I believe the worse cameras are the ones showing the vignetting with OIS off.

My cameras gone to Sony today to be looked at by one of their technicians. I have to say that the product manager who contacted me about the issues has been very helpful indeed.

Paul.

Paul,
you really can be lucky.
Sony promised me that the repair would be done in 3-4 days before I sent the camera to them.
As it still did not arrive after one week I called them and they did not know anything about my camera but promised to call me back with more info.
As I did not hear from them for another 24 hours I called again. Again they promised to find out whats going on and swore they would call me back asap. That was 36 hours ago. I will call again tomorrow and won´t be very polite this time... I bought this camera to earn money with it and now will have to rent a camera for my jobs. Doesn´t Prime Support promise that one would get a replacement camera while your´s is at repair?
I´m pretty p*s*ed at the moment... :-(

regards,
Gerald

When I was dealing with Sony San Jose,CA USA they told me they had a backlog. I wonder if this might be the case given certain issues.

They actually put me on hold on the phone while they checked. When they finally determined they would replace the camera that did take a few more days because they said it would take time to get the OK to do that.

I would keep after them though. Even if it's a report that they haven't gotten to your camera yet (as they did when I first called them) would at least give you something.

Sony was very good at answering my questions on the phone.

Thanks Craig,
I´m in Europe and my camera was sent to France. Looks like they are working differently over here :-(
The only information I could get so far was that the camera arrived at the repair center last tuesday - more than a week ago... They also put me on hold at the first call only to tell me that they could not find out anything, but assured me to call me back asap with more info.

regards,
Gerald

As my camera still is not repaired, Sony now sent me a rental camera.
This camera has a massive problem with back focus and a vignetting issue on 3 corners. The camera they sent me now is brand new and its serial# starts with 40... like mine. I can´t believe that they are still sending out cameras with quality problems... I think if they return my camera and it still has issues I might ask for a refund and return the whole mess.

I´m glad I did not sell all my old SD cameras yet.

regards,
a frustrated Gerald

That's terrible! back focus? how can the back focus be out?! That's a terrible loan camera. Have you complained. They should send you a better one out ASAP.

I am sorry you are having such bad luck. I feel embarrassed that the two I have exhibit no problems whatsoever. Keep faith, it will be worth it in the end. I promise!

I wish I could agree Phil but my experience this week has confirmed my suspicion that Sony are turning a blind eye to this problem. In my opinion they have decided that centering the lens limits it to a degree so will perform that fix, but any questions about remaining light fall off are met with "it's normal".

After prime support said that the problems on my camera were not due to lens alignment and so are "normal" I spoke to one of the product managers who I met at the video forum show. Upon seeing my footage he agreed that the camera needed to be looked at and arranged for it to be picked up the next day by courier.

After receiving the camera and having technicians check it out they said that they could not see any problems at all and that the lens on my camera had previously been re-aligned in their lab prior to being sent to the dealer, so there was nothing further they could do.

I can understand them not being able to do anything further if it's a design issue, but to say that they cannot see the problem is very frustrating.

I got the camera back the next day so I'm very happy with the speedy way they looked into it, it's just a shame that they will not admit that there is still a problem with the camera. If this is a limitation of the lens then I can live with it, but in essence I'm being told that I'm imagining the problem, make up your own mind...

http://www.olikai.com/shake.mov
http://www.olikai.com/ois.mov


Paul.

That's terrible! back focus? how can the back focus be out?! That's a terrible loan camera. Have you complained. They should send you a better one out ASAP.

I am sorry you are having such bad luck. I feel embarrassed that the two I have exhibit no problems whatsoever. Keep faith, it will be worth it in the end. I promise!
Phil,
I haven´t complained yet, but I definitely will. When I zoom in and focus and zoom out again the picture looks very blurry, especially when the aperture is wider open. My camera did not show this problem. I will try again with a test chart this afternoon.
I always seem to have bad luck with camera purchases - all the cameras I bought in the past 15 years spent weeks at the repair shops from Sony after purchase...

Wow..
Sony will have to step and and address these issues.

For a camera that cost $7,000.00 USD, we should not be stuck with defective cameras. If they can not fix it, they need to replace it.

