Michael,

Not forgetting that at all - read my theory a few posts above as to why I think it's happening in only some cameras.

Your theory is equally plausible. Looking forward to finding out the full story.

Michael,
its not just ONE particular camera - there are A LOT of owners with the very same problem besides me.

Tried and true
 

Both of my EX1s exhibit vignette and back focus issues.
Both bought fro the UK and sent to Athens Greece.
The first one arrived in the end of January SN: 401039 and the vignette problem is more apparent the second camera arrived in the middle of February SN: 402302 with much less vignetting but both exhibit the back focus problem mentioned above.
Called Sony UK and already have file numbers for both and wait for a technician to call.
I will let you know when I talk to the technician.

How do you check for the back focus problem ?

zoom in, make focus (to what disctance ?)
zoom back, check focus (which should be out of focus), make focus, see the difference.

What the difference is ?
is it the same when focusing at different distances ?

I'll try to check mine soon, I think I do have the backfocus problem.
What about the back focus option in the "maintenance menu" ? anybody tried that ?

Hi
Same problem here:

ND off: Backfocus ok.
ND on: not in focus

:-/

Zoom in (almost infinity) f/1.9 ND2, focus and then zoom out. everything look blurry unless I turn the focus ring to 0.8 meters which is really weird.
Really Really bad :-(

Cmon this is ridiculous,
We should be using these cameras to do our assignments instead of just performing tests after tests for possible shortcomings and talking to Prime Support. Sony needs to recognize the problem which is really serious and take action. It's been three months already and no serious action's been taken on their behalf.

So do I run a backfocus check at every ND setting or do you change ND DURING the test.

Pavlos..

you are SOOOooOOOoo right.

Why does'nt someone call Sony directly and ask them what is being done about this back focus issue. We can sit around here talking about our issues but that problem won't do much of anything since none of us have the tools to fix this problem. If you don't start calling Sony directly this issue will be taken light heartedly.

Someone please report back with their findings. I'm getting sick and tired of theories and speculations.

I´ve talked to Sony (in France) about this 2 days ago. The lady on the phone said that the EX1 still has some issues which can´t be repaired by now and where they are awaiting feedback from Sony Japan before they can do any repairs. (she did not name these issues)
She did not know if the backfocus issue was one of them. She said she would ask a technician and call me back if it made any sense to send my camera in once again. Well, she did not call me back, but UPS picked up my camera today once again. So I called Sony again and the lady said that this would be a know issue which can be solved. On other forums I read about successful repairs coming back from Sony. They already fixed the vignetting issue on my camera and I hope they can also solve the backfocus issue too without introducing another problem...
I also read from various sources that they had great success in fixing their EX1 backfocus issue using a backfocus chart and the hidden menu. It did not work for me on 2 EX1s though - I could greatly improve backfocus with it, but there is still a difference with ND on or off in sharpness.
In the meantime I do not really use the camera :-( and try to stay away from ND on settings which is pretty difficult when shooting outdoors.
Best solution for the time beeing would be to use external ND filters which you can screw in front of the lens or the ones for the matte box.

regards,
Gerald

Interersting find Gerald. When I called Sony a couple of weeks ago and asked about the vignetting issues they said that the new batch should not have any vignetting and it was only inherent in the first batch which has supposidly long been sold out. I would call again but I work during Sony hours and I don;t think I would be able to call on the weekend. It would be awesoem if someone could call Sony North America and see what the situation with the ND filters and backfocus is.

After talking for at least twenty minutes this morning with the help-desk and stating the problems of the camcorder (vignetting-back focus) SONY UK sent me an e-mail asking me what do I mean exactly by Vignetting and Back Focus and if I can elaborate.
Is it possible that they do not have a clue? Phleeeeease...
We are professionals and thank God internet has been an eye opener for over a decade now. How can they ask such questions?
Haven't they heard anything about those issues?
What planet do they live on?

They certainly do "have a clue", Pavlos - being overhelmed by the number of complaints, they're just trying to filter yours out... They hope it is YOU who deosn't know what you're complaining about :)

On the other hand, I remember the long e-mail exchange I had with Prime Support engineer last year on my DR60 drive not working OK with the Vegas "Import from HDD" option... He really didn't seem to have a clue, and tried to explain to me that the 4GB chunks were due to shooting in 25p rather than 50i (while in fact it's connected with the FAT32 limitation, of course).

Sony, c'mon...

I hear you Piotr,

I guess I needed some reassurance.

Sure thing - never give up! Sony just owes some effective fix to us.

