CZ 16-80 faukts been solved?

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basenflaus
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CZ 16-80 faukts been solved?

Unread post by basenflaus »

Does anybody know if the faults in the CZ 16-80 have been resolved by now?

Frits[[/list]
alphaomega
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Re: CZ 16-80 faukts been solved? Is this a fault?

Unread post by alphaomega »

I have been wondering for a while if my CZ16080 S/N 3820096is faulty. It was purchased as a kit lens with my A700 back in January. I primarily use Wide Angle settings so only noticed in June that between 75 and 80 mm there is a rough patch. At that point there is a resistance and roughness. and I can see the barrel extension moving out of alignment. I did not think it had an effect on the image quality or sharpness until today when I compared some pictures taken by my son of the same object using my old DSC-R1 with the "same" CZ lens. His Jpegs definitely look sharper. I must confess that I have always been impressed by the R1 images. Bot cameras have been set at the neutral sharpness setting.

I seem to remember that David Kilpatrick had a problem with his first 16-80 lenses and had to have two replaced. I have e-mailed Sony and still waiting for a reply. I wonder if they have all gone on holiday.

Is there anyone on the forum who can provide an opinion.
David Kilpatrick
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Re: CZ 16-80 faukts been solved?

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

From your reply it sounds as if the 16-80 faults (this is a classic instance) were not resolved for this batch of lenses.

But it's the first case I have heard of for some time, and the lens may have been on the shelf from the original production run.

David
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Winston
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Re: CZ 16-80 faukts been solved?

Unread post by Winston »

rant.begin
When Sony tells us that they have purged the existing stock of bad examples and straightened out their production process, I might buy one.

While I'm sure thet they will send to people of David's stature replacements 'til the cows come home or until they happen to send a good one, I seriously doubt that they would do the same for me. The odds are that many users receiving a bad copy won't know it and they are taking advantage of that. If I got one that was not so obviously bad but not a really good one, would I know? How? I don't have a reference. I think I would always be suspicious of my $750+ investment.

I love my A700s and Minolta and K-M/Tamron glass; but this 16-80 episode has jaundiced my view of Sony just a tad. This is not the behavior of a word-class camera/lens supplier.
rant.end

I'll get over it when I receive an excellent copy of the forthcomming 100-400 mm replacement :mrgreen:
Winston Mitchell
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Re: CZ 16-80 faukts been solved?

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

Sony did not send me anything! My lenses were from Warehouse Express, and they did the replacement. I am just another customer. They have no idea that I have any magazine or website connections.

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Winston
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Re: CZ 16-80 faukts been solved?

Unread post by Winston »

David, here in the States, unless you are living in a very large city, our choice is mail-order/internet or mass retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City. The kind of service you enjoy is only available around here for Canon and Nikon customers. This wasn't the case with KM...things have gotten much worse with Sony.
Winston Mitchell
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marktuma
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Re: CZ 16-80 faukts been solved?

Unread post by marktuma »

Winston, WarehouseExpress is predominantly an internet retailer (although they happen to be based in my city), so I would presume David did his exchanges by mail.

Cheers,
Mark
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Re: CZ 16-80 faukts been solved?

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

All entirely by email apart from a phone call to notify them they had sent me TWO replacement lenses by mistake, and I would be opening both packages to see whether one was better than the other, and also returning two packages not one. They agreed to this. Glad they did send me two, as only one of the replacements was 'right'.

I have not bought anything from a real camera shop since I got my HVL-F42AM, and I bought that partly to open contact with PhotoOptix as a dealer to see if we could get them involved. They went bust the next month.

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Winston
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Re: CZ 16-80 faukts been solved?

Unread post by Winston »

Kudos to Warehouse Express. I suspect the major internet retailers here might do the same. However, I don't see how this deals with my main complaint. Sony's pipeline has junk in it, they know it and are happy to sell it to unwary, inexperienced customers...it stinks.

Moreover, the retailers that are part of the pipeline track return rates like hawks. They must be aware of the problem and are going along with Sony's policy. Whether or not by choice, I don't know.

By the way, where is Zeiss in all this? For me, the revered status of that mark has gone the way of "Swiss Made" in watches.

Please don't misunderstand me. No one wants to see Sony succeed more than I. I'm just frustrated with this sort of bean-counter driven, counter-productive behavior.
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KevinBarrett
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Re: CZ 16-80 faukts been solved?

Unread post by KevinBarrett »

Amen to that...I'm on my way to order a Tamron 17-50/2.8 later today and was getting pre-purchace jitters, second guessing my choice. I took a look at the CZ 16-80 reviews on dyxum and they are so monsterously inconsistent even within this month, that my mind is made up, I'm going with the Tamron.
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picman
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Re: CZ 16-80 faukts been solved?

Unread post by picman »

KevinBarrett wrote:Amen to that...I'm on my way to order a Tamron 17-50/2.8 later today and was getting pre-purchace jitters, second guessing my choice. I took a look at the CZ 16-80 reviews on dyxum and they are so monsterously inconsistent even within this month, that my mind is made up, I'm going with the Tamron.
Seconded, my 24-70 CZ is being replaced (see separate thread). I'll keep you informed whether I get a good copy this time.

Maybe we should consider writing to Zeiss and Sony? Probably this is not something that is done all that often, so it certainly will raise some eyebrows. If we could get enough people to co-sign a letter expressing our concerns they might, just might, pay some attention to it.

I once took similar action concerning an expensive piece of digital recording equipment, sending a letter (email + hardcopy) to the company with cc to several websites and magazines. A few days later the company was on the phone to find a solution for the problems. The solution came, and quick.

Companies are only interested in profit. Once they have the feeling that their customers are grumbling just a little bit too loudly and it might negatively affect their business they will react, otherwise they just keep counting their $$$.

As always YMMV, cheers, Bob.
alphaomega
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Re: CZ 16-80 faukts been solved?

Unread post by alphaomega »

Thank you for your comments. Most informative. I am convinced now that I have a faulty copy of this lens and it is probably from one of the early batches as I believe this particular kit combination was withdrawn when the 16-105 saw the light of day. I will write to the MD of Sony UK as well as the retailer if I do not get a satisfactory reply to my -mail sent 6 August with f.u. yesterday. I bought the A700/CZ combination because I had a DSC-R1 which has performed faultlessly within its specification restrictions.
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