OK, Mine is going in
I got a call from the Prime support people today,
the new firmware is out, but the camera needs to be sent in to have it uploaded.
Public holiday tomorrow, so packaging gets dropped off on wednesday, if I´m lucky, he´ll take the cam with straight away and I´ll beat the crowds.....

I´ll keep you all updated as I can

I dug around on sony's pro website, but dont see where the list the firmware updates. is there a place I can look at what the new firmware is going to address (aside from the focus issue)?

So far so good.

As promised my cam was picked up by UPS yesterday (wed 07.01.09) at 14:30.

The provided packaging was not exactly what I thought it´d be, but did the job.....
The driver was kind enought to wait the few minutes it took me to package the unit, even lending a hand to seal it up with tape.........

not a nice feeling watching my 8,5 grand €´s boxed up and leaving, but I suppose that is the way SONY wants it.......

it is supposed to take about a week, so I expect it will be returned with the sparkly new firmware update installed in the middle of next week.

one thing I don´t like about the whole issue, is that the girl from Prime Support said that she doesn´t think that SONY gives loaners for firmware upgrades.(normal policy is that one can get a loaner if `repairs´will take more than a week)
as far as I´m concerned, this is a repair

I have timed it so I can do without the cam for a week and a few days, but have set a deadline, as I have a shoot coming up and don´t wanna have to rent...

Sony US is saying that there is no official release yet, only an internal version.

But once again, it will require depot service, unless of course someone accidentally reveals the URL.

I am impressed
 

I got my cam back at 12:30 today monday 12 Jan
That went really fast...
considering, it had to go from here in Germany to Paris and that there was a weekend in between
the initial testing I have done has been fine and the cam is behaving very well.

If any of you are considering sending your cams in, make sure to do a camera data backup before doing so, mine came back without any of my original settings stored, fortunately I did think this would be the case in advance.

looks like I beat the crowds (o;

Kenny can you please tell us what is your new firmware version number?

Did they tell you what other things if any has been affected with this upgrade (apart from the focus issue)? Thanks

Great news Kenny! Look forward to hearing more details soon.

I was on a big corporate shoot today in Cambridge and had some macro work to do in a rush....and was hesitant to go there but did it anyway - and the camera behaved perfectly then and afterwards.

I've only ever seen this loss of focus issue twice on mine - still can't work out why some seem to get it frequently and others like me only rarely. BTW, this was after 4 hrs shooting so the EX3 was definitely warmed up.

Those of you who have the firmware upgrade....

Can you still shoot on SDHC (MxR) fine? I suspect so, as I don't know how they could prevent that while retaining the hard drive capability, but just thought I'd ask as I'm a little nervous about it.

Have you tested it with any 3rd party media cards since the update? I wonder if Sony wants to end the use of 3rd party media cards with the EX series.

Sorry guys, my testing has only been done with the SONY SxS cards, as I don´t have any others.....

Also not sure how to check which firmware version I have, if someone could enlighten me, I´ll check it out.....

As I didn´t get any written info with the return of the cam, I am not sure what other issues the new firmware covers, just happy that the focus issue is sorted.

I am taking my camera in today. Will report back.

Andy,

I appreciate it. I'd like to get my camera sent in soon, but not at the cost of losing the ability to record to SDHC.

Good news Ted. I got my EX3 firmware flashed (upgraded) on January 13th, from what was in the camera, version 1.02 to the new version, 1.03 and the camera has worked flawlessly since. I have put about 4 hours of record time on the camera using the SxS cards for the first 10 minutes and then SDHC cards using the Kensington adapter in one slot and the Delkin in the other. The SD cards I was using were the Sandisk Ultra 2 16gigers in both slots.

I wasn't horribly systematic or exhaustive in the way that I tested but I tried to go through torture tests and typical kinds of shooting that would cause the SDHC cards to fail.

The test probably most are interested in is the overcranking one. I shot as 720/24p at 48 frames several times without incident and then shot at 60 frames and it puked after a couple of minutes. All very typical from what we have experienced in the past using the SDHC cards. All this was done at the Sony Service Center before I left with the recently flashed EX3.

Since then, both that evening and today I have done about four hours of run & gun kind of shooting and it behaved well. No dropouts or media errors. I brought the material into Final Cut and see no aberations beyond codec limitations.

I am confident Sony has not compromised the ability to use SDHC cards with the USB/Express Card adapters and have no regrets about doing the firmware upgrade.

Thanks Andy for the update. All good to know :-)

Interestingly, on another thread on here someone posted that "Sony East Coast USA" are apparently not discussing the existence of this new Firmware with customers - but we all now know otherwise.....Very strange!

Here's part two of what I have to report.

