Jerky Zoom - Sony's reply: That is normal

[Stephen Armour]

Lee, we have exactly the same controller as you and our results suck bigtime. Same jerkola as the handgrip rocker.

I cannot imagine that Sony would even have the courage to put their name on a camcorder of this level with such poor quality servo design. Fujinon should be red-faced to have their names even connected with such a piece of trashy work. Extremely aggravating when their 250 dollar handy cam has lightyears better quality performance than their so-called "professional line". What a joke.

[Les Wilson]

I found that I cannot run the VG PG-EX with it's speed dial at the minimum. The lens doesn't budge until the dial reaches a certain point. But once it starts moving, it then goes smoothly all the way. What about yours? Can you set your speed dial to reproduce the same 20 second push with your VG PG-EX?

[Jacques Mersereau]

I have three EX3 and a EX1. Using the Varizoom controller, ALL of them, when trying for the slowest possible zoom speed, stutter. IMHO, I believe this was deliberately made as a feature so that 'pros' will pony up for the more expensive 350. Jerky slow zoom is one of the few issues I have with the EXs and I would love to have a solution.

[John Peterson]

I believe this was deliberately made as a feature so that 'pros' will pony up for the more expensive 350. Jerky slow zoom is one of the few issues I have with the EXs and I would love to have a solution.

I have had a bunch of Sony cameras. The best zoom was on my old Sony Hi8. Absolutely perfect. It was also the least expensive of all of the ones I purchased thereafter. I think it is just carelessness on their part and not intentional.

John

[Olof Ekbergh]

I believe there is a design problem with these lenses, even if they don't all show the symptom.

These lenses are incredible good for the price really. I think the problem is that in order to make an inexpensive lens work this well optically, there are a lot of internal parts that move when you zoom or focus even, and I think Fuji simply did not put in strong enough servo motors to handle all the gearing. They did not realize this right away and now they have made a lot of them.

I would hope that the next version will fix this. It is sad that the fix on the EX1R is simply to not support slow zooming. But I guess it is a case of you get what you pay for. Most lenses with similar specs would cost more than a EX1R.

I have an old EX3 that Sony replaced the lens on, and it runs pretty smoothly, though not as nicely as a real Pro lens (those start at around $8,000.00). I also have fairly new EX1R and that one is "within Sony Specs" but not as smooth as the old one. It will zoom down to about 4 (now just symbols below 8 in EX1R) and my old one works down to 1 sometimes 2 when it is cold.

If I was to buy a new EX cam I would buy it from a Brick and Mortar dealer and test it to make sure the lens is good before paying for it. I realize not everyone can do this but it is what I like to do now, or use a vendor that will allow a return/exchange without penalty. Many "mail order stores" will do this now just check before you buy.

[Felix Halter]

I have a jerky EX1 and a jerky 350K, I sent both to prime support but they didn't fix it. Now I ordered a ZA17x7.6BERM, but that's probably what the wanted me to do in the first place! I sure hope that the new lens is as sharp as the stock lens was.

[Chris Leong]

What Olof said. Buy it from a real store with real customer service, better yet from a Sony dealer with a loud voice that's clearly heard in Japan.

Failing that, use a movie-style zoom motor setup. I have a tiny old Heden unit with memory controller that works perfectly every time. But then again I come from film, not TV, so I've had that one awhile.

HTH
Cheers!
Chris

[Craig Seeman]

When I bought my EX1 from a brick and mortar store in late 2007 it had a jerky zoom below 10 (handle speed). I sent it in and after three weeks Sony told me they could not fix it and sent me a replacement camera. That camera can do a nice creep zoom at 2. Sony later changed their policy about this as they apparently fount the spec was too tight to do that given the price of the camera and lens. Since this is an important feature for me, it's one big reason why I've not moved to a 1R. If I ever do sell the EX1 you bet I'm going to boldly advertise that it's a rare smooth zooming version.

[John Peterson]

Originally Posted by Olof Ekbergh

But I guess it is a case of you get what you pay for. Most lenses with similar specs would cost more than a EX1R.

