mine is 100089.... purchased from ablecine in NY

I have Sony involved and they say they will let me know as soon as they can figure out the best way to handle the vignette problem.

They said a possible "send it in... we'll fix it and send it back."

Mine is: 100376

100012 here. Subtle vignetting in upper left. Less so in upper right. I could live with it, depending on what the fix might entail.

Bill, find the vignetting, turn on OIS and slowly rock the camera from side to side. You should be able to see the vignette move, mine does.

got it
 

arrived via courier 8:30am this morning
battery straight onto charger
began shooting a small job at 10am
back in the suite 4pm
and now working out how to suck the media into FCP

first impressions good - in fact I'm stoked - pretty amazing for a hand held!!!

thanks to george at Videocraft for his great work

cheers

Mine arrived yesterday. Full serial number 0200051. I'd elsewhere ignored the first part of that number and assumed it was just Sony's way of avoiding anyone feeling they got #1 but maybe you're right, the first digits could be a batch number. No second card as yet and my info is the same as Serena's, they'll be with us end of this week, early next week.

I hope Serena's info is correct about the batteries, I can see me needing one or two of those although I've only cycled the battery once and Li-Ion batteries seem to need several cycles initially to achieve full capacity so I shouldn't be too hasty judging battery life.

Bob or Wes,

Any sign at all of the vignette problem? It's my only concern about getting the camera this early.

Vaughan,

It was Macrays in Sydney - same place as Bob's.

THanks guys,

Looks like all cameras shipped to Australia start with 2000 - hopefully a new and better QC,ed batch with no vignetting issues.

I will soon know.

Not yet, but I haven't tested it out - will do tomorrow.

I've been told next week for the 2nd 8GB card and extra battery.
I grabbed a 16Gb as well so I'll be all set.

Advice to Mac users. Update all your software including operating system. quicktime to 7.3 and FCP to 6.0.2, then grab allo the Sony transfer software - then you'll have all the ingredients to bake the EX cake.

cheers

My NYC dealer just emailed me saying they will get their shipment end of next week. He had mentioned in a previous email that cameras were being held in New Jersey for QC by Sony due to the vignette issue.

I picked up mine yesterday.

S/N 0200080. Looks great (no vignetting yet) and took a quick video of my daughter with her 8th birthday cake, but then had a concert last night and another tonight, and wedding on Saturday so I won't get to use it properly until we get those bigger batteries and cards.

"Happy camper"!

Cheers Vaughan

I went to a demo today, to see if I could pick up any new information, and the Sony guy there said all the cameras are rechecked before they go out, that it's a very easy fix, and that they aren't finding many with the problem. That's all he said.

I have #466 and don't see the problem on the LCD but haven't had time to check it on a monitor in underscan. Hope to do that tomorrow.

Based on the sheer number here that had issues, there are a lot more than he stated. It's possible this statement comes from a later batch.

Also, I really can't believe this is an easy fix. If it is, I'm interested in how they are doing it.

I have one being delivered today!... unfortunately it's just a review sample for our next issue of 16:9 magazine - so I have to give it back in a week's time.

Still, should be fun to put it through its paces.

OK, have got the camera etc. Now charging battery.

On the way out with the camera I met John going in for his. Nice to put faces to names.

Nice to meet you too Serena - I'm also charging the battery. And I'm fidgeting in the meantime waiting for it to finish!

First thing I did when I got it was pop open the cover for the headphone port, which came off in my hand. So my first interaction with this camera was busting the little plastic cover... O well... let's hope it's not a sign of things to come...

Mine arrived today in Melbourne, Australia with the S/N 0200087.

The box had a long strip of tape around it saying "OPENED FOR INSPECTION BY PRODUCT TEST - SONY"

This gave me a good feeling that a: they are checking and b: mine got through. I'm waiting on the battery to charge before I can test it though...

Mitch Gross from Abel Cine has done some checking. His named Sony contact has said that "we have researched that it is a 10-minute adjustment (not a fix or replacement parts/software)". That "if a customer has found an issue, they need to contact Sony and we will resolve".

