Photoclubalpha

I posted previously about my Sony DSLR problems and to update on my A550 purchase, I placed the order on 11 May with Simply Electronics and discovered on first use that the Eye Start function did not work. After some time they sent me what appeared to be a returned camera. Not only did the Eye Start not work on this one either but the On/Off "switch" in the Menu was blanked out. Back it went. I think that Simply Electronics have got a bit tired of me and have now offered a refund. I wonder why I should receive two cameras with the same problem??? I am "off" the A550 now and will be content with my A350/700 combo for the time being. I will wait and see what Sony are going to do next in terms of DSLR and NEX releases. I am slowly warming to the idea of a NEX to replace my Pana LX2/3 if just Sony would release an EVF and more lenses. Maybe Tamron and/or Sigma will get hit with the NEX virus and produce compatible lenses instead of antibodies.

alphaomega wrote:I posted previously about my Sony DSLR problems and to update on my A550 purchase, I placed the order on 11 May with Simply Electronics and discovered on first use that the Eye Start function did not work. After some time they sent me what appeared to be a returned camera. Not only did the Eye Start not work on this one either but the On/Off "switch" in the Menu was blanked out. Back it went. I think that Simply Electronics have got a bit tired of me and have now offered a refund. I wonder why I should receive two cameras with the same problem??? I am "off" the A550 now and will be content with my A350/700 combo for the time being. I will wait and see what Sony are going to do next in terms of DSLR and NEX releases. I am slowly warming to the idea of a NEX to replace my Pana LX2/3 if just Sony would release an EVF and more lenses. Maybe Tamron and/or Sigma will get hit with the NEX virus and produce compatible lenses instead of antibodies.

That sure doesn't sound good. It might be good to wait awhile to see if NEX gear has QC problems too. The problem with that plan though is that I waited 6 months before getting the KM 7D and waited 6 months before getting the A700 and thought all was okay, but I still got burned both times by quality problems.

Hm...
I don't want to disregard your experiences. I'm just curious because I never had ANY quality problems with all the Sony products I bought so far. My Alpha 550 works like a charm, so did the Alpha 350 before. I can't stop thinking that there might be some factors besides Sony that may justify such a culmination of bad luck.

ciao,
Jochen

Heavy use is the most likely factor. I have had no problems with any of the cameras - except 'on delivery' issues like a bad sensor in our first Alpha 700 (faulty line of pixels) and very poor 16-80mms before finding a good one. Nothing has ever developed over time with our camera, but we only shoot pictures selectively. My Alpha 900 just passed the 10,000 shot count after 20 months of use.

David

David Kilpatrick wrote:Heavy use is the most likely factor.

My first 7D had a problem from the very first photo and the first day. My second 7D (it replaced first defective 7D) had a different problem from the first day also and then after 5,197 photos it also developed the infamous FFB problem. The 7D bodies were sent in 5 times to be fixed and finally Sony gave up and gave me a refund. My A700 developed the control wheel problem after 3,794 photos.

I haven't had any problems either with any of the KM or Sony gear I have...until now, I noticed that my A700 had intermittant flash connection issues, the flash would sometimes register with the camera as being there while fitted too the camera and turned on...and occasionally would vanish as if there were no flash fitted at all. I decided too investigate a little and see if I could uncover what the problem might be. The only thing I could find was that if you moved the flash (mounted on the camera) a little, while turned on, and watching the rear screen on the camera the flash exposure control (below the normal exposure control on the rear screen) would appear and disappear rather erratically. There isn't much movement between the F56 flash and the camera so the i-shoe mount on my A700 has a reasonably good 'fit' but the contacts themselves on the camera were not very well manufactured, as it turned out, after closer inspection with a 8X loupe.
In the closeup photo of the i-shoe contacts on my A700 one can readily see that all is not well with at least two of the contacts, not a very impressive attention to detail in quality control for such an important connection.
I actually missed a couple of shots at an engagement party because of this, at the time I didn't know there was a problem, all I knew was the flash did not fire for some reason, it was later while attempting a bird photo that I investigated further after the same thing happened again.
I thought the A700 was supposed to be one of Sony's top class cameras where everything was done to a high degree of exactitude, I just hope the rest of it is not built too a similar standard.
Greg
KM5D, KM100Macro, 36mm Kenko ext. 3600HSD, Metz45 CT-3, Morris slave, Manfrotto Macro sliding tube.

By the way, my A700 has had the most use of any camera I have ever owned. It is 27 months old and has taken 13,228 photos.

