After using my EX1 in 23 weddings since January it is very clear to me that the focus is soft, whether the ND filters are engaged or not. I calibrated the lens once and I thought that helped a lot. However it seemed to gradually become softer again. I recently calibtrated again, with good results again. I have also found that I must use a small amount of sharpening to achieve a decent look. I have achieved spectacular results at times but many shots are just too soft for me. I have the oldest firmware and as my camera is now almost a year old and has lost paint over several places I msut decide soon whether to send it in to Sony. I can not be without the camera for too long and I have not heard good reports about Sony service. My question is: Will a firmware update help and can I do it myself?

Thanks,

Mervin

I think you should send your camera for repair. I get perfect results under almost all conditions. But I avoid

- iris values higher than 8
- iris values other than 8 with max telephoto

When I had the camera sent in for firmware update and battery drain issue, I also wanted the poor resolution with max telephoto fixed. No change, unfortunatly. Maybe I have to do it again?

I suggest you send the camera in to Sony service. On early models there was a common backfocus issue. One time when I called sony service the man I was talking to said, "Oh, focus problem?" as soon as I said I have an ex1. I think that indicates they've fixed a good number of focus problems.

The time required for service seems to depend on parts availability - at least in my experience. I wouldn't expect they would need to order parts to fix a focus problem, but then of course I'm not a camera technician...

By the by, I've never experienced any focus issues on my ex1 - it is sharp all throughout the zoom range of the lens and although aperature settings do effect the image (in addition to DOF, etc... every lens has an aperature setting where it will achieve maximum resolution) I don't have any settings that I must stay away from.