I had two illuminating conversations with people at Sony Canada. One calling in to find out about the existence of the firmware and do some general recon in order to determine the amount of risk I was placing my camera in when getting the firmware update. Like pretty much everyone here, although people are not saying much, we don't want the firmware to sqaush the ability to use SDHC cards for garden variety shooting needs.

Well in my first chat with someone in technical services I asked them about the firmware update and what sort of bug fixes the software was going to fix. He paraphrased the techsheet they had on the firmware (version 1.03, issued December 24th, 2008) update stating it was going to address the focus response when MF assist was engaged and deal with a bug relating to the IR Remote when the + button is used. So I said "Does the firmware update remove the ability to use the SD card hack?" Without missing a beat he said "No!" He moved on immediately to speaking about something else but later on he qualified his statement by saying it wasn't on the bug fix list. Finally I asked the gentleman if there was a charge for the firmware upgrade and he said "No not for bug fixes."

At that point I decided I was going to do it as I was in an adventurous mood and I had a potentially long shoot coming up where the camera would be on without pause for a few hours with lots of moving in and out on subjects talking in a panel/forum format. As you can imagine that is an ideal situation for the focus ring to lock up after half an hour of shoot time.

So I managed the following business day to get in touch with someone at Sony Canada on the West Coast where I live to arrange taking the EX3 in for the upgrade. I explained that I lived on an island and would ideally like to get the camera firmware flashed the same day I brought it in as it would take a lot of time and money for me to shuttle back and forth a couple of times to do this. They said "No problem. The EX3 firmware update is a priority for us so we intend to offer people same day turnaround service on this as long as people can phone in advance to set up a day. You have to bring it in first thing though as it takes a few hours to do the whole process." I then asked if there was a charge for this and that individual said "No it will be done free of charge for this update."

Next day. I phone in at 9:30 and leave a voicemail with my contact and arrive around 10:45, signed the paperwork and was told to come back towards the end of the day but it might be done around 2:30 pm. I went jonesin' around some of my favorite stores ended up in music department first checking out some sweet grand pianos & synths and then some sheet music. At that point I was getting quite bummed as I was looking at some Debussy... just shaking my head at the level of difficulty when my phone rings! "Your camera is ready for pickup!" I look at my watch. It's around 1 pm.

I beetle out and thank the receptionist profusely while I am furioiusly jamming in SD cards into the slots wondering if the cameras stealth ability has been nuked. "Do you mind if I just test out the camera here in the foyer, just to make sure the firmware took properly?" "No problem. Go ahead. I did the overcranking as I mentioned in the previous post and was convinced by the similarity of the way it was responding that all was well and I could leave.

I phoned back a few minutes later to talk to the individual and thank them for the level of service they had brought forward and they had done the right thing as there were/are a fair number of EX3 owners who are upset about the focus issue. That person agreed but carefully navigated around talking about that specific issue (can't blame them). I stated that the other reason I was calling back was to get some really clear answers on Sony Canada's position on the "free" nature of this upgrade and that my intention was to post this information on an EX3 forum that many/most of the EX3 owners internationally read. She said that Sony Canada has made a formal decision to do this upgrade at no cost to the owner and that it is a priority. Meaning in the West Coast office that they will do the upgrade as quickly as is possible as long as arrangements are made in advance so they can accomodate our schedules be they short or whatever. I repeated myself asking if it was OK for me to state this publicly and the answer was "Yes."

I mentioned that other Sony divisions in other countries were not following this course and I commended the individual that Sony Canada is doing the right thing in keeping these kind of customers happy. I also said making it a priority was smart due to the focus issue as I am sure Sony doesn't want this problem hanging around.

Finally, and it should be obvious to most. The camera has to go into one of Sony's service depots. In Canada there are only 3. One in Montreal, one is Toronto and the other in Coquitlam, a burb of Vancouver.

Can someone enlighten me please about this issue - I have never encountered it yet (after 3 months of operation) but I always keep the focus in full manual mode (no MF assist) and have never used macro. On top of this I always shoot quite short shots, never exceeding 15 minutes in length at any one time. However I will be having a shoot very soon of over 1.5 hours of continuous shooting - without pausing.

Is this scenario a possible situation where I may encounter this issue? Thanks

It is debatable Brian (check previous posts you will see several setting scenarios where the issue has occurred) but I would say "yes" to your question.

I have never used MF assist and I had it lock up on me 3 times on long shoots just like what you describe.

Andy could you kindly indicate whether it locked up for you every time you had a long shoot or did it lock up for you on 3 times out of a number of long shoots? Basically I am trying to see whether it is an erratic symptom or a guaranteed symptom if one exceeds a certain recording time.

Since I rarely shoot for long times I'm not eager to send my camera away for an upgrade - hence I need to have a clear picture on the probability of encountering such a problem in my case. thanks

Not every time and with an inconsistent frequency. In all instances I was not using macro or MF assist.