The reality of this all is that Sony has all of us by the the collar with their free 8 gb card deadline. If there was no deadline or no free 8 gb offer I would most likely wait till the end of summer and hopefulyy see if Sony work out the kinks of this camera but most of us don't want to miss out on the free card offer. Sony was smart to put that offer in place too. It's a shame that such a fantastic camera is having such issues. It may even be that they are not able to pack all these features in this size camera and may need to do a design overhaul because from the way that everyone is responding, they are not getting their cameras back completly fixed after they send them to Sony.

As someone who was contemplating purchasing this camera, the fact that the vignetting is still a problem is pretty depressing. I'm put-off about laying out hard earned money for something known to have a defect.

What are the odds that they fix this in the next month or two? I know the images are stunning, but don't think I could knowingly buy something with a major defect like this.

I'm somewhat concerned also. Between myself and where I work three EX1s went to Sony AU for adjustment and none of them came back completely fixed. My other thought is that if the adjustment is that critical how is it going to hold up over years of use, if the cameras need constant re-alignment who will bear the cost.

The situation is further complicated by us not dealing directly with Sony. Sony AU is not Sony Japan, understandably Sony AU might get a bit unhappy if they've got to keep performing lens alignments for free just to keep us happy and if there is an ongoing issue, the more cameras sold the bigger the headache becomes.

Most of us have been assuming that this is just a minor vignette that's only visible under certain conditions and even then it only affects a small part of the frame that's pretty much outside picture essential anyway. I'm not so certain about this. Under a wider set of conditions the vignette seems to become less obvious (less in focus) but covers a wider part of the frame.
I do know that many lenses are not perfect, almost all have some falloff however that's a product of the optical design and/or cost considerations. The difference is it's gradual from the centre to the edge of the frame and it's symetrical and hence visually less objectionable. I'd also mention that with HD almost every pixel is visible on TVs and monitors, there's no overscan to hide anything.

The EX1 has the best lens any manufacturer has 'fixed' into a camera body. Camera manufacturers probably aren't used to having to wrangle lens issues, take the next step up from the EX1 in the XDCAM lineup and the optics is someone else's problem. If you've got a lens problem with your F350 you can get the lens serviced by a dedicated lens technician. Perhaps this is also part of the reason why Sony are having so much trouble nailing this issue.

For myself and the three EX1s I'm responsible for I'm waiting until the firmware update to send the cameras back again. I'm pretty lucky though, I'm a very short drive from my dealer and he's an equally short drive from Sony headquarters. Not everyone down here is so lucky. Some are looking at significant freight costs and delays in simply getting the camera to and fro Sony. I know at least one EX1 owner who is waiting for a real fix from Sony before spending $600 just in freight and insurance costs to get his camera fixed.

I really think this issue comes down to real-world life, in that all the thousands of hours of pre and prototype testing in can never bring to light every production variation. If time was no object then of course the above statement isn't correct, but then if that was so we'd still be shooting on VHS.

It's the reason why you should never buy a new car in the first 6 months of its production run, why program writers have beta testers, why the early PD170s were beset with an audio glitch and why the DVX100 was very quickly modified into the much better A model, and the XL1 went to the small s.

Early adopters will always pay the price I'm afraid. It's the law of the land.

tom.

I endorse Tom's remarks wholeheartedly. I have as far as I know a good camera. Have been trying it out the last few days and find it gives amazing quality.

I have bought faulty goods all my life Cars/Electronics/ Tropicana orange juice packs- everything. I've bought 8mm/16mm/VHS/SVHS/DV/BetaSP/BetaSX/Digibeta/HDCAM - all equipment usually has foibles but I managed to make money out of them. (and enjoy film making). The trick is to harness the good things in equipment and build on them.

This camera for ordinary typical recording is great. Before testing I switched of all the unimportant features auto anything/OIS/focus/Iris etc. (I have never used auto Iris/focus on any camera apart from initial setting and then usually over ride its decision). I have used Doug Jensen's Vortex Media settings and WOW what a camera. For my applications - environment/sea/plants etc the quality is first class. I will concede that full telephoto shots when shooting a subject that may not have too much detail around it can highlight the portholing effect. But then I have a £10,000 HD broadcast lens that equally looks a bit iffy at times.

