Hi guys,

I bought my NX5U from a retailer here in Winnipeg. I love the camera. Anything we shoot with it looks amazing. But I've got a problem. Error message 61:10.

When I first bought the camera, about 3 weeks in, I was doing a live event and before the show started I had this message come up. The camera would actually loose focus completely and zoom in all the way. It would then lock up and this error message would come on. We are switching live, so we were not recording and I wasn't using a battery, instead I was using AC.

I called the salesman... And he gave me the line, I was the only one having this problem. I shrugged it off. 3 weeks later, same event. Same problem.. This time no one was touching the camera. It was on a tripod un-manned. Okay.

Called the salesman. Said if it keeps happening bring it in. It happened again, this time when we shooting stock car racing the camera operator says over intercom, I've got that damn error message again. I laughed at first and said don't worry. But before he turned off the camera to reset it so we could still use it, we noticed 3 dots on the lens. I told him to bring me the camera. I had a lens with three small imperfections on the inside of the lens.. Ahh ha!!!

I recorded the video, showed it to the engineer and the store, and he said he would work on getting me a new camera. As mine was a piece of junk. I laughed, he handed me the store demo.. 2 nights later, same problem. This time when the operator was panning and zooming, and was using a battery.

I called the store the next day and was told that there was a much needed software update that would correct the problem. The felt so bad, the replaced my old camera with a brand new one on the spot.

Sony never got back to me to tell me what the real problem was. I say this because, the new camera with the new software update did it to me again 1 month later.

I think this camera has a flaw. The 61:10 error message happens with many other Sony camcorders. Why? Who knows??? But here's a few questions for you out there!!

First, Why haven't they fixed this problem, as it seems to be a common problem with many different models?
Second, Has any one else experienced this problem with a NX5U??

Don't get me wrong, I love the results the camera puts out, but I'm not pleased about the error message.

Ken Plaetinck
bigdaymedia.ca

This is worrying.

Has anybody else experienced this problem with the NX5 or any other Sony camera? I certainly have not, or heard of it before.

Are there a specific set of conditions that cause this error to occur Ken?

Never experienced it, never heard of it.

Here is the list (no exhaustive of course) of Sony camcorder self-diagnosis error codes:


E 61:00 Difficult to adjust focus (Cannot initialize focus.) Lens or board Related Fault
E 61:10 Zoom operations fault (Cannot initialize zoom lens.)


E 62:00 Steadyshot function does not work well.
E 62:01 Steadyshot function does not work well.


So, the description of the code E 61:10 coincides with what you are describing in your post (that “the camera would actually lose focus completely and zoom in all the way”).

The reason of this is most probably a malfunction of the lens mechanism due to a fault in the manufactured process. That is why your camcorder was replaced with a new one on the spot.

However, such type defect is very infrequent, and so I do not believe that it happens “with many other Sony camcorders”.

Unfortunately I don't think this is unique to just my camera... My brand new camear has only done it once, and i've used it multiple times since. The rental did it 3 times in 4 outings, once was so bad I had to leave the camera off completely because it was causing me more problems than if I went without it. While my first camera even had this problem when no-one was using. In fact we could make the error come up in just about any configuration (recording/ not recording, battery/AC, etc).

The fact that Sony never told me what the answer is really bothers me. Maybe the software update cured most of the problem, and Sony will hope this gets swept under the rug. Kind of like the backfocus issue with software version #1.

I am not a newbie to this industry as I shot news for several years, and now I teach broadcasting. So this isn't a newbie type of mistake.

I had the same e:61:10 zoom/focus problem last night in the middle of a wedding reception. I'll be calling Sony tomorrow but this is very disturbing. It happened twice and I had to shut the cam down both times to reset it.

This now makes three times one of my NX5U's has caused a serious problem during a live event.

I had the same problem Sony csr told me it was my fault. I think Sony is aware of the flaw, but do not want to fix it and admire the flaw exit.

I had the same problem Sony csr told me it was my fault. I think Sony is aware of the flaw, but do not want to fix it and admire the flaw exit.

What did Sony say you did to cause the problem?

If Sony tells me the same thing today, this will be the last straw for me with this camera. I love so much about it but it is proving to not be reliable. When you are shooing live events, reliability is the bottom line.

I experienced poor auto focus on my NX5U that did improve after the firmware upgrade. I did send it back to Sony for them to check and they replaced the lens assembly under warranty. It has work OK since then. I never got any error codes just had to manual focus all the time as the auto was way out. Camera is always in manual focus but I use the push auto to get close. This was always slow and wrong and the indicator scale was very wrong sometimes by ten times. ie said focus was at 195 feet when it was really at 35 feet etc. All has been fixed with new lens assembly.

Ron Evans

What did Sony say you did to cause the problem?

If Sony tells me the same thing today, this will be the last straw for me with this camera. I love so much about it but it is proving to not be reliable. When you are shooing live events, reliability is the bottom line.

I was told that I was pressing two buttons at once. I do not know how I could do this and not realize it?

Over the past few months I've lens errors pop up a couple times. Didn't think twice about it (and don't remember the specific codes). This past weekend it happened no fewer than 8 times at one event and missed some potentially great shots because I was standing on Turn 3 at Willow Springs Raceway, cars going by, waiting for my damn camera to properly initialize.

The only good news, is that the camera has never had issues after it successfully powered on.

Interesting read, this thread. Does anybody know if Sony has a list of affected serial numbers posted anywhere like they did for the FMU issue? I got my NX5U in June, and it already had the firmware update for the FMU issue installed. I've never had any kind of focus issue, though, nor have I heard of this "61:10" issue.

Ken, what vintage is your latest NX5U?

Best,
Aaron

Aaron , mine is an early vintage NX5U. I think those early vintage units like mine had problems with the lens unit( back focus and auto focus issues like mine) as well as the firmware for the FMU issue. I expect the later units are up to quality standards now. Will see how mine performs in the next few months.

Ron Evans

These are the NX5U units affected by the firmware update:

Applicable North American serial number range: 110001 - 111585

Let's not muddle topics. That list of Serial numbers is for the unrelated FMU issue 2.0 update. I have yet to see anything official for this new Error issue. (Or, if that is for this issue, please be more clear)

I talked to Sony yesterday about my 61:10 focus problem and they told me to document everything and send it in. So I shelled out close to $100 out of my pocket for the shipping and insurance to get the warranty repair (at least I hope they're able to repair it). I also asked them to look at my auto focus and adjust it if possible. I should get it back next week and it will be interesting to see if it has a better functioning auto focus.

I did the firmware update to fix my buffer overflow earlier this year but I asked them to also upgrade to the newest firmware too. Not sure if what I had was the latest.

Yup, this was the response I received from the LA repair center:

The error code you are getting (61:10) means the lens is not initializing properly, Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to correct it and you will have to send it in so we can repair it. Please use the attached form when sending equipment in for service.

Update: Sent my camera in last week. Today they called and said the lens unit was defective and they'd need to replace it under warranty. Camera should be back in my hands by the end of next week.

Update: I received my cam back from Sony yesterday after having focus problems and the 61:10 error. They replaced the lens assembly (whatever that means). I haven't fully tested it yet but it appears to be better. I'll report back later after a thorough test at a wedding this weekend.