Sony confirms backfocus problem

Craig Hollenback · March 19th, 2008, 07:57 PM

Leonard, I only ran it with the ND filter, and only tested it after it was calibrated with the ND filter. Yes. it was the maintainence with auto flange back. There was a remarkable difference in focus after it was calibrated. I'll now have to try tomorrow without the ND on and wide open to see if the results are also good. Thanks.
Best, Craig

Craig Hollenback · March 20th, 2008, 07:12 AM

Leonard, I ran the test again with no neutral density filter and all was fine. So, at least for my camera the only problem was the flange back adjustment. I will keep an eye on this problem to see if vibration/temp. will cause it to go out of adjustment.
Hope your isssue works out.
Best, Craig

Sean Donnelly · March 20th, 2008, 09:16 AM

Just spoke to someone at Sony about FW upgrades. They have no plans to allow users to upgrade. Not even authorized service centers. This is ridiculous. It is possible to damage the camera if it is done wrong, but I don't think I should wait 7-10 days for them to remove a cover and plug in a cable. I've done more advanced procedures on more advanced cameras, I'd much rather sign a waiver than lose my camera for 1-2 weeks. Sorry for the rant, but I'm getting a bit annoyed with Sony.

-Sean

Dennis Joseph · March 20th, 2008, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean Donnelly

Just spoke to someone at Sony about FW upgrades. They have no plans to allow users to upgrade. Not even authorized service centers. This is ridiculous. It is possible to damage the camera if it is done wrong, but I don't think I should wait 7-10 days for them to remove a cover and plug in a cable. I've done more advanced procedures on more advanced cameras, I'd much rather sign a waiver than lose my camera for 1-2 weeks. Sorry for the rant, but I'm getting a bit annoyed with Sony.

-Sean

My camera that I purchased over the weekend came with the newer FW. Anyone purchasing the cameras nowadays will be getting the new FW automatically I believe.

Jason Bodnar · March 20th, 2008, 11:09 AM

Well, I just bought mine got it last week and it has the old FW....Not a big deal to me right now because my Camera seems to be working great so far..But I do not know what the new FW update does so it may fix some bugs... It is hard for me to believe Sony expects all customers to ship their cameras back for a FW update when one is needed...Maybe they have no plans of ever allowing cheaper 3rd party SxS cards to work with the Camera after all? Can you imagine the backlog of cameras awaiting a FW update...You might be without your Camera for over a month. Once this news gets out Sony is going to feel some serious backlash from customers. Yes a FW upgrade can possibly kill the camera usually it would not be fatal but would require it be sent to service. Now on the other hand trusting your Camera to the shipping companies each way for a simple software update is more of a concern for me as your camera has more of a potential to get lost or destroyed in route to Sony.

Sorry for my Rant as well...But Sony needs a wakeup call.

Bill Ravens · March 20th, 2008, 11:10 AM

nevermind

.........................

Leonard Levy · March 26th, 2008, 11:04 AM

You really have to look at this carefully. My buddy tested it and thought his camera was fine then asked me to double check. It was off.

The trick is when you go wide, see if it gets sharper when you roll the focus back to 3' or so. Obviously it should not. You should certainly try the Sony back focus adjustment to see if that fixes it.

Adam Forgione · March 26th, 2008, 02:36 PM

how do you check the camera to see what firmware you have?

Don Greening · March 26th, 2008, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam Forgione

how do you check the camera to see what firmware you have?

Press and hold the cancel button and menu button at the same time. Continue to hold these buttons and then hit the SEL/SET button. 3 more menus will show up below the regular menu items. Scroll down to the IF icon. Select that and you'll see your serial number and the firmware version number appear.

- Don

Greg Patch · March 27th, 2008, 10:05 PM

I bought mine last week and I have the old firmware V1.03_0351
SN 0101754

Gerald Loidl · March 28th, 2008, 07:53 AM

Today I fixed the backfocus problem for myself, just before I wanted to return my EX1 for another exchange.
I did the FB-adjustment procedure once again - but this time I used 12 backfocus charts side by side (actually 4 columns and 3 rows), which I attached to a white wall of my house.
I did the procedure for each ND - setting separately. Looks like only 1 backfocus chart was not enough to fix my problem. The camera was 3m away from the charts - aperture of course wide open.

Maybe this trick will work for others as well.
The sad thing is that Sony could not fix it in 3 repair attempts.
I hope it will stay like this now.

My camera has the new FW 1.05.

Maybe this technique will help others as well.

regards,
Gerald

Steven Thomas · March 28th, 2008, 08:49 AM

Awesome Gerald!

Great news man.

Hey, I'm wondering if the firmware v1.05 is needed to have this three way correction (ND off, ND1 on, ND2, on) work?

Adam Wilt said with his camera, only one could be set at a time.
Maybe v1.05 addresses this issue.

I'm hoping Sony actually releases what version 1.05 offers.

Adam also mentioned, when the camera goes wide to make sure nothing but the focus chart is in view on the blank wall.

Eric Pascarelli · March 28th, 2008, 08:58 AM

My experience was the same on my friend's camera - 2 (not 3) different backfocus settings. One for ND off, and one for both "ND on" settings.

I'll find out his firmware version.

