Does your EX-1 rattle?
 

I have noticed something unusual rattling inside my camera, when i rotate it upside down or side ways.

So, me being curious as to what this sound is, i traced the rattle to the left underside area of the camera, below the gain/white balance switches and sony emblem.

I flipped the camera upside down and using a small phillips head screw driver, removed this lower approx. 3 inch panel.

What i found was a circuit board with several fine wiring harnesses attached to the PC board.

2 of these wiring harnesses had what looked like small ceramic yokes, round in shape, with a hole in the center which the wiring harness passed thru.

These 2 small ceramic yokes are graphite in color. They just kind of float on the wiring harnesses. When i rock the camera back and forth, the yokes just slide back and forth.

I say they are ceramic, but really do not know for sure. My camera has not had any issues, and it was gone thru by sony back when they were replacing badly painted side panels and firmware updates.

I did go to my local vendor, to see if a new off the self Sony EX-1 would make this rattling noise. The new camera did make the same rattling noise as mine.

Any thoughts?

those are most likely ferrite cores used to cut rf interference on the wires. My EX 1 does not rattle, they are probably supposed to be glued to something, most likely the circuit board. You can probably fix it yourself with a small dab of Goop.

Denis, thanks for the info. I understand what a ferrite core does. Would you think NOT gluing the core to the PC board would be a better option? I would think you would want to keep anything electrically conductive away from the PC board. Could the ferrite cores, say touch something on the PC board, then cause a short circuit?

Good of you to post this concern so others can check theirs. I rotated the camera vertically and laterally and only heard what sounded like a few shifting plastic parts, having had to listen very closely. It did not sound like rattling but like switches and gears shifting within their range of play. So singling out the components didn't seem important.

Your rattling sounds unusual. If it's loud enough to be picked up by a mic during a shot I would get it fixed.

Max. I may have been a little over zealous in saying my camera rattled. It sounded more like small plastic parts shaking around. The Ferrite cores that are making the noise inside of my camera are very small. They do float on the wire harnesses inside the camera. You can only hear them move when your eye is up on the viewfinder or have your ear very near the cameras body.

Ferrite cores are easily damaged and should NOT be rattling around.

Usually the wire is looped through the ferrite core so it doesn't slide, but a tiny zip tie will work. You should cut off the excess zip tie with a small diagonal cutter after you attach it.

John

If the camera is under warranty I'd send it in for repair/checkup - no point in fixing something so minor yourself when you may cause more damage looking for and "fixing" the issue.
But it is fun mucking about in places that usually void warranties....

EX1 Question (Owners)
 

I Own a EX1. Ive had it for about 3 months now and I love it. I just noticed today when I was screwing a tripod screw into the bottom that when I rotate my EX1 it makes clicking noises. Every time I rotate it, it clicks. I just want to know if others do this also...

Also Im filming a Trash the Dress session and I havent had a chance to mess around with Overcranking (Slow-Mo) What are some good settings to use for say a bride jumping into a lake? I know I need to go to 720p. What 720p do I use?

Thanks again...

The mounting plate on the bottom of the EX1 and especially the EX3 because of the curve are prone to damage. They cannot take heavy tightening. And there are only a couple of little screws holding it on.

Depending upon your tripod you may have a problem with the camera mounting plate and the tripod. Take a really close look at it.

As far as hints for overcranking or undercranking I cannot offer a suggestion because I don't like the look of it so I don't use it.

John

The base frame rate depends on your preferred workflow.
720p24/60 will give you 2.5x slow down if you don't mind working in 24p
720p30/60 will give you a 2x slow down (not quite as slow) if you prefer 30p for your other shooting.

Well I hadnt put the Tripod plate on it yet so the camera was stock at the time. Its not like a rattle when I'm rotating it, its more "orderly" when moving it. It makes the same clicking noise when I rock the camera from left to right. Im just wanting to make sure other ex1 are doing the same....


Craig, thanks for the settings, I work in 30 so Ill try that...

Im glad I found this post, I noticed this last night and have a shoot today. Mine does the same thing, I was thinking maybe the ND filters or something were just clicking when I rotated the Camera back and Forth... I would just worry that it would hit the pc board or something and cause something to crack....I wonder why Sony didnt address this... O well. Good thing were all hearing this..

So far I have not heard any rattles out of the ordinary with the EX1. Meaning I have to listen very very closely in complete and utter silence to hear ever so slight movements of a couple of small components when moving the camera in the ways brought up.