Hellow guys!, How kan I see witch version of the software I have in camera?
Mine is 401038 ;) whith no problems until now. :)

hold sel/set (the select roller) and cancel while pressing the menu button. There should now be three extra menu options. The last one is the info page, which will tell you the FW version.

-Sean

Great! thanks Sean!

A high Sony sales representative today came by to hand over a brand new EX1 to me, as Sony prime support does not have any exchange cameras and no more loaner cameras. They just cant find out what´s wrong with my cameras back focus.
To make the story short:
The new camera has the backfocus problem as well - and this time I performed the test in front of the Sony guy.
He was surprised and then pulled out one of the demo cameras he had with him, only to find out that it has the same issue. Nobody ever noticed this problem before. Looks like most people did not use the ND filter??
In the meantime I think that all EX1 have this issue, maybe people do not test good enough to see if their camera has this problem. In the last 7 weeks I had 5 cameras with the same issue going through my hands! This can´t be any coincident!
Anyways - he took all the cameras with him and will show it to his technicians and can hopefully present a working camera to me soon. Its now almost 7 weeks since I bought my camera.
It looks like they did not test their cameras closely enough.
I´m still boiling! This camera was the worst investment I have ever made, and I always was a big Sony fan...

I think you guys are having a major issue out in the Austrian region to be honest with you.

My forum buddy Mark Weiss has just posted this:

''BTW, mine just came back from repair with a firmware upgrade that fixed the
backfocus problems. Camera is tack sharp with ND on or off, now.''

I'm assuming that tests to see if the NDs affect the focus have to be done up close and at wide-open aperture, right? Or is back focus different from this, and errors are visible at any focal length, focused distance and aperture setting?

tom.

Wide open aperture is a must for this test.
with ND on - Zoom in and focus on an object thats far away, close to the infinity mark. (trees are a good subject to check the focus)
Zoom out and voilá - soft image.
Best to watch it on a big monitor, but my problem can also be seen on the LCD. When I turn the focus ring to the 0.8m mark the image becomes sharper at wide open zoom.
This test can be done in under one minute.
You should also shoot a static scene with ND off and ND on and make a split screen composition in your NLE. One guy who thought his camera was perfectly fixed was very surprised by the difference between ND on and ND off... I´m convinced there is still a difference and an issue.
I do not want to bash this camera - it would be such a great camera if it would not have the backfocus issue.

Just swapped out my EX1 today for a SN in the 2500's, and the vignetting is better. I haven't noticed any back focus problems, although it does have the 1.03 FW. I heard from the dealer today that Sony is low on supply right now, and a new batch will be delivered sometime next month. Monday morning I'm going to call Sony and see if I can switch mine out once the new batch arrives if they are in fact any better. I should say, it is very minor, and it certainly isn't going to stop me from shooting with an otherwise amazing camera.

-Sean

Well I found have the backfocus issue as well and my cam was already back for the vignette fix in January. When the cam returned I gave it a quick look and the vignetting was better although not gone. I figured I would leave well enough alone since it was better. The camera was not use until last week on guess what? an outdoor shoot, and what do you think was discovered when ND was added...

This is maddening since it was already back once for 2 weeks, and from what I read in this thread it may go back and still not be right when returned.

Ill post what response I get from sony...

Chuck

With details off I would expect the image to be more soft when you zoom out. I'm assuming you guys are testing with details on?

I did the test with both settings, and both are soft...

I will check but I believe detail was on and set to 0

Sony wants me to email them stills showing the focus problem.

Chuck

even with detail off there should not be any difference with ND on or off at the backfocus

I don't know if anyone has asked this question or if it makes sense but has anyone tried "peaking" when zooming out during ND 1 and ND 2?

Would it still show peaking even if it was out of focus or would it go off?

Bill, just so you know, it wasn't operator error on your part because the exact same thing happened to me a while back. I thought I had pushed the magic button by mistake (auto-everything) but this was not the case. The camera had a death grip on the iris and wasn't about to relinquish control until I powered it off and then on again.

So now we know we're not BOTH going crazy and that it has to be a software thing that hopefully will be addressed in a future firmware upgrade.