According to Mitch, Sony say that they know of three cameras that have had any issue.`

I reckon Spencer's right. Modern production engineering tolerances are so amazingly tight that all cameras pop off the end of the production line like identical clones This is usually a Good Thing, but if one camera's wrong then they all are.

here's what I heard back from abelcine....

"Since the launch in November, the PMW-EX1 has been received extremely well within the

market with a huge level of order commitments and very positive feedback from customers

using the product.

Sony regrets to inform you that there have been a small number of reports of a specific lens issue

with the camera, which upon further investigation by our engineering team, has been identified

as ‘unbalanced light falloff’ at the edge of the picture. The cause of this has been identified as

being a result of a mis-alignment of the center of the lens and the light axis. Sony takes such

technical matters very seriously and although this issue has only been seen on a very small

percentage of the units supplied worldwide, Sony has implemented a full review and

modification of the manufacturing process in order to alleviate any re-occurrence of this issue.

Sony will re-align any camera exhibiting the symptom described above at no charge to you at

the highest priority. If your camcorder exhibits the symptom described please call our Product

Operational Support Center at 1-800-883-6817, option 2-5-2 for advice on how to proceed."

That's outstanding! When I had a problem with the viewfinder going dead on my Z1U (which happens to be your Z1U Chris ;), Sony was prompt in taking care of it.

That's good news.

What surprises me was the statement "very small percentage".
Having read that, It seems odd most of us who received their cameras and are members of this forum have the vignette problem.

Based on this fact, the percentage is a LOT higher than stated. Either that or we all are very unlucky ;)

I think the forum is a 'self selecting sampling' as they say in statistical analysis. Probably not indicative of the 'general' overall market. Having said that, I suspect the choice not to use an actual number concerning the percentage of faulty lenses is also telling.

Good on Sony for owning up and offering a solution.

And even one (or more) of those who don't have the camera but checked their dealer's camera saw the issue too.

I think there's a fine line between managing Public Relations and Credibility but I'll make no further comment on that.

One doesn't know how such "percentage" is being measured though. No sense in speculating there either.

One can say the issue stretched across shipments to several countries/continents.

I just called to check on the procedure to get the camera repaired and was told they were still awaiting official word on the issue and the actual procedure to get the camera to their facility for the repair. Should be a couple of days before this happens...

I started another thread about a fix that a dealer told me. I'm not sure it will work, but I will give it a try. It might be that this fix, using the hidden Maintenance menu, is the "10 minute adjustment" mentioned in this thread. Then again, it might not.

http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.ph...473#post792473

Good grief people. Who cares how many it is. Is there a reason Sony needs to tell you how many units?

The important part is they are aware, they have a fix, and are getting set up to perform the work on the cameras.

Problem found, problem recognized, problem solved

Isn't that all that really matters?

K

LOL...
Spoken from someone who does not own one. ;)

Hmmm...
Who cares, let's see.....
Anyone who owns one and has the problem. Sony WANTS to know how many have the issue. They need to determine if it's a broken or defective unit opposed to being a problem across all current initial released units.

According to the person I spoke to at Sony, they're hearing it's world wide.
Take a look at how many who have read this thread alone. Something over 23,000. There might be some interest.

The reason to care how many are affected, and whether or not Sony is being upfront with that, is to determine the business model that Sony operates under. And yes, that is important to many people.

There is a difference between the following scenarios.

A problem is discovered, and a company hides/denies it
A problem is discovered, and company only admits it to those who discover it.
A problem is discovered, the company downplays it in the press, in order to supress the number of people LOOKING for the problem, and therefore limit their liability.
A problem is discovered, and the company moves agressively to recall the product and offers to fix it for free.
A problem is discovered BY THE COMPANY immediately after shipping, and all deliveries are halted untill such time as all products may be recalled for testing.

And any number of variations on the above scenarios. Each of these represents a different cost/benefit in terms of capital and REPUTATION. How a company handles these sorts of develpments means a lot to those who intend to do business with that company in the future. This is true of cameras, cars, toys... whatever.

So yes, people really do care what the actual extent of the issue is, VS how Sony characterizes it and deals with it.

I'd say they are doing a pretty good job. Not A+ mind you... but pretty good.