Back during the problems with the V1P/E our dealer rang to say our V1 was delayed as it needed a mod. He was really taken aback when I told him what was being fixed and how it was being fixed. So no, mostly Sony and their dealer network is not web savvy.
More to the point though, the dealer network and the various Sonys are not an optics company. Even the F900 has issues with lens mounts, I recall someone (Claimont?) is modding one of the high end Sony cameras to fix an ND filter issue. This stuff is harder and more expensive to get right than we might appreciate. Perhaps this is one road to persue, take the camera to a facility with optical test facilites and get a written report with facts and figures.

For North American users wanting to contact Sony about any vignetting or backfocus call 1-800-883-6817, option 2-5-2

I got my camera back from Sony from the second repair attempt 2 hours ago - and guess what - it returned in even worse condition. Now the backfocus is horrible even with ND OFF. The camera is unusable now.
This sucks big time! I´m so p*ssed!
I bought the camera 5 weeks ago and it did never really work!

Man, I know that feeling.

I sent my first camera in for vignetting and it came back a tad worse. instead of the vignette seen at the top two corners, it was a bit less, but viewed on all four corners.

My current replacement camera has it in the top two corners, but it's not as bad as my first. I'm to dang scared to send it in for adjustment.

I'm not sure if they really know how to correctly adjust it. Oddly, i've heard some say they've had success in the adjustment.

I'm sorry to hear about your issue. If they can not fix the camera, it should be replaced.

Also, that's odd about your back focus. Apparently, they shifted something during the work. I'm not sure why they are having a problem with back focus.
My guess is they are not sure how to correctly adjust it.

We are hearing more and more about back focus is bad right out of the box!

How to check for Backfocus issues?
 

I'm sure this has been asked before but I can't seem to find it-- how do you quickly and in the most simplest way, check if you are having any backfocus issues with ND filters on?

Tip of the iceberg
 

We need to take action.
This is totally unacceptable and unprofessional on SONY's behalf.
Today I sent my two EX1s (Netherlands Service) with the well known backfocus and vignetting problems.
My experience with service (called from Athens, Greece the Prime Support in UK) from the beginning was really annoying. I was talking to a lady at Prime support when at the same time in the background you could hear screaming and loud laughters like they were having some sort of party. At some point the lady who could hardly hear what I was trying to explain to her, she paused and said "excuse me sir but there is a lot of noise in hear and I can't hear you. She put me on hold and probably she told the others in the background to shut up and then she came back on the line to continue our conversation.
You tell me how professional does this sound and how can you trust THE Prime Support reps of a company when you face a situation like that, put aside the double returns and no fixes of other people's equipment.
Maybe it's time act I say. We really need our equipment for our jobs and nobody can play around with our integrity (towards our clients) for so long and in such a massive way.
Any thoughts welcome.

Can I ask, as someone who will buy the camera shortly, how big the problem is? I agree that if there are many problems that you should act, especially as you all have clients and stuff, but are there also non-faulty camera's out there?

Pavlos, stop spending your money on phone calls - e-mail the Prime Support with a full description of your problem, and demand that they pick you camera on a day that is convenient to YOU. If they don't return it fixed within 7 days, demand a loaner camera. After they fail to repair it within 14 days, demand a replacement camera. They are obliged to comply - this is what Prime Support is about.

This is how it worked with me V1E and DR60 last year.

perhaps someone can please state specifically how one would go about checking for each of the sony ex1 issues:

-vignetting

-ca

-backfocus

thanks in advance

be well

rob

Rob,

Here's a general setup to determine if your PMW-EX1 camera has the vignette issue:

1. Set the EX1 for FULL manual control.

2. Set the cameras focus at infinity. (furthest focus range).

3. Position your camera on a tripod with "Steady Shot" OFF (OIS OFF).

4. Aim your camera on a white or neutral color wall (not black).

5. Start with camera at full wide (5.8mm) and zoom all the way in and verify
no objects come into your view throughout the zoom travel.

6. Do not over expose the image. Actually intentionally under expose the
image.

7. Now with your camera set to wide 5.8mm focal length, start recording.

8. While recording SLOWLY zoom up to 40mm. The problem is known to be
seen in the 8mm - 25mm range. So SLOWY zoom through this focal
range. If you're concerned it may be an issue out of this range, you can zoom through a greater range.

9. Import your footage into your computer and look for the vignetting issue.
IMPORTANT: When viewed on a monitor while recording, you may not see
the issue due to the monitors overscan. View your capture footage on your computer.



