NEX-6 - CRAPPED OUT - Shutter remains closed. REFUND imminent - TURN OFF BODY BEFORE SWAPPING LENSES

Adrian Tung wrote:

I've also hot-swapped lenses on my Canon DSLRs all the time. It *should* be a non-issue.

*However* -- I notice the mirrorless systems that I have used -- NEX and m4/3 -- have a shutdown procedure, i.e. when you shutdown your camera, it also performs a shutdown on the lens. The specifics may vary depending on lens,

e.g.

* on a m4/3 body with Panasonic 20/1.7 lens, it retracts the lens barrel.

* On NEX with 18-55 kit lens, 50/1.8 and Zeiss 24/1.8, there is a brief pause after you shutdown, then the aperture blades stop down

* I don't have and have never seen the new 16-50, but I assume there will also be a shutdown function involved where it retracts the lens barrel

So, in the case of NEX cameras, it may make sense to have to shutdown the camera before changing lenses, in order to allow the shutdown functions to run.

However, I do agree with you that Sony engineers should have designed the system to either cater for hotswaps or physically prevent it -- basic engineering practices, as you say. Or perhaps the firmware does handle it but the OP may have encountered some corner-case bug in the software due to frequent hotswappings.