Road trip: Finished!

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aster
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

Unread post by aster »

Hi Bakubo, :)

I own an A100 at the moment as you probably might have noticed. I intentionally did not upgrade to any of the already-in-market Alpha bodies since there were signs that Sony would be introducing new series of different levels. The A700 is at a good price in Istanbul at the moment and the A900 is down to a more reasonable price also and the features for both of the cameras have their attractive sides but since there are new bodies to be offered rather soon I'll be considering every single one until I make decisions to further my Alpha investment.

I read about the many problems and quality-check deficiencies of the A700 and others too. Naturally, I developed a more suspicious approach to the whole system but somehow I never suffered any of these problems with my A100. The A100 has its own limitations of high ISO but it never gave me any worries at all. This may be because I have a good sample and I already shot 15,000 and more photos with it and there still are no signs of degradation or failure or any signs of wear-and-tear on the body. I take care of it but it is still in the same good condition it was the day I purchased it.

Therefore, I'm a little more optimistic about the Alpha generations to come. But whatever will make you happy with your photography and road trips to different destinations in general will be part of your life, there's no doubt about that. Hopefully, history will not repeat itself with the other brands you may be going with.

Good luck! :D
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bakubo
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

Unread post by bakubo »

aster wrote:I own an A100 at the moment as you probably might have noticed. I intentionally did not upgrade to any of the already-in-market Alpha bodies since there were signs that Sony would be introducing new series of different levels. The A700 is at a good price in Istanbul at the moment and the A900 is down to a more reasonable price also and the features for both of the cameras have their attractive sides but since there are new bodies to be offered rather soon I'll be considering every single one until I make decisions to further my Alpha investment.
Yes, I am looking forward to seeing what an A700 replacement looks like. Also, if there is a FF A800 in the wings.
aster wrote: I read about the many problems and quality-check deficiencies of the A700 and others too. Naturally, I developed a more suspicious approach to the whole system but somehow I never suffered any of these problems with my A100. The A100 has its own limitations of high ISO but it never gave me any worries at all. This may be because I have a good sample and I already shot 15,000 and more photos with it and there still are no signs of degradation or failure or any signs of wear-and-tear on the body. I take care of it but it is still in the same good condition it was the day I purchased it.
I bought an A100 in 2007, used it for awhile, and then gave it to my wife. It still works fine. I am much more careful with my cameras than she is, but for whatever reason I have had 3 KM/Sony DSLRs with problems and 2 Canon DSLRs that were problem free. :( I like the A700 more though. I can still use it, but it is more and more frustrating since I can't depend on it to work quickly. For example, I might change the ISO from 160 to 200, but instead it jumps to 800. Or, change the f-stop from f4 to f4.5, but instead it jumps to f11. Scrolling through menus also sometimes jump way ahead. Anything that uses the control wheel can randomly just jump way ahead or behind. If you look at that thread I posted the link to you will see that many people have the problem. A couple of months after I started that thread there were one or two other threads people started about the same problem. It is clear to me after using multiple FSLRs and DSLRs with control wheels all without problems that the A700 alone has a design or quality control defect. Some people have sent theirs into Sony and didn't get the problem fixed. I have had a real hard time sending mine in since the problem started a few months ago because I have been on the move and have no address for Sony to return the camera to. My camera warranty expired about 2 months after the problem started. I called Sony before the warranty expired and explained the situation. I got elevated to a supervisor and she told me I could send it in after the warranty expired, but I still haven't been able to do that. From reports it isn't clear at all that sending it in would help much anyway. All of this in the thread.
aster wrote: Therefore, I'm a little more optimistic about the Alpha generations to come. But whatever will make you happy with your photography and road trips to different destinations in general will be part of your life, there's no doubt about that. Hopefully, history will not repeat itself with the other brands you may be going with.
If my A700 wasn't getting worse by the day then I would be pretty happy to continue to use it for, say, another year. I am not so confident that I will be able to do so though. :(
Last edited by bakubo on Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Javelin
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

Unread post by Javelin »

you really should send it in. it's not going to get any better. your headed home now right? why not send it now?
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bakubo
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

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Javelin wrote:you really should send it in. it's not going to get any better. your headed home now right? why not send it now?
I don't have an address in which to return it right now. It has been a few months since my conversation with Sony and a few months since my warranty expired. I explained that it might be awhile before I could send the A700 in. When I can I suppose I will do it, but I am not too confident that after so much time they will honor their verbal agreement. Also, the shipping cost from Hawaii is fairly significant for something that there is a good chance will come back unfixed. I expect to call Sony again after I have an address and am in the same place for an extended time.
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bakubo
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