How I have managed with it since the problem became evident was to switch the camera off for a few seconds and then turn it back on during a redundant or off topic comment. I would use a cutaway audience shot or a dissolve to deal with the edit.

Mr. Stone, thank you for your detailed brief. It´s indeed appreciated. Hopefully your EX-3 will perform as it should from now on :-)

Best,
-terje

Andy, can you please pass along the phone number that you called for the update. Vancouver is about the same distance from my location as is Toronto. Thanks!

Barry I just sent you an email via the DVinfo forum tools. Let me know if you didn't get it.

Just so we are clear I will not post phone numbers of contact people at Sony on live on the internet. If you live in the mid-west or in western Canada send me an email by clicking on my name and the contextual menu will give you the ability to email me and I can steer you in the right direction.

Nothing came through. This is the third time, I've tried to PM folks on DVinfo and for whatever reason, it simply does not work. Can you kindly PM me at [] Cheers!

Email sent Barry. Might want to remove your email address before a spam bot picks it up.

That's because we don't have a PM system on DV Info Net. Just use email for things you don't want to post to the message board.

EX3 New Firmware
 

I've been so busy with corporate work the last few weeks I've lost track of this issue after Andy Stone's excellent post a few weeks ago. Any more updates from others on how it's all going with this new EX3 Firmware?

My EX3 still has n't really given me any real grief over this - I've only seen the problem briefly twice in the 7 months I've had it with it's original as launched firmware.

I'm just curious how others are getting on with the new EX3 firmware.

A quick update... I have done several shoots running continuously in record mode with the focus ring pushed forward in quasi manual focus mode all the shoots were over 3.5 hours in length. I have not had a focus issue yet.

And "just for the record" I have not had one weird instance using SDHC cards. I think it is safe to say now that Sony has left ability to use SDHC cards alone with this firmware update, version 1.03.

i have experienced the same problem with my ex3 (11/2008) several times.
i think it is absolutely inacceptable.
in germany nobody seems to know anything about a firmupdate ...
one thing i dont understand: you are talking about v1.03 ...
but isnt 1.11 the latest one (thats what i have got as well).
is there anybody in germany who has solved the problem? how?

1.11 now 1.12 is latest firmware for EX1. For EX3 is new 1.03 and in this FW is bug fixed focus ring.

EX3 dont use same fw as EX1! Go to sony service center. FW isnt for download.

tanks a lot.
didnt know that.
still - a lot of sony-centers dont seem to know about 1.03 update.
i will contact silver support

Just got my EX3 back from Sony Service in San Jose with the upgrade to v1.03_0082.
Total turnaround time, including shipping: 11 days to and from UT. Cost : $71 for shipping and insurance, the upgrade was free.

I had experienced the focus problem twice and then left the unit on manual at all times. I haven't had a chance to test it since getting it back, but hopefully the upgrade will have fixed it.

Mike are you talking about the Sony Service center in San Jose on Zanker Road
i called to get my EX3 fixed for the focus issue and they want me to send it to
Los Angeles and i live in San Jose. I even asked them isn't their a Service Center in San Jose and they told me their was not. They also said they were not aware of the EX3, 1.03 firmware.

Hi Joe: I'm looking at the invoice: 2520 Zanker Rd, firmware upgrade to 1.03v.

Yup, thats the one, very strange they would insist i ship it 500 miles away when they have one 5 miles from were i live. i don't get it, ill call the the one in San Jose, i originally called the 866 toll free number.

Thank's Mike

Well i took my EX3 to Sony Service Center dropped it off yesterday and it was ready within 24 hours, according to their comments they installed firmware version 1.03. i have the Kensington adapters and SDHC cards Sandisk Ultra 2 16gig and Transcend 16 and 8 gig SDHC. I will report back in the next couple of days after i do some tests on the cards with this new firmware.

I didn't want to start another thread...
 

Is the one-touch focus on the EX3 a bit slow and sometimes unresponsive for some people? I find the whole frame has to be out of focus before it will work. I cannot use the box to focus on specific objects as easily if there is already something in focus (even if it is on the edge of the frame).

Anyone confirm this?

how to find the version
 

Hi, How and where do i find out what version i have on my ex3 ??

To check out the firmware version you have to get into the "Maintenance Menu"

To do this:

Hold down the 'Select' and 'Cancel' buttons and while holding them down, click the menu button.

Make sure you don't play with the additional settings in this menu as this is what is used to calibrate your camera when it leaves the factory.

Once you turn the camera off and then back on you will be out of the Maintenance Menu.

Thanks, found a guy at Brisbane t do the update.

Version 1.04 for EX3 is avaiable
 

My EX3 is now running v 1.04. No problems at all.
ArildP