Here is what Sony did to my A700

[bakubo]

I got my A700 back from the Sony Repair Center in Laredo, Texas yesterday afternoon. You can see why I sent it in if you look at this thread:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... =32&t=2535

According to the paper invoice that was in the box this is what Sony did to repair my A700:

A1318417A COVER BLOCK ASSY, T ALP-105-A
148018611 SWITCH BLOCK, CONTR
148018311 SWITCH BLOCK, CONTR
A1497518A SI SCREEN (SERVICE) ALP204
A1497520A FOCUSING SCREEN (SE ALP200
CONSTANT CABINET/COSMETIC
REPLACED PARTS
REPLACED PARTS
REPLACED PARTS
REPLACED PARTS
REPLACED PARTS

I copied it just as it is on the paper. Maybe the part numbers mean something to someone here. It sort of appears like they replaced all those parts, note the 5 REPLACED PARTS lines after the previous 5 listed items. I wonder what an SI SCREEN is? Is that the LCD? My LCD was fine as far as I know. They lost the LCD protector, but the LCD was in pristine condition since I had placed the LCD protector on it the day I bought it. It appears like they replaced the FOCUSING SCREEN too. I have no idea why since mine was fine. I wonder if they are routinely replacing the SI SCREEN and FOCUSING SCREEN now when a camera comes in because they know there are problems with those 2 parts? Also, not sure what CONSTANT CABINET/COSMETIC means, especially in conjunction with the last REPLACED PARTS line.

Anyone have any ideas or comments about what Sony did? It is all rather cryptic and some of the things seem to not be related to the control wheel problem I sent it in for.

[bakubo]

Thanks, Don. I still have no idea why they replaced the SI screen and Focusing screen. I hope that they didn't screw up the metering or anything else since metering is done off the focusing screen. Looking through the vf I don't notice any difference.

From the second diagram I see A1318417A COVER BLOCK ASSY, but it seems to be inclusive of all the parts in the box (Ref no 201) so it isn't clear if they replaced all of it and if they did why did they then mention only 148018611 SWITCH BLOCK, CONTR and 148018311 SWITCH BLOCK, CONTR? Also, the part numbers on my paper 148018611 and 148018311 are both off by one digit compared to what you have. I wonder if the parts have been slightly updated and given new part numbers since your stuff was published?

Anyway, this isn't so important. I just thought some people might be interested in seeing what was done. What is most important to me is if they fixed the problem and didn't introduce any new ones!

[bfitzgerald]

That SI screen is the one you even sniff at (removed from the camera) and it attracts every piece of dust in the room like a magnet!
Not sure why they would replace it, I had mine replaced on the 5d, they call the focus screen the "fresnel" screen.

Was the screen dirty at all?

[bakubo]

That SI screen is the one you even sniff at (removed from the camera) and it attracts every piece of dust in the room like a magnet!
Not sure why they would replace it, I had mine replaced on the 5d, they call the focus screen the "fresnel" screen.

Was the screen dirty at all?

No, it was clean. I hadn't noticed any dust or particles on it. Of course, maybe in the course of fixing the other stuff they messed it up so that may be why they replaced it.

[fastson]

Well that was nice of them.

I've only had to send my A100 in to have the flash shoe replaced, the only thing they did beside replacing the shoe was clean the camera, which I was very happy with. Though that was not a Sony repair shop, I doubt they have one in Sweden.

[bakubo]

Today I have played with the Sony 18-250mm, Sony 11-18mm, and Minolta 50mm f1.7 a bit with the A700. I have taken some shots from the lanai and some inside in much lower light and at far distances and near distances. In the past, AF at 18mm with the 18-250mm and 11mm with the 11-18mm was not all that reliable. I have taken a few shots with both at the widest aperture both indoors and outdoors and so far the focus is really good! The 50mm at f1.7 indoors in low light also seems fine. I don't use the 50mm much, but in the past outdoors at night under street lights it didn't AF well. I am wondering about that too now. I wonder if the change in the SI and Focusing screens is related to this? Of course, it is early and with real use I may see that nothing has really changed.

[bakubo]

Yes, that is probably it. On the bottom of the body there is a gold sticker that says QA PASSED and on the paper invoice it says, "YOUR UNIT HAS BEEN REPAIRED AND TESTED TO FACTORY SPECIFICATIONS."

Maybe Sony does not individually do a full test of each A700 that comes off the assembly line so this may be the first time mine has ever had a thorough check.

[bakubo]

Living in Tokyo (done it several times) is so convenient when it comes to camera gear. Besides all the great stores that are huge and that you can just walk in, pick up and play with just about any camera you can think of (other than medium format and large format) -- sometimes even have a 600mm f4, 400mm f2.8, etc. mounted on a tripod with a body attached -- you can also easily stop by the camera service centers. A couple of years ago while in Tokyo I stopped by the Canon service center in Shinjuku to have them clean my sensor. They told me it would be ready in 45 minutes so I just went outside and took a short walk. Came back and it was in great shape and it was all free. Not under warranty, just free. They did it right the first time, didn't lose any parts, and were very friendly and courteous the whole time. I also stopped by there one time with a question about the lowly A540 digicam I had then because I couldn't figure out how to set something. Fortunately, my Japanese was good enough that I could explain what I wanted to do and show him in the menu how no matter how I had it set I couldn't get it to do what I wanted. He went in the back and consulted with someone and came back in a couple of minutes and showed me how to do it. I love Japan.

[Greg Beetham]

Henry I'm pretty sure that the A-1318-417-A cover block assy includes the 1-480-185-11 switch block control (the two control wheels) and all of the parts in the diagram 5-1-5. You must have got an entire new top on the camera by the looks of the service docket.
They also apparently replaced the items 51 and 57 in diagram 5-1-2, don't know why they replaced the screen etc. except they might have accidently damaged it themselves and replaced it.
Greg

ps. The Sony service parts list have the cover block assy at about $240 https://servicesplus.us.sony.biz/PartsP ... type=parts

[bakubo]

I am pretty sure that is the same graphics that Sonolta posted in this thread last year. His posts have been removed though. Thanks for posting it so that this thread can be more complete for anyone who finds it in the future.