It is easy to lose sight of what a camera is for - making movies. Phil Bloom creates beautiful pictures with his EX1. Doug Jensen has produced a DVD of excellent quality mostly shot on the EX1. Sony will have to fix any truly faulty cameras and I am sure they will to maintain their reputation. This camera is a very important milestone in video production and at this price it is a bargain. Read Adam Wilt's review at www.provideocoalition.com for a realistic take on this camera.

Go for it Boys.

I wish I could agree Phil but my experience this week has confirmed my suspicion that Sony are turning a blind eye to this problem. In my opinion they have decided that centering the lens limits it to a degree so will perform that fix, but any questions about remaining light fall off are met with "it's normal".

After prime support said that the problems on my camera were not due to lens alignment and so are "normal" I spoke to one of the product managers who I met at the video forum show. Upon seeing my footage he agreed that the camera needed to be looked at and arranged for it to be picked up the next day by courier.

After receiving the camera and having technicians check it out they said that they could not see any problems at all and that the lens on my camera had previously been re-aligned in their lab prior to being sent to the dealer, so there was nothing further they could do.

I can understand them not being able to do anything further if it's a design issue, but to say that they cannot see the problem is very frustrating.

I got the camera back the next day so I'm very happy with the speedy way they looked into it, it's just a shame that they will not admit that there is still a problem with the camera. If this is a limitation of the lens then I can live with it, but in essence I'm being told that I'm imagining the problem, make up your own mind...

http://www.olikai.com/shake.mov
http://www.olikai.com/ois.mov


Paul.

Paul you have to speak to Phil Myers at Sony, i am assuming he is the guy you spoke to before. You have to get the camera replaced!

Paul you have to speak to Phil Myers at Sony, i am assuming he is the guy you spoke to before. You have to get the camera replaced!

Yes, Phil was the guy who arranged to have the camera looked at last week. He was really helpful, but if the technicians say they can't see any problems then there's not much more I can do.

Having read some of the other stories here, I kind of feel like pushing for a replacement could result in an even worse camera so it's a hard to know what to do.

Paul,

I have two perfect camera. Get it changed.

Phil

Mine is also fine, you can always use at as a benchmark for getting a good one if need be.

I'm deciding right now if returning my camera will make it better. How much vignetting is acceptable? Should there absolutely none. I have vignetting at longish length in the top right hand corner but it is not as bad as the example I saw posted here. I don't want to complain about a little issue to end up with a bigger one.

I did some more testing on the loan camera from Sony today.
Besides a slight vignette (this time on all 4 corners(!) ), it has a strange focus phenomenon.
Whenever aperture is set to 2.8 or wide open and things are very far away at the infinity mark of the lens, I just cant get a sharp image no matter what I try. When I zoom in fully and manually set focus and zoom out everything gets extremely blurry (not just slightly blurry, but really extremely!). I have also checked with a focus chart which was about 5 meters away and everything looked o.k. The back focus seems to be perfect within this closer range. There is also absolutely no tracking of the lens. I just cant get sharp wide shots with aperture fully open and the lens near infinity. Everything was set to full manual mode of course.
Any hints? Do your cameras do the same? I *think* my camera, which is at Sony for repair at the moment, did not do this, but I could be wrong.

regards,
Gerald

Do your cameras do the same?

No issues here

Paul,

Send it back. And if your "future" new camera comes back with issues - send it back too... and repeat until issue solved. Do NOT accept anything less than a great picture from a 7k camera. Especially at this point when others have no issues, which means this camera is capable of a clean picture (at least now.)

Yes, it's unfortunate they dropped the ball in the first place with QC, but they seem to be putting things right in the larger picture. And yes, I'm playing armchair quarterback because I don't own one yet, but I've been devouring these threads because I order mine on the 13th, so I'm hoping for the best - prepared for the worst. And I live in Vegas, with NAB and other future "beauties" just around the corner, and I'm still willing to gamble on this particular beauty. (I also know my resolve not to let them or anyone else take my 7000 clams and hand me a lemon.)