Absolutely right, and often overlooked among forum "regulars," especially those who post on numerous sites. DV Info Net is indeed the home of the single largest XDCAM EX community on the web, but only a very small percentage of XDCAM EX owners bother to look up anything about the camera online (and that's true for *any* camcorder make and model). And then out of the small slice of owners who are looking up this camera online, only a small number of them are actually posting about it... hence this forum is, as Richard correctly points out, not at all indicative of the general overall market. It's the best on the web, of course. But definitely *not* an indication of the overall market.

Now that Sony is responding to this issue, expect to see this thread wind down.

The dreaded vignette...
 

So I asked Danny what our chances were in this country of getting a model that had the vignetting problem and he said that it wouldn't happen.

I felt even more confident, given that my box had been "opened for inspection by product testing."

However, when I finally got around to testing the issue (four times), I clearly get the vignetting.

It is quite obvious on the top and bottom right hand corners. This is just one of many screenshots where it is obvious. There were other frames where it was worse than this.

It seems to be happening at the same range of zoom (from about 10 - 15) as everyone else.

Now in America it sounds like they have a number to call if they have the problem... what do we do over here?

Hi John...
 

Take it back and reject it as "of not mechantable quality". Nothing else you can do.


CS

But everyone's been saying that there is a quick fix - they take it back and fiddle with it for a while and fix it - isn't that the case? I don't want to lose it!!

Do you say that based on my screenshot? In your opinion is that vignetting unacceptable? Or am I being overly critical??

John, you go back to Danny. If it is the misalignment issue it will have to visit Sony. You may be able to transport it yourself. The reliable authorised service guys are Pro Hi-Tech, in South Melbourne, whom I presume will be the people involved. Sony does use other people as well.

Thanks Serena,

Yours doesn't have the problem?

Haven't seen it. I did the tests last night and looked fine. Have been very busy today and haven't loaded clips into Vegas to check on the monitor. The LCD shows the full field so it should be seen there if present.

I spoke to Danny on Friday and he has my EX1, and a second for my DP friend, ready to be shipped. I don't want to have to do the Sony authorised repair thing...

Sounds like that's what I'm going to have to do. I hope they don't take it away from me for too long...

It was a two hour drive each way into Collingwod on Friday to pick it up - it's even further to Pro Hi-Tec... What a pain in the neck...

Isn't this pro gear supposed to be covered by an on-site warranty or am I dreaming?

John,

My EX1 has exactly the same vignetting - top and bottom right hand side, even to the point of me thinking that you had borrowed my screen shots. And yes it seems to happen on mine from about 8 - 15, which is slightly less and shorter focal lengths than the problems identified in the US. The camera is from the same batch no doubt (as was Bob's). My serial number is 200066 -I will bet that yours is within 30 of mine, and that they have escaped the QC vignette test. Fortunately my Sony service centre is just down the road, but like you I don't want to lose it. So I am going to ring Sony tomorrow and check whether anyone in Australia is aware of the problem.

I doubt that this level of vignetting will be a significant issue in everyday use as it doesn't show up on the LCD screen - not on a normal scan monitor - but it is clearly there in any overscan monitor. Given that almost no non-professional monitors overscan it is unlikely to show up on a clients screen. However, if it can be fixed then it should be fixed as this is a brand new camera.

A word of warning to Serena - it does not show on the LCD which is a normal scan monitor (there is no all scan setting on the EX - a feature I miss from the Z1), but it will be there in the Sony clip viewer, and if your NLE can be switched to full overscan (such as in Avid Liquid that I use) it is very easy to see.

Bob, seeing as your cameras were the ones immediatley before or after mine in the batch it is possible that you will also have at least one of them with the problem.

I don't think that this is a great problem in the real world - but lets get it fixed!

That's not good news these are escaping Sony's QC.

It makes me wonder how they are actually doing the test.
The key is the problem exists between 8mm - 25mm range.
The aperture must be wide open (f1.9) and the exposure must be
under exposed or you will wash out the vignette.

The vignette starts to dissapear as you close down the aperture to at least f4.

My vignetting issue has been showing up a lot in my footage.