Loosing the ability to focus with Sony EX-3

Terje Rian · December 14th, 2008, 07:57 AM

Simon, I don´t think your attic is at fault. If so, your attic must contain a hell of a lot of boxes... (even my box!) ;-) No, no, Sir! This one is on Sony for sure. Please let us hear how it goes? And please try to get some info from your service partner about other users having the same problem. When I talked to the local Sony representative he insisted that he never had heard about "my" problem before. He even checked the report status in Europe (at least that´s what he said) and couldn´t find many EX-3s that had been on service. Amazing, isn´t it?

So where can we send our complaint? If we can get a few hundred users to sign, maybe Sony would react?

The best of luck with your EX-3, Simon!

-terje

Simon Wyndham · December 14th, 2008, 10:52 AM

Right, the good news is that after going to the local football stadium and ripping down their floodlights for me to shine on my BF chart I finally managed to get the Auto FB adjust thing to work! It took a fair few goes though because while it kept giving me an "OK" message the focus was still ever so slightly off when I tried a creep zoom to test it on a large monitor.

I think I've nailed that little gremlin now. But that still doesn't solve the issue of manual focus sometimes not working. The issue with the zoom servo seems to be behaving itself now that the backfocus is done. However I still don't trust it. I'm going to be testing the bollocks off it tonight to see if it remember the backfocus setting and to see if I still get any issues. This camera is going to have to earn my trust big time, and at the moment it is on probation.

Terje Rian · December 14th, 2008, 08:09 PM

On probation? Really? It seems that you´ve be quite unfortunate in your purchase, even compared to most people here in this thread. Keep us posted about your findings, Simon!
And best of luck with the trust-earning project...

-terje

Kenny Cowburn · December 15th, 2008, 05:27 PM

Having posted claim (in which I also made reference to this thread) to Sony Via mail on their support site last night, I recieved a phonecall from the UK this morning to find out what the problem is.( I´m impressed)

The girl said she´d pass my claim on to the Techies here in Germany.

she also gave me a German phone number, in case I wanted to get in touch with someone local.

I´ll call when I have a gap, if they don´t call me first.

Terje Rian · December 15th, 2008, 05:49 PM

Kenny, that´s very good news. Please do inform Sony about the rest of us as well. This is an issue thy should take seriously. We want tools, not toys!
I´m looking forward to hear how it goes. Best of luck!

-terje

Kenny Cowburn · December 16th, 2008, 10:33 AM

SO....
I called the German techie´s this morning 11:30 and was told that they don´t have anything to do with the EX3............and that any EX3 problems are dealt with in France.
The guy I spoke to however was pretty concerned and really wanted to help.
He took my details and the serial no. of my cam and said he´d pass them on..........

---------------------------------------------------------
(17:00)
I just got a call from another girl in the UK, who said that she´d organise a pick-up for my cam. UPS will arrive with packaging material etc. on thursday.
If the driver has the time and I am around, he can take it with him straight away.
normally he would return the following day to pick up once I´ve had a chance to package it all safely.

She did say that there is new firmware coming from Japan soon, but is not sure what exactly it is supposed to fix.

I told her about this thread, but she said that they aren´t allowed to use any information from internet forums..............

------------------------------------------------------------
(17:22)
just got another call from the same girl, she has just spoken to the product manager of the EX series.
he informed her and she informed me that the firmware will be fixing the problem with the focus and that it should be out in the next few days..........

what she couldn´t tell me is how exactly we get the new fimware and whether we´ll be able to load it up ourselves.........(they haven´t recieved instructions yet)
It apparently wasn´t possible to do it ones-self with the EX1.
She said she´d call me personally as soon as she knows more about the firmware and whether my cam will need to go in or not.

in the meantime, she gave me the option of having the packaging sent to me, so it can all happen fast if the cam does need to go in for the upgrade.

so for the moment my cam will stay with me.

glad to be getting some answers though.

Andy Wilkinson · December 16th, 2008, 12:05 PM

Great info. Thanks Kenny.

Terje Rian · December 16th, 2008, 12:47 PM

Kenny, I´m really happy to hear that Sony is responding the way they do, and thanks for sharing. Hopefully you´ll have something to report back in a week or two? Best of luck with your EX-3!