If David Kilpatrick refers to my woes with two A550s as listed above with this comment

Heavy use is the most likely factor.

then I am afraid it does not refer to my experience of two cameras both having a problem with a non functioning Eye Start. The first was definitely new and the second one did not function on being taken out of the box. On looking at the box and the missiong orange labels this one was a returned item. I simply have an idea that the previous owner discovered the problem and returned the item within seven days for a refund and did not disclose the problem. I guess that Simply Electronics got part of a faulty batch. I have been promised a refund now and I pointed out to the supplier that they were in default of the Sale of Goods Act here in UK for not having supplied a completely new camera second time round.

Good luck with Simply Electronics - I hope they make your refund rather faster than the four months it took me to get mine. My faulty A700, as it happens, was from a similar Hong Kong import operation, DigitalRev.

Of course, I would not detect a faulty Eye Start function as the first thing I do is turn it off when setting initial prefs. But I would detect a faulty rear screen on/off function caused by non-op sensors. Just checked my A550 and the eye start does work.

David

I had sporadic problems with both wheels of my A700. A few months ago I cleaned them with a blower, rotating rapidly while blowing air inside each wheel cavity, and since then both wheels work just perfect. Didn't take much time neither, only a couple of minutes. No need for vacuum cleaner sometimes I guess...

David Kilpatrick wrote:Of course, I would not detect a faulty Eye Start function as the first thing I do is turn it off when setting initial prefs.

Yes, I always turn it off first thing also. I was so relieved when I got the Minolta 707si because it had a switch (external, at the bottom on the back, I seem to recall) because with the 7xi and 9xi it couldn't be turned off. I hated that often while the camera was hanging from my neck or shoulder the lens would sort of randomly start focusing and racking back and forth.

roysmith wrote:I had sporadic problems with both wheels of my A700. A few months ago I cleaned them with a blower, rotating rapidly while blowing air inside each wheel cavity, and since then both wheels work just perfect. Didn't take much time neither, only a couple of minutes. No need for vacuum cleaner sometimes I guess...

Yes, that is a well known thing to try. You can see many things discussed in this long thread and even more in the thread I started on dpreview in January 2008 (linked to from this thread). Glad it worked for you. Using a blower, using contact cleaner, or using a vacuum cleaner has never really worked for mine. I might get some temporary relief but the problem always returns -- sometimes a few days later, sometimes a few hours later.

Anyway, in the last month or so it has been intermittent. Yesterday it didn't happen at all. I plan to go out and take some photos this morning so we will see. This is all rather recent though because from late August until early June it was happening a lot.

David Kilpatrick wrote:

Good luck with Simply Electronics - I hope they make your refund rather faster than the four months it took me to get mine. My faulty A700, as it happens, was from a similar Hong Kong import operation, DigitalRev.

I must admit that it has only belatedly dawned on me that Simply Electronics may be selling "gray imports". They have confirmed that I will get a refund and I have given them until 12 July to provide this. By then they will have had my money for two months without providing a product "fit for purpose". If they fail to do so I shall send them a final warning by recorded mail that I intend to proceed to claim through the Small Court here in Scotland. I would think this would accelerate the process. I use the eye start all the time. I am in the habit of switching off my cameras when waiting and then back on with eye start before taking a picture. The photographic objective will then snap into focus before I hit the shutter. Just my way of working.

There is a poll on dyxum.com about the A700 control wheel defect. Almost 400 people have voted and the breakdown is 47% have had the problem and 53% have not. The problem with the poll though is that it started in 2010 and after you have voted saying you have not had the problem you can't go back and change your vote if it starts. I suspect that if you could the percentages would change a bit.

I think it is pretty shameful that out of a pretty large sample half of the owners have had this defect. Clearly bad QC, bad parts, or just plain old defective design. Sony should be ashamed, but still not a peep from them.

bakubo wrote:There is a poll on dyxum.com about the A700 control wheel defect. Almost 400 people have voted and the breakdown is 47% have had the problem and 53% have not. The problem with the poll though is that it started in 2010 and after you have voted saying you have not had the problem you can't go back and change your vote if it starts. I suspect that if you could the percentages would change a bit.

I think it is pretty shameful that out of a pretty large sample half of the owners have had this defect. Clearly bad QC, bad parts, or just plain old defective design. Sony should be ashamed, but still not a peep from them.

It is also possible that this result may be a bit skewed because people who suffer the problem are more likely to vote because they have strong feelings whereas people who haven't experienced it probably will not have any sense of outrage and may not bother to vote. Still, 47% is worryingly high!