How to check Back Focus:

1. To allow for far focus, setup the camera outdoors.

2. With ND filters off, zoom in ALL the way and focus on a distant object over 25 feet away.
Keep your aperture wide open at f1.9. Depending on the available light, you may need to increase your shutter speed to not over expose.

3. Once you've focused on your distant object, zoom out full wide.
The wide image should still remain in focus.

4. Repeat this test with each ND setting.

5. Also, repeat the test focusing on the distant object without the ND filter and then engaging an ND filter when zooming out wide.

The camera should remain in focus regardless of the ND setting.

Piotr the cameras have been sent today to the Netherlands Sony service center, so I am in waiting and see kind of situation. What scares me is what I read from others (two repairs and camera came back in worse condition)
I have lots of two camera assignments lined up in a months period and I am scared ****less to the the prospect of not having the cameras in tip top condition (as they should be) when the time arrives let alone the learning curve period.
I hear what you say about loaners and replacement. Who will guarantee me proper function loaners and replacements though. Sony's tracking record so far with the specific model is not encouraging.
Thank you for the advice though.

Is this "Prime Support" something that exists anywhere in the world? ie: Australia?

I know I just kept getting passed around between dealer, service agent and Sony, when I had to take my EX1 back for the vignette fix. Nobody wanted anything to do with me. I'm curious now as to whether this Prime Support applies to all EX1 customers or just some parts of the world.

Nothing like that down under. Sony AU is a different Sony.

Sorry but I need to correct Steven's explanation of how to check backfocus
Your camera aperture should absolutely be set at fully wide open f 1.9 all the way - , not 2.8 or 4 . This is critical as you don't want to be confused by depth of field. Aside from that his method sounds fine.

I do want to repeat Steven's suggestion though that you want to check this on as big a monitor as you can - so you may need to record then look at a large computer monitor.

You can also focus at telephoto then change the filters to see if your focus point stays the same - Do the same wide angle. The wideangle is what we are most concerned about. That's where it will go off and you won't see it while shooting.


How to check Back Focus:

1. To allow for far focus, setup the camera outdoors.

2. With ND filters off, zoom in ALL the way and focus on a distant object over 25 feet away.
Keep your aperture wide open at f1.9. Depending on the available light, you may need to increase your shutter speed to not over expose.

3. Once you've focused on your distant object, zoom out full wide.
The wide image should still remain in focus.

4. Repeat this test with each ND setting.

5. Also, repeat the test focusing on the distant object without the ND filter and then engaging an ND filter when zooming out wide.

6. Flip through filters and no filter after getting a good focus both at telephoto and full wide. It should remain the same.

The camera should remain in focus regardless of the ND setting.

Lenny

Thanks Lenny,
I had originally wrote wide open, but wondered if some would confuse the less DOF from a landscape shot at full wide & f1.9, with a BF issue.

Then again, at full wide the DOF will be fairly large even at f1.9.

I'll change my destructions. ;)

I tried this yesterday and got a totally vapid guy who mouthed platitudes about Sony's excellent support. Totally useless. I will call again and hope to have better luck.

Firmware update does not fix backfocus problem!
 

All the talk about the new firmware version made me check what version my camera coming back from repair has.
It now has V1-05-0405 whereas the loaner camera has V1.03-0351.

It looks like they already used the new software for the repair, and it did not fix it at all...

regards,
Gerald - still boiling!

Hi

maybe you should call Sony and ask for the differences. I checked my firmware last week and I'm in 0351 too.
Do you still have the "green screen" when changing recording mode, or going to expand focus ?

What's the situation with the green screen? Is it normal or a problem?

don't know, it's just anoying, i would love to have this fixed, even if it's not a problem to live with.

Just received SN 101789, and I am seeing the vignette issue. Has anyone had any luck with the backfocus adjustment? I just got the camera, I'd hate to send it back already. As far as the green screen flash it is fairly normal, at least in my experience (EX1, F900, Panavision Genesis, Arri D20, etc.). It's always to varying degrees and sometimes just a band instead of a full green frame, but I'm pretty sure it's a function of the processors losing signal temporarily while it switches modes. Sony could probably write in a code to flash to black, instead of green/noise.

-Sean

Yes the green screen is still there, but I think thats pretty normal. I´ve seen it on other camera types too - nothing to worry about.

I'm surprised you got a s/n in the 1000 range being so late in the game. Where did you purchase it from? At this point everyone should be getting 4000+

I was surprised as well. It actually came from a reputable authorized sony distributor in NYC that I don't think I can mention here because they're not part of the DVInfo preferred vendor list.