-terje

Simon Wyndham · December 16th, 2008, 06:26 PM

Quote:

On probation? Really? It seems that you´ve be quite unfortunate in your purchase, even compared to most people here in this thread. Keep us posted about your findings, Simon!
And best of luck with the trust-earning project...

Well, I got my replacement EX3 no questions asked from H Prestons. They really bent over backwards for me the last couple of days despite being totally overrun by Christmas orders and whatever else. I can't thank them enough.

Anyway, the new camera, touch wood, appears to be behaving itself. I received a couple of new Kensington 7 in 1's, just waiting for some cards I ordered. Though I intend to order some additional Express adaptors from our Aussie mate in a couple of weeks.

I think I might sell my J17 while it can still get something and get a decent 2/3" HD lens that I can use on both my 510 and the EX3.

Terje Rian · December 16th, 2008, 07:11 PM

Simon, you got a replacement camera? That´s great! I hope it´ll turn out just fine. I guess the different countries (or dealers?) have their own strategy on how to deal with warrenty issues? I probably have to spend $ 500-800 to send the EX-3 in. I made the stupide decision to buy the EX-3 while visiting New York. Not all decisions are made in heaven. Apparently.

-terje

Andrew Stone · December 16th, 2008, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kenny Cowburn

just got another call from the same girl... she informed me that the firmware will be fixing the problem with the focus and that it should be out in the next few days...what she couldn´t tell me is how exactly we get the new firmware and whether we´ll be able to load it up ourselves... She said she´d call me personally as soon as she knows.

Great news Kenny. We thank you for being so diligent.

Justin Benn · December 18th, 2008, 02:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terje Rian

Simon, you got a replacement camera? That´s great! I hope it´ll turn out just fine. I guess the different countries (or dealers?) have their own strategy on how to deal with warrenty issues? I probably have to spend $ 500-800 to send the EX-3 in. I made the stupide decision to buy the EX-3 while visiting New York. Not all decisions are made in heaven. Apparently.

-terje

NY? You're not the only one. But in my defense, at the time, there was nowhere in the Caribbean to buy an EX3 (not sure that there is now either). Now based in Yorkshire, England for the moment.

Justin Benn · December 18th, 2008, 02:46 AM

Kenny, your update gives me renewed hope that this focusing issue will be resolved soon. Hopefully Sony will trust EX users to update their own firmware from now on.

Jus.

Andy Wilkinson · December 21st, 2008, 05:06 AM

Simon, any sign of this focus glitch with your new (replacement) EX3?

Bruce Rawlings · December 21st, 2008, 05:19 AM

I have been told by a Sony source that EX3s will be shipping from the factory in the new year with updated firmware that clears up various issues.

December 14th, 2008, 07:57 AM	#61
Terje Rian Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Norway Posts: 105	Simon, I don´t think your attic is at fault. If so, your attic must contain a hell of a lot of boxes... (even my box!) ;-) No, no, Sir! This one is on Sony for sure. Please let us hear how it goes? And please try to get some info from your service partner about other users having the same problem. When I talked to the local Sony representative he insisted that he never had heard about "my" problem before. He even checked the report status in Europe (at least that´s what he said) and couldn´t find many EX-3s that had been on service. Amazing, isn´t it? So where can we send our complaint? If we can get a few hundred users to sign, maybe Sony would react? The best of luck with your EX-3, Simon! -terje __________________ Terje Rian, Creative Director www.notene.no

December 14th, 2008, 08:09 PM	#63
Terje Rian Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Norway Posts: 105	On probation? Really? It seems that you´ve be quite unfortunate in your purchase, even compared to most people here in this thread. Keep us posted about your findings, Simon! And best of luck with the trust-earning project... -terje __________________ Terje Rian, Creative Director www.notene.no

December 15th, 2008, 05:49 PM	#65
Terje Rian Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Norway Posts: 105	Kenny, that´s very good news. Please do inform Sony about the rest of us as well. This is an issue thy should take seriously. We want tools, not toys! I´m looking forward to hear how it goes. Best of luck! -terje __________________ Terje Rian, Creative Director www.notene.no

