How the Sony Z7U failed me beyond words...

[Bruce G. Cleveland]

Originally Posted by Scott Brooks

Bruce ... I don't have the discerning eye that
After reading Marshall's problems it does make me wonder how the camera is going to perform at my wedding at the end of the month. I'm extremely nervous as this is a repeat client and in a circle of friends for whom I've shot a lot of weddings. The day after the wedding I'm doing a dance recital.

I guess what this means is that in about three weeks I'll have a pretty good idea of what's going on. I'll either be a happy camper ... or looking for Sony's phone number.

Really though ... this is all a bit ridiculous. There seems to be a big enough sampling here that Sony should be doing something. Maybe they are and they're not commenting publicly ... but I would think they would at least want to let us know what they're doing as opposed to (seemingly) ignoring the situation.

Thanks for the imput Scott. I wish everyone would post how they like the Z7 so far. I am editing an event I did a couple weeks ago. Called Just Desserts, it was a fund raiser and pretty low light. Other than too much noise on the video because I left the camera on auto, the focus was just fine and auto focus did not hunt at all. I will post the link once I get it finished this week.

Bruce

[Marshall Levy]

Sony's looking into this, whatever that means, but I still don't know what to do with a screwed-up camera. I was playing around with it last night and lost zooming capability for a short while.

Odd.

And to think that I need to get a replacement by Friday. Sure, I can use some of my Z1U's and DR60's, but the CF is so much more convenient for SDE's....and yeah, I have another one on Saturday.

[Brian Standing]

Marshall,

Can't you use the CF recorder with a Z1?

It certainly sounds like you have a defective lens. Could you rent or borrow a lens designed for the JVC HD100 to get you through until Sony can sort all of this out?

[Marshall Levy]

Originally Posted by Brian Standing

Marshall,

Can't you use the CF recorder with a Z1?

It certainly sounds like you have a defective lens. Could you rent or borrow a lens designed for the JVC HD100 to get you through until Sony can sort all of this out?

I could use the CF device, actually. Never thought of it - I have DR60's with those cameras, too.

Regarding the lens, I almost wonder if it's more than that because the issues are so all over the place...focusing, zooming, CF writing....who knows, I just hope I get an answer soon.

[Brian Standing]

Originally Posted by Marshall Levy

Regarding the lens, I almost wonder if it's more than that because the issues are so all over the place...focusing, zooming, CF writing....who knows, I just hope I get an answer soon.

Well, if you install another lens and the problems go away (although depending on the lens, you might not have autofocus anyway), at least you've narrowed the problem down to the lens, not the body.

Conversely, if they don't go away after you've tried another lens, then it's probably a problem with the camera body.

[Marshall Levy]

Originally Posted by Brian Standing

Well, if you install another lens and the problems go away (although depending on the lens, you might not have autofocus anyway), at least you've narrowed the problem down to the lens, not the body.

Conversely, if they don't go away after you've tried another lens, then it's probably a problem with the camera body.

If I had another lens available I would have done that. Same thing with the CF recorder. But, the fact that I had both lens and recording issues, I wonder where the issues are coming from. I just hope I know what to do soon as I'm running out of time before Saturday and if I have to lose more income someone will be compensating for it, and it won't be me - again.

[Steve Mullen]

Originally Posted by Marshall Levy

If I had another lens available I would have done that. Same thing with the CF recorder. But, the fact that I had both lens and recording issues, I wonder where the issues are coming from.

Is the servo motor in the lens?

It seems like all the optical issues are mechanical defects or miss-adjustments and not firmware. Very likely Sony has sub-contracted the lens, and camera to different companies as that's how Japan Inc. has always done things. None of the companies really build products anymore than Apple builds its computers. In fact, design is done by the suppliers to meet specs.

Sony et al buy a quantity -- a first run may be 10,000 units. These are built in a run that lasts several weeks. By the time Sony sees the units the production run is over. Almost nothing can or will be done to "fix" these already built units.

In the "old days" QC would be done on these parts before packing. To decrease costs, I suspect companies are relying on the QC of their suppliers and not doing a second check on every incoming part. (Just like Apple which flys computers from China and sends them directly to dealers.)