Unread post by bakubo »

I contacted someone I know in Honolulu and they agreed to let me give their address to Sony for the return address for my A700. I then contacted Sony with the reference number from several months ago. They looked it up and said they would repair it under warranty even though the warranty expired some time back, so I shipped it off this afternoon. I again explained the problem to them and also wrote a note explaining it, which I put in the box. I have little confidence it will get fixed though. It is intermittent and some others who have sent theirs in say it came back unfixed. I just hope they don't screw something else up. It is always a risk when you send your camera in that it will come back in worse condition than it was when you sent it in. I have got my fingers crossed.
Last edited by bakubo on Wed Jun 03, 2009 2:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
Javelin
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

Unread post by Javelin »

good luck Henry. I'm sure it'll work out fine.

In the book, both dials and the 4 buttons on the top plate are all one part number. so the whole thing should be replaced as a unit.
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Dr. Harout
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

Unread post by Dr. Harout »

Good luck from me too, Henry.
A99 + a7rII + Sony, Zeiss, Minolta, Rokinon and M42 lenses

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bakubo
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

Unread post by bakubo »

Dr. Harout wrote:Good luck from me too, Henry.
Thanks, Doc. I will report back when it is returned to me. Got back to Hawaii yesterday.
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kingfisher
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

Unread post by kingfisher »

henry


great great shots

very impresiff

gustav
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bakubo
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

Unread post by bakubo »

kingfisher wrote:great great shots

very impresiff

gustav
Thank you for the kind words, Gustav!
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bakubo
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

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bakubo wrote:I bought an A100 in 2007, used it for awhile, and then gave it to my wife. It still works fine.
Oops, I spoke too soon. While I am waiting for Sony to return my A700 I have been using my wife's A100. I said that it was problem free, but it turns out I was wrong. I have discovered a problem with it too. :( Sometimes changing exposure compensation causes it to act crazy. Change it to +0.3 and then later try to change it back to 0 and sometimes when you press the exposure compensation button it will show +2 or +3 and will not allow you to change it back to 0. Turn off the camera and back on and it shows +0.3 and you can change it to 0. My wife never adjusts anything so she didn't know of a problem, but now I recall a month or two ago that I adjusted exposure compensation for her and later in the day she told me that she had deleted a bunch of shots that were severely overexposed. I checked her camera and it was set to +3. I had assumed she had accidentally changed it. I experienced the same thing yesterday. Set to +0.3, took a shot, then a couple of minutes later took another shot and noticed the second shot was severely overexposed. Yep, it was now +3.
Last edited by bakubo on Tue Jun 09, 2009 1:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
David Kilpatrick
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

Spray a tiny bit of contact cleaner down the wheel control sides. It's a known problem. Usually fixes it.

David
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bakubo
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

Unread post by bakubo »

David Kilpatrick wrote:Spray a tiny bit of contact cleaner down the wheel control sides. It's a known problem. Usually fixes it.
I'll give that a try. My A700 is in for control wheel problems too, more severe, and I have tried the contact cleaner thing. Didn't fix the A700 problem though. See my long thread about it here:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp ... e=30539266

I have owned many FSLRs and DSLRs and these 2 Sony DSLRs are the only ones that have ever had control wheel problems.
gio67
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

Unread post by gio67 »

great pics bakubo, those sea otters look so much like my little shi tsus after they have had a bath
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bakubo
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Re: Road trip: Finished!

Unread post by bakubo »

gio67 wrote:great pics bakubo, those sea otters look so much like my little shi tsus after they have had a bath
Thanks, gio67! My wife and I spent the night in Morro Bay, California and after checking into the hotel we drove over the causeway to Morro Rock. No one was there, but there were lots of gulls and then as we looked out at the water we saw 6 Sea Otters! The mother and baby were only about 25 meters from shore and then there were 4 more adults about 40-50 meters offshore. Since the mother and baby were so close, staying pretty much in one place, and it was my first time to see a baby lying on a mother's stomach I concentrated on them. I took a bunch of photos and the ones on the website are just a few of them. I lived in California (Santa Clara and Cupertino -- Silicon Valley) for 12 years so I used to see Sea Otters from time to time at Point Lobos and other places. It all makes me miss California a bit. :)
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