I think people overuse that expression IMO to explain design or quality control issues away.
As I said, my old Sony TRV-85 Hi8 camera had the best zoom controller I have ever used. Perfectly ramped up and down from a snail's crawl to fast zoom. The camera was under $1000 new. Haven't been able to match it since.

John

[Les Wilson]

I think engineering a 3 ring lens with 1/2" HD glass that allows full manual focus with stops on focus, zoom and iris rings makes the lens a bit more complicated than the tiny sensor TRV 85 with SD glass. That's what I paid for (and got) :-)

You can pay more and get a smoother crawling XF but have to throw a switch when you want to use the zoom ring vs rocker.

[David Morgan]

I just spent $330.00 on a bebob lens controller. the result is horrible. It's unusable for slow creep in zooms. My EX-1r is 2 months old. I get the same stop/start as the video shows. Not sure what the best course of action is.

[Russell Heaton]

G'day David,

I've had my camera (EX1R) for just a couple of weeks and am very disappointed to find that I, too, am a victim. I set up a shot transition which was essentially just a zoom. I deliberately made it a fairly small zoom and then set the transition time to 15 seconds. I also configured the start and end of the transition to be slow. This would force the transition to zoom the lens very slowly - in fact I have a feeling that this may actually override the setting of "8" in the zoom speed settings.

Anyway, what a disaster. The start and end of the zoom are noticeably jerky,while the middle bit was just passable. Everything else about this camera is great, but this zoom thing is a real piss-off.

Cheers

Russ

[Olof Ekbergh]

I was lucky with my EX3 more than 3 years ago, Sony actually replaced my lens, and my dealer gave me a loaner while Sony had my jerky lens. The replacement lens still works on 2, even 1 if it is not cold.

My EX1R only works well from 4 and up. I understand that Sony now does not guarantee any speed below 8. This is really unfortunate, and I guess their way of dealing with hundreds if not thousands jerky lenses.

My suggestion is if you can buy your camera from a brick and mortar dealer, go there and pick it up. Don't accept the camera unless it is smooth.

If you got it from a web dealer, then just send it back. Most good dealers offer money back in the first 30 days.

This is not a good situation and it is too bad that this is a dark cloud over a great couple cameras. I do understand the complexities of moving so many elements in a lens to keep focus throughout zoom range, it is a great design and an inexpensive solution to an expensive solution (great HD zoom lens for a couple grand). It is too bad Sony/Fuji only hit the 80% mark on this lens.

Other than jerky zoom it really is an excellent lens that matches these cameras well. I always tell people about this problem if they ask my opinion on this camera, and I think a few shooters have actually gone with Canons, JVCs or Panys instead because of this. But I also tell people what a great camera it is in general, for this price point.

My next camera, and I am not selling my EX3 or EX1R, is actually a Pany AF100 -- No power zoom at all. Zooming is not the most important thing in a lens.

I wish I had something more positive to contribute on this subject, but there you are.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Like Olof, I must have been very lucky with my EX1's lens, as well. It can do very slow zooms at the speed of 1 or 2 without any problems. Using my Manfrotto 521ex controller, my camera is capable of almost 2 mins from W to T, and back!

Also, the zooms with the grip rocker can even be ramped, although this depends on my general fitness on a given day :)

[Stephen Armour]

Originally Posted by Olof Ekbergh

I ...Other than jerky zoom it really is an excellent lens that matches these cameras well. .... But I also tell people what a great camera it is in general, for this price point....

Olof, I guess I'd agree with everything you've said: this is a great cam and lens for the money, with extraordinarily good output...minus the stupid jerky zoom. I was mad as hell at Sony at first, but now? We just have to put things in their proper perspective. Sony was stupid for risking their future sales with this nice cam sold with such poor slow zooms, but....

the real BOTTOM LINE IS: Forget using the power zoom for those slow zooms and buy a mechanical wheel/rails zoom adapter. It's way better, and actually a very cheap investment for an excellent cam in every other way.