It's simply cheaper to replace a part on the few percent that are bad. In my view, Sony USA has no other way to fix these problems since it is Sony Japan that made the business decision to take the risk. (Although, JVC USA did decide to QC every HD100 coming into the USA after it realized Japan was shipping defective camcorders world-wide.)

The drive for profits in Japan has taken it's toll on quality -- just as it has in the USA and Europe. (My second Panasonic phone system is failing. No doubt built in the same type of Chinese factory as anything you would buy from Walmart.)

PS: I wonder if products that will be sold in Japan still get the full QC process? Why do never read posts from Japan describing problems?

[Zach Love]

Originally Posted by Marshall Levy

If I had another lens available I would have done that. Same thing with the CF recorder. But, the fact that I had both lens and recording issues, I wonder where the issues are coming from. I just hope I know what to do soon as I'm running out of time before Saturday and if I have to lose more income someone will be compensating for it, and it won't be me - again.

Marshall I'm sorry that you're having bad luck w/ your camera. I just bought a Z7 a couple weeks ago & reading some of your problems have made me cautious about using mine.

I have to say though I highly, highly doubt Sony would EVER pay you for money lost b/c of bad equipment. (I doubt that Ford would pay a taxi driver lost wages if the transmission blew in 10k miles.)

For Saturday, if I was in your shoes, I'd plan to work like I did before I had my Z7, ie shoot w/ my Z1. No CF cards = more time on the NLE, but at least I don't add an extra 10lbs of stress to my life.

The goal is to get a good product at the end of the day, not use the newest equipment.

I used to have to use a Lectrosonics wireless set which only worked about 60% of the time. A wireless lav is a handy thing to have, but when I heard the first hint of a bad signal setting up I could swap the lectro for a hard wire in the drop of a hat.

If you're being paid to shoot a wedding, shoot a wedding. If you're being paid to shoot w/ a Z7u, then shoot w/ the Z7u & don't think about the picture quality.

[Marshall Levy]

I completely agree, but what upsets me is how some companies are in terms of their warranties.

For instance, I bought a Microboards GX2 printer about a year ago. It stopped working after a few days. I called Microboards, we went through some troubleshooting, and they sent me a new printer, and I then sent the bad one back to them. Canon did the same thing with a printer, flash, and even a lens. Awesome ability to do this, and I know many other companies do the same thing. All they've done is temporarily charge my credit card in case I decide to keep / not return the newer unit / replacement. As for Sony, who knows...I've asked numerous times and haven't gotten any responses so I don't know what to do with this camera (aka piece of garbage).

[Marshall Levy]

Ooh, I'm partially excited! It's been approved to have a new camera sent to me pending I send the current one back. Awesome. I can actually get some work filmed! I should have it Friday and, as of now, am thrilled of the outcome thus far.

[Marco Dias]

That's great news, now don't forget to give us an update for the new camcorder. Remember, test, test ,test, test etc... before you use it for an important function.

P.S. You should now ask Sony to compensate for all the headache pills you took during the course of this "Dilemma".

[Steve Wolla]

I'd be sure to bring your Z1's to your shoot Saturday, just in case.....

[Marshall Levy]

I actually have a corp client that has to have filming done Thurs and Fri, so I'll be using a Z1 w/ DR60 since they need all the footage the day of, and hopefully the new Z7 for Fri or at least Sat. It seems like everything will work out in the end, and I'm very happy about the outcome thus far. I had my doubts, and my guesses, but I'm glad that they've pulled through and stood by the customer....or perhaps because I'm such a pest, they wanted to get rid of me :)

[Bob Lange]

What I want to hear is that the camera they send you (loaner or owned) is fixed. That it works as it should.

Best wishes
bl

[Kevin Walsh]

Originally Posted by Laurence Kingston

Anyway you might want to try a full FAT32 reformat on your card using the 32 kilobyte cluster size and see if that helps.

The card reader format is really quick and it obviously is just a "quick format" type format, and if there are problems with the CF card format, this isn't going to be enough.

Thanks for posting this the tip Laurence, I'm going to give this a try and I'll post my results after the weekend.