New to EX1R - Issues already / Help?

[Michael C. Ray]

Unit sent back to Sony ...

Waiting game now ....

[Michael C. Ray]

Thanks for everyone's help / opinions and thoughts ..

Sony went through the camera with a fine tooth comb and:

LCD Sensor board replaced

Back focus alignment / adjustment

IRIS was jacked up / repaired working at correct F stop now as it should

Going to contact seller .... Because I find it difficult to believe he did not know about
any of these issues and for this kind of money / lost work / time I could have done a
lot better in purchasing a camera .....

I never would have purchased this if I had hands on inspection

But Sony says its all better now -

Thanks Again everyone

[Jack Zhang]

Due to the nature of the camera's design, do backfocus adjustments regularly. If you transport your camera often the backfocus could go slightly off if it's jostled around during transport. (For instance, being inside a Pelican case on wheels and being wheeled through bumpy gravel)

Search the forums for how to do a backfocus (an "Auto FB Adjust") yourself, because you will need it over the camera's lifetime.

[Jim Stamos]

cant answer auto focus issue, since i only shoot all manual on this camera.
as far as stutter on zooming, its a hit and miss with each unit. i was lucky with both of mine that the zoom was very smooth and i could do a slow crawl with mine.
good luck

[Michael C. Ray]

backfocus adjustments regularly -- Like once a week? every other month ?

I will run manual 80% of the time also myself / found the concern going through
the camera upon arrival the first time

I will say Sony has been wonderful ....

[Jim Stamos]

having to do backfocus adjustments regularly?
shouldnt be happening. did sony fix that ? theres also a navigation to fixing that yourself. theres posts here on how to do that.
once youve gotten all working well, its a great camera, ive shot tons of different projects with it from documentaries to short films to the always consistent weddings, which i tire of but money is too good to stop them.

[Michael C. Ray]

Spoke with the seller:

His response to all of this:

None of this is his responsibility / He was honest and open from the start - I disagree

"It had been over a year since I used this camera so I was not aware of this issue." - Would have been nice to know from the start

He offered to pay for the LCD / IRIS repair - A little help better than none I guess

and I understand both sides are not being represented here, I have given no name out to avoid the BS back and fourth that
always develops when issues happen ..... I was simply trying to figure the camera out, thinking it was me not knowing how
to properly use it. Sony said NOPE the camera was jacked up ....

[Jack Zhang]

Each time you believe the camera has had rough bumps while being transported from place to place is when you should do a "Auto FB Adjust."

No, this is not specific to Michael's issues but is a good maintenance tip to do once in a while because of the camera's focus mechanism design. The EX1, EX1R and PMW-200 all have this issue. The EX1 and EX1R require you to access the service menu to do the backfocus adjustment. The forum has that info.

If you have an EX3 or PMW-300 with a true mechanical full manual focus Canon or Fujinon lens that is not the one that came with the camera, this will not be an issue during transport.

Also, Siemens Stars are not recommended for your Auto FB adjust. Instead, find a flat textured surface and position the camera 3 meters away from the surface.

Edit: Oh yeah, that's right. If you are going to be using Autofocus, turn the MACRO switch on the side of the lens off. It helps in non-full MF mode too. Macro being on might explain some of the difficulty focusing trying to exit out of the near focus mode. The camera when using the MF wheel is normally very slow at exiting macro mode and engaging standard MF mode. If you are going to use MF, use Full MF by snapping the ring back.

[Michael C. Ray]

Good information to know Mr. Zhang

[Les Wilson]

Just to put my experience against the theoretical others have shared, I've had my EX1r for 3 or 4 years and traveled around the world twice with it. Always in a backpack but riding atop a roll-aboard through many 3rd and 2nd world airports and destinations. Haven't needed a single back focus reset.

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Les Wilson

This board isn't eBay with all it's safety nets but the idea on DVINFO is that as a real name site, equipment is sold on the DVINFO reputation of the seller. When you resolve these issues and determine there was a defect with the camera and you bought it from someone here, that member's reputation is on the line and the community would be interested in knowing who that was.

Wait... this used camera purchase happened via the DVi classifieds?

[Michael C. Ray]

Sorta of - I posted that I was looking for an EX1R, the seller contacted me in email that they had one for sale.

After spending the last 3 weeks trying to settle the issues with the camera, my thoughts and the sellers thoughts, it has been pointed out to me that it is entirely my own fault for handling the transaction in the way that I did.

I am done dealing with the seller, will write this off as lesson learned and purchase another camera ...

You can contact me through email if you want more information ...

[Chris Hurd]

Well, I'm just very curious to know if the seller has an active account here on DVi.

[Les Wilson]

I am also interested. I think we all are actually.

[Jack Zhang]

Bumping this after a few months to say I'm getting identical issues with the LCD sensor board as described in this thread. It will happen randomly as the LCD is being opened. I guess this is a side effect of having a camera that's 700hrs operation time and closing in on 3 years old.