Mark,

Can you give us your opinions after you finish?

John,

No I am going to ring Sony Australia first. If they say the back focus correction is the answer, I will do it. If that doesn't work I will ask them to allow a return (very reluctantly), or get it fixed locally ASAP.

I still am not sure however, that the amount of vignetting that I see will be a problem - but Steve's experience says that it might.

Could you let me know the number you're going to call? If we both call the same people it may add weight to our case should we need it.

You can email it to me on hhewat@bigpond.net.au if it's inappropriate to post it publicly.

Thank you so much!

John,

I will be ringing my dealer first to get the number. As soon as I find out what it is I will let you know.

There has not an official response from Sony. We've only heard second hand information from dealers.
I've been in contact with the Sony Techs here in the states, and they stated they will contact me when they get a response from Sony japan.

They called me last week just to let me know they were still waiting.

Despite feeling quite non-technical with a cold that's trying to become flu, I've checked out my camera more carefully.
1) it does have slight shading on the right hand side (t & b) at the mentioned focal length range. It is a small fall-off on the waveform monitor and quite confined to the corners. Interestingly it isn't much affected by aperture.
2) the LCD does show the full FOV, as you would expect. Looking very carefully at the LCD I could see the corner darkening, but that wasn't my test of the FOV.

Shooting under practical conditions I couldn't detect the corner problem at all, even with the subject selected to show it. Shooting for chroma key might make it an issue, but generally screens are lit far more unevenly.

I will be mentioning it to Danny and inquiring elsewhere about the technical issues involved. I understand that it is a matter of centering the lens, which I suspect is a very tricky business.

John, I emailed Danny and referenced this thread, requesting that the two cameras waiting for me, and DP friend, are perhaps checked by Pro Hi-Tech before shipping. If it was confirmed to be as simple as the DIY back focus procedure, I could do that myself.

Edit: I just read Graeme's reply to Eric's DIY Back Focus Correction thread. mmm, or perhaps, grrr...

Serena, thanks for the feedback. Get well soon.

Danny will be flooded with calls and emails on Monday morning.

I guess that rules out the theory that the 2000 series cameras are a revised batch that don't have the issue then, keep us informed how you get on with sorting it out.

It's a shame Chris has locked the vignette discussion as the subject is going to span multiple threads and be harder to track now, I'd say this issue is far from solved at the moment.

regards

Paul.

The vignette discussion is now unlocked and the thread formerly known as "EX 1 in AUstralia" has been merged into it. About this thread... I am watching it very closely, and it is important for all who are following this issue to understand how this site works. This message board does not work like typical internet forum sites. It is designed specifically to be focused on technical and creative matters *only.* The idea is to show a *streamlined* discussion which quickly gets to the matter without a lot of noise (opinions, rants, etc.) in the way. Now back to the topic at hand... thanks in advance,

Thanks Chris, that's much appreciated.

regards

Paul.

Mine is looking very much like John's in post #311. (S/N 100297).

The vignetting is minor, but definitely present in the upper and lower right corners from about 10-25MM. Panning with OIS on within this focal range very much aggravates the problem.

I am waiting to talk to my dealer, and to Sony for instructions.

No Vignette problem?
 

What percentage of the EX1s do not have the problem?

Just wondering if I buy an EX1 am I guaranteed to get a "bad" one?

thanks

Not much will be happening in Australia over the Christmas-January period, so might as well keep shooting and really make sure the problem can't be lived with. Shading isn't uncommon in lenses and most operators are able to live with it. My guess (note guess) is that the lens just covers the field and small errors in centering result in a corner or corners dropping in intensity (some will be worse than others); we have examples with shading in different corners. Anyway, here in Melbourne Pro Hi-Tech are not up to full training on the camera and are yet to be advised by Sony of any fix.

Serena,

Spoke to my dealer this morning, who contacted Sony immediately. They were aware of the problem from the US, but thought that the batch we received (2000##) were all passed OK.

Obviously not - but our problems seem far less apparent than the ones in the US.

The dealer told me that Sony had sent a technical bulletin from Japan about the issue which I expect to receive tomorrow.

Hope it is good news - but I like you will be shooting with the camera anyway.

All the best,