And if you need further reasons to get yourself a new camera - do it for precedence. Let them know anyone who pays 7k for a CINE ALTA Branded Camera, will not settle for anything less than - what Sony Marketing wants us to think of when we see the CINE ALTA Brand - EXCELLENCE. So if you won't do it for yourself, do it for the team. I promise to do the same after I get my order if the case need be.

Do yourself a favor and get the camera you paid for,
Lonnie

Paul,

and I'm still willing to gamble on this particular beauty. (I also know my resolve not to let them or anyone else take my 7000 clams and hand me a lemon.)

So if you won't do it for yourself, do it for the team. I promise to do the same after I get my order if the case need be.

Do yourself a favor and get the camera you paid for,
Lonnie

I admire your resolve; however, don't you think they should suspend production and correct existing problems, rather than shipping product that does not meet expectations? As you stated, it's a gamble as to whether you'll get a clean unit with no problems or one that has to go back and forth for repairs.

This is exactly what is putting many people off. I don't expect a perfect camera, just one without major issues. Poor optical performance (whether it's the glass or the camera behind it) is just unacceptable in a $7k device.

I don't see how anybody, pro or amateur, can gamble their money and time on this.

What is the likelihood they introduce a de-buggeed model in the near future?

however, don't you think they should suspend production and correct existing problems, rather than shipping product that does not meet expectations?

Damn right, Bob! I agree with this 100%. But, I sat up with a cup of coffee and poured through these 35pages. Then I perused other forums. Sony seems to be, at least now, shipping Post QC cameras without this issue.

And I have to assume, that there are a few cameras somewhere, that may slip through the cracks - but they are fixable. And the optimist in me, would like to think that Sony QC is now not releasing any future, just off-the-assembly-line-cameras out with this problem. If they are, tracking the serial numbers on these forums will be a great benefit to all.

Maybe that's the ticket. Maybe our maestro, Chris Hurd, could start a thread where everyone posts their serial number and whether it shipped vignette free or shipped with problem. This would really put pressure on Sony to stop releasing any more "problem" cameras - Because it would be traceable and trackable. And would put future purchasers on notice, by checking how their camera falls in line with other production models. It would also serve to inform buyers who have not tested to go hmmm, "my camera's serial number lies in the middle of a sequence of serial numbers with a problem - the odds are my camera is defective - I should test it!"

What do you guys think - I'm all for a little consumer-supported-pressure to ensure Sony does the right thing. And for those that say blindly - Sony is already doing the right thing. Well, I'll say by tracking their serial numbers - we could only prove this... or not.

What do you think?

Lonnie

Chris Hurd, could start a thread where everyone posts their serial number and whether it shipped vignette free or shipped with problem. This would really put pressure on Sony to stop releasing any more "problem" cameras - Because it would be traceable and trackable. And would put future purchasers on notice, by checking how their camera falls in line with other production models. It would also serve to inform buyers who have not tested to go hmmm, "my camera's serial number lies in the middle of a sequence of serial numbers with a problem - the odds are my camera is defective - I should test it!"You're suggesting it's a batch problem. I'm not all that convinced it's a batch problem...?

I just cant get sharp wide shots with aperture fully open and the lens near infinity. Everything was set to full manual mode of course.
Any hints? Do your cameras do the same? I *think* my camera, which is at Sony for repair at the moment, did not do this, but I could be wrong.

Gerald, I think most of them actually are or can be (e.g. when it's cold) out of focus with the FM focus ring past the infinity mark, at the tele hard stop; this is documented in the manual.

That said, I agree with Chris - the vignetting is not a batch problem; I've always maintained it's a design problem. Tolerances are just so tight one must be very lucky to get an acceptable unit. This is why I will not ask for a replacement until Sony resolves the issue (if and how they do it, I have no idea, though)...

Chris Hurd - you are in the know...

Are you convinced that the issues are fixable with a drop shipment back to a Sony tech bench?

Or is the design between lens and camera not up to snuff and...
Houston, we have a problem!

Where is your gut, sources, tea leaves leading your thoughts on this right now?

Well CRAP! Now I'm a little uncertain - I confess.

For those that are longer in the tooth, if Sony is quietly going back and redesigning, or adjusting, and fix the problem, would they offer the beta-buyers an exchange in your experiences? Or would they market it as the EX2?