Gerald Loidl · March 28th, 2008, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Thomas

Adam also mentioned, when the camera goes wide to make sure nothing but the focus chart is in view on the blank wall.

I tried it about 30 times before on the same wall (with the old and the new FW), which is plain white, nothing in the view of the wall. The only difference to this time was that I only used one focus chart (Siemens Star) before. Today with 12 charts it worked...
Looks like it needs some very clear targets to be able to focus correctly while being wide open.

cu,
Gerald

Steven Thomas · March 28th, 2008, 09:08 AM

That makes sense, it's possible that Sony japan is using a much larger target and field support is not aware of the particulars.

March 19th, 2008, 07:57 PM	#16
Craig Hollenback Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Key West Posts: 247	not both ways Leonard, I only ran it with the ND filter, and only tested it after it was calibrated with the ND filter. Yes. it was the maintainence with auto flange back. There was a remarkable difference in focus after it was calibrated. I'll now have to try tomorrow without the ND on and wide open to see if the results are also good. Thanks. Best, Craig

March 20th, 2008, 07:12 AM	#17
Craig Hollenback Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Key West Posts: 247	ran the test again Leonard, I ran the test again with no neutral density filter and all was fine. So, at least for my camera the only problem was the flange back adjustment. I will keep an eye on this problem to see if vibration/temp. will cause it to go out of adjustment. Hope your isssue works out. Best, Craig

March 20th, 2008, 11:10 AM	#21
Bill Ravens Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: santa fe, nm Posts: 3,264 Images: 10	nevermind ......................... Last edited by Bill Ravens; March 21st, 2008 at 09:48 AM.

March 28th, 2008, 07:53 AM	#26
Gerald Loidl Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Austria Posts: 122	Fixed! Today I fixed the backfocus problem for myself, just before I wanted to return my EX1 for another exchange. I did the FB-adjustment procedure once again - but this time I used 12 backfocus charts side by side (actually 4 columns and 3 rows), which I attached to a white wall of my house. I did the procedure for each ND - setting separately. Looks like only 1 backfocus chart was not enough to fix my problem. The camera was 3m away from the charts - aperture of course wide open. Maybe this trick will work for others as well. The sad thing is that Sony could not fix it in 3 repair attempts. I hope it will stay like this now. My camera has the new FW 1.05. Maybe this technique will help others as well. regards, Gerald

March 20th, 2008, 09:16 AM	#18
Sean Donnelly Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: New York, NY Posts: 188	Just spoke to someone at Sony about FW upgrades. They have no plans to allow users to upgrade. Not even authorized service centers. This is ridiculous. It is possible to damage the camera if it is done wrong, but I don't think I should wait 7-10 days for them to remove a cover and plug in a cable. I've done more advanced procedures on more advanced cameras, I'd much rather sign a waiver than lose my camera for 1-2 weeks. Sorry for the rant, but I'm getting a bit annoyed with Sony. -Sean

March 20th, 2008, 11:09 AM	#20
Jason Bodnar Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Seattle WA Posts: 376	Well, I just bought mine got it last week and it has the old FW....Not a big deal to me right now because my Camera seems to be working great so far..But I do not know what the new FW update does so it may fix some bugs... It is hard for me to believe Sony expects all customers to ship their cameras back for a FW update when one is needed...Maybe they have no plans of ever allowing cheaper 3rd party SxS cards to work with the Camera after all? Can you imagine the backlog of cameras awaiting a FW update...You might be without your Camera for over a month. Once this news gets out Sony is going to feel some serious backlash from customers. Yes a FW upgrade can possibly kill the camera usually it would not be fatal but would require it be sent to service. Now on the other hand trusting your Camera to the shipping companies each way for a simple software update is more of a concern for me as your camera has more of a potential to get lost or destroyed in route to Sony. Sorry for my Rant as well...But Sony needs a wakeup call.

March 26th, 2008, 11:04 AM	#22
Leonard Levy Trustee Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,684	You really have to look at this carefully. My buddy tested it and thought his camera was fine then asked me to double check. It was off. The trick is when you go wide, see if it gets sharper when you roll the focus back to 3' or so. Obviously it should not. You should certainly try the Sony back focus adjustment to see if that fixes it.

March 26th, 2008, 02:36 PM	#23
Adam Forgione Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: New York Posts: 48	how do you check the camera to see what firmware you have?

March 27th, 2008, 10:05 PM	#25
Greg Patch Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Huntsville, Alabama Posts: 181	I bought mine last week and I have the old firmware V1.03_0351 SN 0101754

March 28th, 2008, 08:49 AM	#27
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	Awesome Gerald! Great news man. Hey, I'm wondering if the firmware v1.05 is needed to have this three way correction (ND off, ND1 on, ND2, on) work? Adam Wilt said with his camera, only one could be set at a time. Maybe v1.05 addresses this issue. I'm hoping Sony actually releases what version 1.05 offers. Adam also mentioned, when the camera goes wide to make sure nothing but the focus chart is in view on the blank wall.

March 28th, 2008, 08:58 AM	#28
Eric Pascarelli Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 498	My experience was the same on my friend's camera - 2 (not 3) different backfocus settings. One for ND off, and one for both "ND on" settings. I'll find out his firmware version.

March 28th, 2008, 09:08 AM	#30
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	That makes sense, it's possible that Sony japan is using a much larger target and field support is not aware of the particulars.