December 16th, 2008, 10:33 AM	#66
Kenny Cowburn Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Oberaudorf Germany Posts: 66	the ball is rolling SO.... I called the German techie´s this morning 11:30 and was told that they don´t have anything to do with the EX3............and that any EX3 problems are dealt with in France. The guy I spoke to however was pretty concerned and really wanted to help. He took my details and the serial no. of my cam and said he´d pass them on.......... --------------------------------------------------------- (17:00) I just got a call from another girl in the UK, who said that she´d organise a pick-up for my cam. UPS will arrive with packaging material etc. on thursday. If the driver has the time and I am around, he can take it with him straight away. normally he would return the following day to pick up once I´ve had a chance to package it all safely. She did say that there is new firmware coming from Japan soon, but is not sure what exactly it is supposed to fix. I told her about this thread, but she said that they aren´t allowed to use any information from internet forums.............. ------------------------------------------------------------ (17:22) just got another call from the same girl, she has just spoken to the product manager of the EX series. he informed her and she informed me that the firmware will be fixing the problem with the focus and that it should be out in the next few days.......... what she couldn´t tell me is how exactly we get the new fimware and whether we´ll be able to load it up ourselves.........(they haven´t recieved instructions yet) It apparently wasn´t possible to do it ones-self with the EX1. She said she´d call me personally as soon as she knows more about the firmware and whether my cam will need to go in or not. in the meantime, she gave me the option of having the packaging sent to me, so it can all happen fast if the cam does need to go in for the upgrade. so for the moment my cam will stay with me. glad to be getting some answers though.

December 16th, 2008, 12:05 PM	#67
Andy Wilkinson Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cambridge UK Posts: 2,853	Great info. Thanks Kenny. __________________ Andy K Wilkinson - https://www.shootingimage.co.uk Cambridge (UK) Corporate Video Production

December 14th, 2008, 10:52 AM	#62
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	Right, the good news is that after going to the local football stadium and ripping down their floodlights for me to shine on my BF chart I finally managed to get the Auto FB adjust thing to work! It took a fair few goes though because while it kept giving me an "OK" message the focus was still ever so slightly off when I tried a creep zoom to test it on a large monitor. I think I've nailed that little gremlin now. But that still doesn't solve the issue of manual focus sometimes not working. The issue with the zoom servo seems to be behaving itself now that the backfocus is done. However I still don't trust it. I'm going to be testing the bollocks off it tonight to see if it remember the backfocus setting and to see if I still get any issues. This camera is going to have to earn my trust big time, and at the moment it is on probation.

December 15th, 2008, 05:27 PM	#64
Kenny Cowburn Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Oberaudorf Germany Posts: 66	Having posted claim (in which I also made reference to this thread) to Sony Via mail on their support site last night, I recieved a phonecall from the UK this morning to find out what the problem is.( I´m impressed) The girl said she´d pass my claim on to the Techies here in Germany. she also gave me a German phone number, in case I wanted to get in touch with someone local. I´ll call when I have a gap, if they don´t call me first.

December 16th, 2008, 12:47 PM	#68
Terje Rian Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Norway Posts: 105	Kenny, I´m really happy to hear that Sony is responding the way they do, and thanks for sharing. Hopefully you´ll have something to report back in a week or two? Best of luck with your EX-3! -terje __________________ Terje Rian, Creative Director www.notene.no

December 16th, 2008, 07:11 PM	#70
Terje Rian Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Norway Posts: 105	Simon, you got a replacement camera? That´s great! I hope it´ll turn out just fine. I guess the different countries (or dealers?) have their own strategy on how to deal with warrenty issues? I probably have to spend $ 500-800 to send the EX-3 in. I made the stupide decision to buy the EX-3 while visiting New York. Not all decisions are made in heaven. Apparently. -terje __________________ Terje Rian, Creative Director www.notene.no Last edited by Terje Rian; December 16th, 2008 at 07:12 PM. Reason: I missed a word here and there. It´s late over here.

December 18th, 2008, 02:46 AM	#73
Justin Benn Major Player Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: York, UK. Posts: 224	A New Hope. Kenny, your update gives me renewed hope that this focusing issue will be resolved soon. Hopefully Sony will trust EX users to update their own firmware from now on. Jus.

December 21st, 2008, 05:06 AM	#74
Andy Wilkinson Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cambridge UK Posts: 2,853	Simon, any sign of this focus glitch with your new (replacement) EX3? __________________ Andy K Wilkinson - https://www.shootingimage.co.uk Cambridge (UK) Corporate Video Production

December 21st, 2008, 05:19 AM	#75
Bruce Rawlings Major Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Cardiff, Wales, UK Posts: 410	I have been told by a Sony source that EX3s will be shipping from the factory in the new year with updated firmware that clears up various issues.