- Don

ps - actually, I'm still crazy but you're ok :)

My EX-1 (Serial #103707) just finally put up on the big 1080p screen was OK as far as vignetting, but displayed egregious problems with backfocus. No matter how set (Clear, ND 1 or 2), and focused sharply while zoomed out at about 85 feet, when pulled back to wide just turned the tree limbs at 85 feet to total MUSH. I fooled myself into thinking it was ok when viewed on the Sony's LCD screen, and the peaking indicated that everything was in focus. Don't be fooled: examine it as a normally large image!

I contacted Max today at B&H about the faulty unit, and B&H is taking it back and will have a replacement on my doorstep tomorrow, all at their expense, coming and going. What service!

This is the first new camera from Sony that I have had ANY difficulty with since 1991. Given the experience with many of you here, I decided not to attempt the Auto FB or to even look to see what software version was installed. And certainly at this point, I wasn't ready to send the camera back to Sony for an attempted repair, again given the adverse experience of so many of you.

If the camera arriving tomorrow also appears faulty, I won't burden B&H again. They have certainly done more than their part! At that point I'll try the Auto FB, and if that fails, contact Sony, and go back to the FX-1 (boo-hoo) for the duration.

What a shame, with an otherwise largely stunning camera. And thanks to you all for your informative posts, plus, minus, and instructional.

The only remaining issue, one way or the other, will be attempting to straighten out the issue of the original carton I'm sending back to B&H, which unfortunately has the serial number info cut out - I had already sent in a claim for the "free" battery, quite mistakenly expecting that having ordered a later delivered unit, that it would be in acceptable operating condition.

Funny you mention that William, I had already registered with them for the free sxs card when I decided to exchange my first one.


-Sean

So Sean, were you able to effect the camera exchange with the box serial number cut off? And as far as you know, what does this do to your "free" card?

I've had that issue myself for a couple of times... And it is not the camera going to Auto Iris mode, because it won't react to changes in illumination, it just gets "stuck". I think it was after powering up the camera, the iris goes from the Close position to where it was when powering down, but after that, instead of releasing the power to the iris motor drive, it remains activated and doesn't move neither towards the open nor the close positions.

I also had this stuck iri twice. A stop/start of the camera did the trick.
But what is the point with the vignetting issue ? :)

I actually stopped just short of slicing the box and thought "Hey, I better check for vignetting before I do this". Did you already mail in the UPC? If so, I'd say call B&H and explain, then call Sony. I have to call them today and sort it out, but I'm sure Sony can send it back to them with a new UPC.

-Sean

Well, now I don't need to be concerned about sending my first EX-1 (from which I had cut the serial number to obtain the "free" 8 Gb card) back to B&H (referred to two posts above, just prior to Sean's kind reply).

I received the replacement EX-1 from B&H today, put it through its paces, and it is also mush regarding backfocus, at Clear, ND-1, and ND-2. So the replacement, rather than the orignal is going back to B&H. The serial number of the latest was 104003. The software version on both the old and new was V1.03-0351.

Again, B&H certainly tops out on customer service! Since I have a shoot coming up in NYC in early May, I may try the FB adjustment and see if that does any good in each of the 3 ND settings, and if not, call Sony immediately for a software update and adequate repair. Thanks to you all for the tremendous and learned amount of information about this camera!

You're right, it has nothing to do with vignetting... but backfocus issues are also non related to vignetting! I though that it was not the wrong place, since all three issues are related to the lens of the camera.

Maybe this thread should change his title from "Vignette problem" to "Lens problems".

That's weird. My s/n is 4700 and I got the new FW number.

Well the sony tech says based on my pics he is not sure there is a problem with my ex1! Please take a look and see if I just need new glasses.

Here are the links to the tifs
http://www.shadysidepa.com/nd_off_wide.tif
http://www.shadysidepa.com/ND_1_on_wide.tif
http://www.shadysidepa.com/ND_2_wide.tif


He gave me an 800 number I called and they say I will have to pay shipping to send it in. Have they done the same for you?