It's all speculation, I know but... UGH!

Where's our Sony rep to shed some light on this?

...and Chris, if you are right and it's not a batch problem, wouldn't a thread dedicated to posting every single serial number with an issue, put the free world on notice and force Sony to say, "oops, those guys at DVinfo are on to us... and they are airing our dirty laundry to boot! Stop production, recall, and let's make this right."

Lonnie
p.s. and yes, i'm in a mood!

Gerald, I think most of them actually are or can be (e.g. when it's cold) out of focus with the FM focus ring past the infinity mark, at the tele hard stop; this is documented in the manual.

Piotr,
thanks for the tip. Most lenses I worked with (even very expensive ones) are not in focus beyond the infinity mark at the end of the scale, but that is not the problem on this camera. I always zoomed in - focused, and then zoomed out only to see a blurry image. When I´m zoomed out there is no way to get a sharp image at all - no matter what I try - its always terribly blurry at f1,4 in fully wide.

Chris is right, it's not a batch problem that's for sure.

I'm on my second camera which also has vignetting.

I must confess, I'm actually a bit blown away that a $7,000 camera has this issue.

I'm hoping Sony is going to make it right for all those affected.

I'm not a sit back and hope kind of guy... Let's pressure Sony. Period.

If Sony found out that one of the largest, most respected forums in the world dedicated to camcorder owners and future owners, has a dedicated thread for EX1 owners to post their serial numbers and whether they have a vignette issues or not - and if you are correct, and this is a design issue, the number of BAD cameras would be staggering - this is press they do not want involved with their CINE ALTA line.

This kind of pressure would certainly lead to some better resolve than what we are presently, willfully, accepting. And that is how I see it - they aren't doing the right thing yet, because we the consumers are not forcing them to... again on the sole assumption it's a design problem and not a quick work bench fix...

And I would hold off on my purchase if there was some sort of consensus to do so. But there won't be - so there's no consumer pressure there. But by purchasing and posting problems - this may get better/faster resolve in the long run. And the consumer still benefits in the interim by getting a still better than DV25 images (at least of non-white walls...)

Am I crazy or does this make sense in this consumer versus Goliath situation.

(And for the consumer who can wait out the storm and hold off on their imminent HD camera - enjoy the ride...)

Lonnie

I think Piotr is correct. The margin on their specs are just to tight.

I think they need better QC on their lens. This seems the deciding factor if there's room for adjustment or not.

I think you are on the right track, Lonnie, but am skeptical that even having a list of bad cameras and unhappy customers would provoke a response. Some people will purchase because they are oblivious to the issue, are willing to gamble or figure they will just get it fixed. There are still people buying Leica's digital rangefinder and that thing does not work properly without an add-on filter.

I was thisclose to ordering one, but I can't gamble my money or time that I'll get a good unit. And I can't support a company that's asking me to gamble in the first place. When they come out and say definitively that the problem is fixed and all units shipping are free of defects, then I'll consider ordering.

My guess is that they've already produced a bunch of cameras and they want them out of their warehouse and/or they are in over their head with the engineering and don't want to admit it.

When they come out and say definitively that the problem is fixed and all units shipping are free of defects, then I'll consider ordering.



Well, they did address the issue, but apparently no where near 100%.
My last camera was from a later batch and still has vignetting.

When they come out and say definitively that the problem is fixed and all units shipping are free of defects, then I'll consider ordering. With due respect to all parties involved, I would ask you to please refer to recent history as that is always the best indicator of the immediate future (history is cyclical, and large corporations are very slow to change): there have been some issues in the past with one or two Sony pro-line camcorder models, and while those issues are usually resolved eventually, they are hardly ever announced with any fanfare whatsoever. Sony fixes are usually silent. And corporate policies, like the cameras, are made in Japan.

For me things have changed a lot after my recent communications with Sony over my camera. All this talk about returning the cameras for repair and/or asking for a replacement means nothing if Sony are saying that these issues are not issues at all.

Unfortunately this is deemed normal as the light fall off is spread evenly across all 4 corners. I'm afraid this means the machine is considered to be working normally.

