the 13m and brick wall to adjust BF it makes sense to me.

Piotr Wozniacki · April 7th, 2008, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holger Neuhaeuser

Got That prooves in my opinion
firmware 1.02 no go , firmware 1.05 works (can´t say anything about 1.03)
and sony has problems using their own autoallignment

Well, I've just checked mine FW - it's 1.02_0337, and I never had problems with back focus (which of course doesn't prove anything), but:

- have you noticed any other change in your camera performance, which would be worth sending mine for the FW update?

Holger Neuhaeuser · April 7th, 2008, 12:55 PM

Well up to now, I couldn´t find any obvious changes.
As Sony likes to keep things secret, there is no kind of documentation about what has changed. They don´t even send back a remark what has been done with the camera.
And, to be honest, I think they don´t document it cause its just bugfixing.
Normally if they got a new feature or real improvements, they don´t keep that quiet.
But I really would like to know how many undiscovered bugs are sleeping, just waiting to give us the next hard time.

Holger

Don Greening · April 7th, 2008, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holger Neuhaeuser

But I really would like to know how many undiscovered bugs are sleeping, just waiting to give us the next hard time.

The EX is a Cylon camera, with all the memories and experiences of a normal human made Sony device........until activation. Then it will........rebel. Dramatically.

How could you humans have all been so blind?

Dr. Baltar
Instrument of God.

Benjamin Eckstein · April 8th, 2008, 02:49 PM

I am sending my cam in to Sony today to have them fix the backfocus (and zoom toggle). Wish me luck.

I picked up my loaner from the dealer. The BF is certainly better on this. I need to test a little more to see if its spot on.

I just tried another EX-1 that my old company just bought. Their backfocus was off too as it turns out.

Sheesh.

B

Chuck Wall · April 8th, 2008, 04:34 PM

I sent my ex1 back for the backfocus issue and happen to read the posts about the telephoto issues related to focus.. I Sony to make sure they also checked the lens for that as well. The tech said it was already packed and will likely ship out today... I told not ship it back unless they were sure the lens was ok, he claimed they had already addressed that issue while it was there.

I guess I will find that out in a few days

Chuck

Steven Thomas · April 8th, 2008, 04:48 PM

Let us know how it works out Chuck.

I wonder how they check far focus using full telephoto.
They mentioned they checked for this?

They would have to have distant objects greater than 60 feet from the EX1 with the objects set in a line at the same focus distance and have them cover the entire field of view. Of course, the camera should not be angled to the subject and ideally set to f1.9 (open) to have DOF as tight as possible for critical adjustment.

Which brings up the million dollar question, what is the adjustment for this issue?

Slava Kouznetsov · April 21st, 2008, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don Greening

Press and hold the cancel button and menu button at the same time. Continue to hold these buttons and then hit the SEL/SET button. 3 more menus will show up below the regular menu items. Scroll down to the IF icon. Select that and you'll see your serial number and the firmware version number appear.

- Don

Hi, I just wonder how do you get rid of that extra menu?

Thank you

Eric Pascarelli · April 21st, 2008, 11:04 AM

The menu disappears when you turn off/turn on the camera.

Piotr Wozniacki · April 21st, 2008, 11:06 AM

... or CANCEL back, and press the MENU button as ususal ;)

Sean Donnelly · April 21st, 2008, 12:07 PM

Eric's right, once you enable the service menu it remains until you power off.

Zachary Fink · April 27th, 2008, 11:56 AM

A quick question regarding focusing on infinity. Is it normal to have to roll back a bit from the full-stop setting of my focus ring to get to the infinity setting?

If I go to the full-stop on my focus ring, it seems to be focusing PAST infinity and I get a blurry image. Is this indicative of a back focus problem?

April 7th, 2008, 07:08 AM	#106
Michael Mann Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Kelkheim, Germany Posts: 375	Good to hear that you have a sharp cam now, Holger, after laying hands on yourself. Anyway, returning it to you with focus slightly off for the two main ND settings is not what I would expect from a Prime support. Don't forget that Europeans pay a premium of about EUR 1,500.00 for this service. __________________ Michael

April 7th, 2008, 07:16 AM	#108
Michael Mann Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Kelkheim, Germany Posts: 375	What I am referring to is that the much higher European price is a result of the included Prime support. __________________ Michael

April 7th, 2008, 12:20 PM	#109
Paul Cronin Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 4,048	I like the 13m and brick wall to adjust BF it makes sense to me. __________________ Paul Cronin www.paulcroninstudios.com

April 8th, 2008, 02:49 PM	#113
Benjamin Eckstein Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 380 Images: 1	Wish me luck I am sending my cam in to Sony today to have them fix the backfocus (and zoom toggle). Wish me luck. I picked up my loaner from the dealer. The BF is certainly better on this. I need to test a little more to see if its spot on. I just tried another EX-1 that my old company just bought. Their backfocus was off too as it turns out. Sheesh. B

April 21st, 2008, 11:06 AM	#118
Piotr Wozniacki Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Poland Posts: 4,086	... or CANCEL back, and press the MENU button as ususal ;) __________________ Sony PXW-FS7 \| DaVinci Resolve Studio; Magix Vegas Pro; i7-5960X CPU; 64 GB RAM; 2x GTX 1080 8GB GPU; Decklink 4K Extreme 12G; 4x 3TB WD Black in RAID 0; 1TB M.2 NVMe cache drive

April 7th, 2008, 07:14 AM	#107
Holger Neuhaeuser Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Munich Germany Posts: 37	Well I didn´t pay extra for premium support. I bought my camera in late december at videocation in munich an got 2 years of premium support included. Holger

April 7th, 2008, 12:55 PM	#111
Holger Neuhaeuser Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Munich Germany Posts: 37	Well up to now, I couldn´t find any obvious changes. As Sony likes to keep things secret, there is no kind of documentation about what has changed. They don´t even send back a remark what has been done with the camera. And, to be honest, I think they don´t document it cause its just bugfixing. Normally if they got a new feature or real improvements, they don´t keep that quiet. But I really would like to know how many undiscovered bugs are sleeping, just waiting to give us the next hard time. Holger

April 8th, 2008, 04:34 PM	#114
Chuck Wall Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 111	I sent my ex1 back for the backfocus issue and happen to read the posts about the telephoto issues related to focus.. I Sony to make sure they also checked the lens for that as well. The tech said it was already packed and will likely ship out today... I told not ship it back unless they were sure the lens was ok, he claimed they had already addressed that issue while it was there. I guess I will find that out in a few days Chuck

April 8th, 2008, 04:48 PM	#115
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	Let us know how it works out Chuck. I wonder how they check far focus using full telephoto. They mentioned they checked for this? They would have to have distant objects greater than 60 feet from the EX1 with the objects set in a line at the same focus distance and have them cover the entire field of view. Of course, the camera should not be angled to the subject and ideally set to f1.9 (open) to have DOF as tight as possible for critical adjustment. Which brings up the million dollar question, what is the adjustment for this issue?

April 21st, 2008, 11:04 AM	#117
Eric Pascarelli Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 498	The menu disappears when you turn off/turn on the camera.

April 21st, 2008, 12:07 PM	#119
Sean Donnelly Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: New York, NY Posts: 188	Eric's right, once you enable the service menu it remains until you power off.

April 27th, 2008, 11:56 AM	#120
Zachary Fink Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 134	back focus question A quick question regarding focusing on infinity. Is it normal to have to roll back a bit from the full-stop setting of my focus ring to get to the infinity setting? If I go to the full-stop on my focus ring, it seems to be focusing PAST infinity and I get a blurry image. Is this indicative of a back focus problem?