Chuck

Chuck,
its pretty obvious that your camera has a problem. Thats the typical backfocus problem. No new glasses needed ;-)

regards,
Gerald

Guys tell me, it's obviously soft - but where is it's focal point now, at min. dist. or nowhere? It looks like someone smeared a thin film of vasoline on the lens...

Back focus is out.
Do you have the latest firmware?
It's been shared to several that this firmware is needed to adjust the problem.
The image contrast is different, but it's still soft.

Just recieved a message from Sony tech reports that the latest firmware update does NOT solve any backfocus issues that he is aware of but that they will recalibrate the lens after performing the update..

"To my knowledge the firmware update doesn't address your issue per se
but it may still be a good course of action. After updating the firmware
they will also re-calibrate the lens. "

Guess it will be a crap shoot but something has to be done.

I will send it out and see how it comes back.

Chuck

Not knowing Chuck's settings, it _could_ be that engaging ND filters and opening the iris accordingly, narrowed his DOF enough for the scene to stay out of it (with the focus plane being very close, or in infinity).

Camera set up was as follows

iris wide open shutter used to stop down the light for non ND. Zoomed to center of tree trunk, focused and zoomed back wide with iris wide.

Then I switched in ND filters and changed shutter to a lower setting for
ND1 and then off for ND2.

Chuck

Ach, OK - so you basically didn't open iris while engaging ND. My theory is not valid - back focus is bad.

Chuck,
I have read several responses between this board and another mentioning that their back focus issue was fixed. So, if it's not the new firmware, it's something else.

According to Adam Wilt, the back focus adjustment in the service menu appears to only correct back focus at a given condition, ND OFF, ND1 ON, or ND2 ON. He mentioned it will only correct for one at a time.

Having said that, my camera does not have the BF issue regarding ND position. If it does, it's real small and not that noticeable.

Steven

I am wondering if only the cams that had the vignette issue also suffer from the backfocus problem. My cam was sent back in early Jan for that problem.

Chuck

I just completed the back focus adjustment myself because I'm not able to have Sony do it until the 2nd week in April. Thank goodness I only live 15 min. away from our western Sony repair facility!

The back focus adjustment seems to have worked. I did it without any ND filters then did another test outside using ND1 and the image does appear to still be a little softer than with ND Clear, but even with the ND filter it now seems to be better than it was before the adjustment.

- Don

Chuck, I'm not sure about that.
My current camera (replacement for my original EX1 camera) has some vignetting in the top two corners (8-25mm range). My back focus looks OK.

Actually, this thread has been badly derailed by the backfocus problems and if anything they need to be posted elsewhere. A lot of people, myself included are still having vignette issues and it would be good to keep this thread for that problem alone if possible.

How to spot who's using EX1
 

I saw this shot on CNN. Look at upper left and right corners. Vignette issue is more severe on upper left.

BTW I'm seeing this on some of the HD channels (Voom channels) from my Cable service.

Either there's another camera on the market with this issue or you can see who's using the EX1 and haven't gotten them repaired/replaced. It kinda makes you think how many are out there with this and other issues that simply go into service and NEVER get checked.

Good eye.

It's pretty much a perfect shot for seeing the vignetting problem.

I'm not sure CNN should be so proud of that exclusive - it's a pretty boring shot!

Today I got my camera back from the 3rd repair attempt. When I thoroughly checked it an hour ago I found out that it still has the same issue. Still soft with ND on AND ND off.
They reinstalled the new FW and did the backfocus adjustment routine. I spoke to the technician (who was not from prime support, but from Sony Austria) how he checked it - and he had to admit that he did not have an HD monitor, but he normally does not do any repairs on this camera, so I cant blame him...
All repairs are normally done by Prime Support only.
The sales representative from Sony Austria, who is a very professional, helpful, and friendly gentleman now tries to get a camera from the latest batch for me. If I did not know him, I would have asked for a refund now. I still can´t believe that there are perfect EX-1´s without backfocus problems out there. I hope to get the new camera next week - if it also has the same problem I will have to demand a refund.
Problem is: What camera should I buy instead - the EX1 would be such a great camera... Maybe I will just wait for a couple of months, put my money on the bank and see if they can deliver some working cameras then.