If Sony prime support will not do anything further then what else can I do?

In most other respects the EX1 is a great camera, but this flaw makes me nervous every time I use it.

Paul.

I did some more testing on the loan camera from Sony today.
Besides a slight vignette (this time on all 4 corners(!) ), it has a strange focus phenomenon.
Whenever aperture is set to 2.8 or wide open and things are very far away at the infinity mark of the lens, I just cant get a sharp image no matter what I try. When I zoom in fully and manually set focus and zoom out everything gets extremely blurry (not just slightly blurry, but really extremely!). I have also checked with a focus chart which was about 5 meters away and everything looked o.k. The back focus seems to be perfect within this closer range. There is also absolutely no tracking of the lens. I just cant get sharp wide shots with aperture fully open and the lens near infinity. Everything was set to full manual mode of course.
Any hints? Do your cameras do the same? I *think* my camera, which is at Sony for repair at the moment, did not do this, but I could be wrong.

regards,
Gerald

What is the serial of the loaner? My first camera (#1000012) exhibited this exact behavior. I was whining about it here several weeks ago but no one would confirm or deny anything similar, so I can only assume mine was the only one. It was eventually replaced with another (but not before Sony repair gave it a clean bill-of-health and returned a still defective unit). But Sony (my dealer) indeed replaced it and the new camera is much better, although tracking is still not perfect. Makes me wonder how prevalent this could be, although it's barely noticeable >2500 serial numbers later. The 90 day U.S. labor warranty is about to expire for early adopters.

One interesting new development concerns the iris. After shooting all afternoon in manual, I powered the camera up to find the iris would not move, as if auto-iris had taken control. OK, must have bumped it. Nope. Everything was still set to manual, but it would not budge. Re-set power again and all was well. I'm willing to chalk it up to user error somehow, but this was not the first time it has happened.

Knowing the imperfections and how to avoid them is my current plan, as I cannot afford to be without the remarkable pictures it produces for yet another month.

Gerald, does your infinity focus improve if you roll it all the way back the other direction, 0.8 m, once you get wide?

Bill,
the serial is 0402753. Unfortunately I did not read your thread where you described the problem with your camera.
After some more testing at dawn I found out that the problem is much worse if one of the ND filters is on. Without it, wide open aperture is acceptable, but not perfect. As soon as one of the ND filters is on - the pictures gets blurry.
The infinity does not improve if I roll it back the other direction.
I´ve tried to reproduce this effect with my old Sony 370 and the Panasonic 615 which have very good lenses - and I could only achieve it when I switched to macro mode or misaligned back focus.
I have to rush to a shooting now (with the Panasonic) and will call Sony later this afternoon.

cu,
G

In my opinion, the units shipped out as of today are most likely defect free. The question is, when will they hit store shelves? Do you guys think that if one waits till the last week of this month to meet the deadline for the sxs card, would that help in any way to get a non defective camera?

Thoughts...comments....

Dennis,
I'd like to think so, and I'm the guy talking about gambling on it (hell, I live in Vegas!) and not waiting till NAB, but the more seasoned guys have kind of shared their disappointment with the design flaws...

So, not to my usual trait - I'm going to sit idle, and wait for other pros to get their cameras and test... And if Chris Hurd's hints that Sony's fixes trickle out slowly and quietly suddenly surface - then I'll definitely chomp. Upside is, the images from these disappointments still beats out anything in it's class - it's still amazing!

I hate being idle, but here I sit... March 13th was my day to bite - we'll see what happens till then...

Lonnie

Well...
After having my first camera sent in and coming back not fixed and also now owning a replacement camera with vignetting, I can't say I would agree.

Steven,
Have you gone out shooting real world stuff with it and if so, how's the images and do you notice the shadowy corners... and if you post more clips of your living room walls I'm gonna hurt ya :)

Lonnie

Dennis,
I'd like to think so, and I'm the guy talking about gambling on it (hell, I live in Vegas!) and not waiting till NAB, but the more seasoned guys have kind of shared their disappointment with the design flaws...

So, not to my usual trait - I'm going to sit idle, and wait for other pros to get their cameras and test... And if Chris Hurd's hints that Sony's fixes trickle out slowly and quietly suddenly surface - then I'll definitely chomp. Upside is, the images from these disappointments still beats out anything in it's class - it's still amazing!

