Z7u Servo/Zoom stopped working.

[Matt Bigwood]

George and Zach,

I bought my lens off Ebay UK last autumn from a chap in London who had three new ones for sale - I suppose I was just lucky!

ps, mine is a 16x 5.5mm, not 20x. The filter thread is pretty big, 82mm I think. I once did a search for a wide adapter but couldn't find any online. Since then I've bought the Sony 308 wide lens (8x 3.3mm), so I don't need the wide adapter anyway.

Matt

[George Sickler]

HI All, has anyone used Tekmediagroup from California? They say they are really good, but i am having a hard time with shipping from CO to CA. They provide free estimates, the local estimate I had in Denver was $1800, and that basically replace the entire lens, and that Sony doesn't sell parts.

On to the next - Tekmediagroup does not charge an estimate fee, but my phobia is getting me. Has anyone used them?

Or Sony repairs and charges a $135 estimate. Any ideas on the best options?

IF anyone has any tips for buying a used lens comparable to the Ziess lens. or if you have a dead Z7u, and would salvage the lens, that would be an option to entertain. OR a Fujinon lens that would work on the z7u.

Is there a place to find out all of the lens that would work, that would be very helpful. I have been ruthlessly searching for a good deal for the fuji 16x5 but really think $1299 on the bay is a bit much.

Thank you so much, just PM me if you would happen to have a spare lens around your willing to part with.

Thank you to everyone who helped!

George

[Luc De Wandel]

If I would find a reasonably priced, secondhand Fujinon 13x3,5 for my Z7, I'll gladly sell you the Zeiss lens that is now on it. So let me know if you stumble across one of these Fujinon wide-angles!

[Michael Liebergot]

Originally Posted by George Sickler

AAAHHHHH! $1800 Repair. Well not even a repair - Sony does not allow you to repair the lens according to the repair guy I went to which is a reputable Sony dealer and repair in Denver. Just a lens replacement part.(

George, unfortunately I think that the tech is right.
I just had a similar thing happen with my Sony FX1 camera. The zoom stopped working, as out of nowhere the lens zooms in all of the way and won;t let you zoom out.

I have talked to several repair shops, and it seems that Sony doesn't sell the parts needed to fix a lens block. So as a results you need to purchase the entire lens block to fix lens related issues.

The only exception to this, might be if a cable came undone in the lens, then a shop might be able to fix the lens without the need of a new one.

But unfortunately for people like us, this isn't the case. =(

[George Sickler]

Thanks all for your advice, it has helped me tremendously.

I would buy a 13x3.5 Fujinon lens, but... wow they cost a lot.

I was able to land a Fujinon 16x5.5 from a dead JVC Hd100. This will have to get me by until Sony can get me a quote. - I am going to send it to Cali to the Sony techs themselves.

I can't imangine it is anything else but a cable undone.

The camera will zoom out when I press the zoon out, but the lens does not move.

I will report back when I know from Sony.

Thanks!

Geo

[George Sickler]

So the bid is in from Sony in LA.

Dang It! What a joke! - $2021 - More than my local shop wanted to repair the stock Sony lens for the Z7U!

I ended up with a great Fuji Lens, that I am going to have to use for a while. - No image stabilization.

Z7U owners beware! I honestly have no idea why this lens went, outside of the possible explainations posted in this thread. - wow. very dissapointing indeed.

[Rickey Brillantes]

Found this on the auction site, this might interest you.



Sony VCL-412BWH Stock Lens from HVR-Z7U HDV Camcorder - eBay (item 270603992958 end time Aug-05-10 22:01:04 PDT)

[George Sickler]

Right On Rickey! I snagged it!

What a life saver - The fuji 16x5.5 lens is a bear to keep in focus!

If will be selling the Fuji as soon as this comes in... I really appreciate your help!

Sony will have to toss the other lens... I am not paying another $135 - The first inspection costs $100 - so I would be out $235 just to be told it costs $2 grand. - Man I can sleep good tonight!

Thanks again! Time to lay this thread to rest ... RIP

[Zach Love]

Glad to hear there is a happy ending. Selfishly I wish you knew what caused your breakdown so I (& others too) could better protect my Z7. Hope the new lens works out perfectly for you.

[B.J. Hjelholt]

Hi guys.

The company I work for shoots with 2 Z7U's currently. We've had them for 2+ years. We work them hard, in outdoor run/gun situations a lot, and a lot of on-boat saltwater shoots too.

We've been tremendously happy with them in terms of reliability, with only a few issues.

1) The servo on the stock Zeiss lens on one of the cameras has been acting up recently. The manual ring works fine, the lens will travel its full range, but the servo was sticking/jumping and recently stuck and won't work. We suspect it's internal in the servo. This camera is going in for service in a few weeks (it's always in use) so I'll let you know what the technician says. We almost always service our cameras at Precision Camera in Toronto (fantastic service, and they can fix pretty much anything).

2) Unrelated to the servo, but we've gone through 2 headphone jacks per camera, mostly due to their Prosumer quality and poor location (most of our shooters rest the back of the camera on their chest/shoulder when handheld, and they end up pressuring the jack and breaking it.) Frustrating to hear audio dropouts using wireless gear and not knowing if it was actually a dropout or if it's just the headphone jack... the rear-load tape/CF card location is great. The headphone jack placement sucks though.

Cheers,
BJ

[George Sickler]

Bj,

Be prepared for a $2000 new lens barrel assembly.

I sent this mine into 2 different places, with the same issue, and the same ticket.

I purcased a used lens off of ebay. Now I am suffering a flange back problem. I am opening a new thread to get some help with this new issue.

Good luck.

George

[B.J. Hjelholt]

Got a quote on fixing the lens with zoom issues.

It's replacement only, so it's the cost of the new lens, they won't fix the issue.

So now here's the question.... do we spend several thousand to replace the lens when we are already planning on upgrading cameras in the new year?

Is there any market to sell a used Z7U with a lens that has limited zoom function?

[Zach Love]

I'm guessing there is always some type of a market, just might not buy for what you want to sell.

The plus to the Z7, as opposed to the Z5 or Z1 is that you can pop off the lens & put on a different one.

1/3" to "X" lens adapters exist, so you're not locked into 1/3" lenses, so there are plenty of options out there. I'd be hesitant to invest in something myself that is on the way out the door, but it really depends on how much use / how much money you'll make in the next year w/ your Z7.

[Greg Laves]

Very rarely, the zoom rocker on my stock lens fails to move the lens. When it has happened it is usually at the start of a shoot after the camera has been in the bag for a while. When it has happened, I have just moved the manual zoom while still in the servo mode and it has always performed normally after that. I hope it continues to work since I really like the camera.

[Jayasri Hart]

B.J. and Greg,

Those are exactly the symptoms my 3.5-year-old Z7U is showing--sticky servo zoom at lower and upper ends, disappearing after an hour or so of use in manual zoom mode. Sony repair estimate lists replacement (like George's) lens $1801.36. Also listed among parts are "rubber level radiation sheet" $19.33 and "sheet zoom (side) absorbing" $9.79. I have a call out to Teaneck, NJ to try to learn what all this means.

If I continue as is, I'd be out of $135 only, but will the manual zoom fix not work after a while? Greg, how's yours doing? I noticed it's been almost a year since you posted. And B.J.--what did you do?

All fellow Z7U fans, wishing you and your cameras good health.