I hate being idle, but here I sit... March 13th was my day to bite - we'll see what happens till then...

Lonnie

I'm thinking of calling sony directly and talking to the department that handles customer complaints to get to the bottom of this and figure out the serial numbers affected. I will be shocked if by the end of this month they are still selling defective cameras, being more than 4 months after their launch. In my opinion, this issue should be cleared out in the next month or so otherwise they will have to scrap this design and just create a new model with the same features with no glitches.

Dennis,
refer them to this link - it's 37 pages of not so positive stuff...
or 37 pages of why to not purchase this Sony Cine Alta until you fix the lens to camera gizmotics (technically speaking of course)...
Lonnie

Well...
After having my first camera sent in and coming back not fixed and also now owning a replacement camera with vignetting, I can't say I would agree.

What serial number cameras did you get?

Steven,
Have you gone out shooting real world stuff with it and if so, how's the images and do you notice the shadowy corners...
Lonnie

Only when the focal length is between 10-25 mm and there is a flat background such as sky, walls, ect... So to answer you question, yes.

It's not as bad as my first, but it's there. Also, this is with OIS OFF. With OIS on it's worse due to movement.

I got an EX1 last week, i've had a quick look for vignetting but don't see any. Admittedly i'm only looking on the lcd screen at the moment as i've no time to test properly but i believe it can be seen on the LCD (if i remember previous threads correctly). I've shaken it around a bit for OIS as well but nothing. I think i can detect some lens vignetting but it's very subtle and what i would expect anyway.

This is from serial number that starts 40xxxx

cheers
paul

To say this is disappointing is an understatement, Steven.

After more systematic test with the loaner camera this afternoon I called Sony to complain.
Well, they still do not know what´s going on with my original camera. It is still at the repair shop... I complained about the lens issue of the loaner camera. The problem now is that they do not have any more loaner cameras left they could send me - I got the very last one!!! Looks like I will have to live with it for a while.

What I found out during my tests today:

- Zoom in with ND off - aperture wide open at f1.9 - focus near infinity mark - zoom out - image is o.k. and sharp (did not test this before without ND)

- Zoom in with ND ON - aperture wide open at f1.9 - focus near infinity mark -zoom out - image is extremely blurry

- Zoom in with ND ON - aperture set to f5.6 or higher - focus near infinity mark -zoom out - image is o.k.

It looks like that the ND filter is the only cause for the blurriness?? I bet my camera is not the only with this issue - you can easily try for yourself... Looking through some older footage I shot with my original camera, I guess it might have the same problem (I did not do this zoom test during the 2 days I had it before I sent it back to Sony for repair.)
I´ve retried the suggestion to improve the infinity focus by fully rolling it all the way back to 0.8 - and guess what - to the contrary what I said yesterday - it works! So whenever I want to shoot a wide landscape with ND-filter ON I have to manually set the focus to 0.8 instead of the traditional method of zooming in, focusing and zooming out. So if I want to shoot a zoom from something far away and end in a wide shot, I have to pull the focus during the zoom!! How sick is that? Thats a phenomenon I just cant explain.
The vignetting issue is also visible in real world situations - like when filming a blue sky - so no need to shoot another living room wall ;-)

Sorry for my ramblings and thanks for letting me vent ;-)

cu,
Gerald

Just a theory - most cameras use a clear filter internally for "ND Off" (or zero) so that the backfocus does not change when a filter is selected. It's sometimes called a compensating filter. (You'll also see it in periscope lenses and long motion picture zooms with internal filters).

Because of the all-servo all the time nature of the EX1 lens (with internal LUTs for backfocus adjustment) is it possible that the EX1 compensates for ND filters electro-mechanically and that this compensation is not working on certain cameras?

I have seen similar complaints on other sites about focus issues which occur "outdoors and not indoors" and I wonder if this is due to there being no clear compensating filter inside the lens for the ND0 "indoor" setting, with the camera relying on a pre-set servo compensation instead (which fails for some reason).

My camera is just as sharp with any of the ND setting, so I know it's not a design issue.