Speaking of FZ30 lens flaws ... :-0

flylow · Oct 6, 2005

mike lan said:
I was ready to buy the FZ30. Now I am going to wait a little
longer, until panasonic acknowledges the problem and comes up with
a solution. Denial is not acceptable. Man this puts major
uncertainty into people's mind, whether you own it or ready to buy
it.

--
I agree with you, there was only one report when I ordered miy fz30.

I definately would wait and see at this point. I have decided to keep mine, buy an extended warranty and cross my fingers at this point.

I really like the fz30 but I am getting tired of looking to see if any spots show up.

I hope Panasonic responds and lets us know that they will take care of the issue should it occur.

alien3333 · Oct 6, 2005

Flylow,

I totally agree with you, but the 90 days Pana warranty is never enough.
So buying an extended warranty for ease of mind and security is
good .... if it worth like 20$ ... for 3 years or 5 years. Quite a good deal
and MACK is a reputable one.

We all love Pana, or else we wont be here ...

enjoy

alien

flylow said:
alien3333 said:

they ship over night, you will get it tomorrow.... a piece
of orange card with a plastic bag. register online with serial number
and you are all set....

alien

Click to expand...

I knew compuplus is the cheapest place to buy the MACK warranty.
I bought one from them for my Canon A80. Extended warranties seem
to help when it is time to sell a camera. MACK charges a $15
dollars to transfer the warranty to the new owner. jr wanted $60
for a 2 year Repair Master warranty so for $20 less the 5 year MACK
seems to be a bargain. But I am not much of a believer in extended
warranties because if you add up the cost of buying extended
warranties for everything you buy you could easily replace the one
or two purchases that do fail with a brand new item.

BTW, I really like the fz30!!

Costas Zividis · Oct 6, 2005

mike lan said:
I was ready to buy the FZ30. Now I am going to wait a little
longer, until panasonic acknowledges the problem and comes up with
a solution. Denial is not acceptable. Man this puts major
uncertainty into people's mind, whether you own it or ready to buy
it.

Well IF there is a problem, Panasonic will never admit it.

--
Costas

mike lan · Oct 6, 2005

Costas Zividis said:
mike lan said:

I was ready to buy the FZ30. Now I am going to wait a little
longer, until panasonic acknowledges the problem and comes up with
a solution. Denial is not acceptable. Man this puts major
uncertainty into people's mind, whether you own it or ready to buy
it.

Click to expand...

Well IF there is a problem, Panasonic will never admit it.

--
Costas

Yeah, you're probably right. Denial is an easy route to take, and the most common one. That has become the norm. These days every product comes with a long list of fine print, about what are not covered in the warranty. If one time you come upon a manufacturer or retailer with good warranty of return policy, you say man this is my lucky day.

tesebas · Oct 6, 2005

Is it similar to this?
http://beachcamera.com/shop/Product.asp?ProdTypeList=&Sku=MKCAM7PS

Thanks
Gene

flylow · Oct 6, 2005

tesebas said:
Is it similar to this?
http://beachcamera.com/shop/Product.asp?ProdTypeList=&Sku=MKCAM7PS

Thanks
Gene

--
I do not see that one listed at
http://www.mackcam.com/warranty_list.html

There is a 7 Year 35mm/APS Regular Camera Warranty listed and a 7 year lens warranty but the longest MACK lists on their site is 5 years for digital cameras. http://www.mackcam.com says it is transferable, Beach says it is not. MACK says it costs $15 to transfer the warranty. Beach sells the 5 year digital camera warranty for $50 http://beachcamera.com/shop/Product.asp?ProdTypeList=&Sku=MKDIGCAMGR300

Sells for less from compuplus even when you include their mandatory 2 day shipping charge you would save $11.

http://www.compuplus.com/ps-products-mfr-Mack-comboid-656~sid-448t21s15evsd92.html

I would do some checking as you would not be covered if you bought the wrong warranty.

rsrascal · Oct 7, 2005

When I got my FZ10, I didn't immediately notice the difference in the lens surface for quite some time as compared to my FZ1 and others. The lens had a soft velvety appearance instead of the crystal clear look of the others. It didn't appear to have any effect on picture quality so I just lived with it for over a year (warranty period), but it kept bugging me. I had an extended warranty with Ritz (seller), who, when contacted, advised that the warranty only pertained to mechanical problems and not the lens. I then contacted Panasonic about the problem and was told that, yes the warranty would replace the lens but as it was beyond the 1 year warranty period, I would have to pay for labor. Anyhow, I'm convinced that bad lens' are not uncommon. BTW, it also had a spec of something on the inner surface.
--
Cheers, Gene (The one in Oregon)

Oly D-450 Z - DMC FZ1v2 - FZ10

fallsroad · Oct 7, 2005

alien3333 said:
they ship over night, you will get it tomorrow.... a piece
of orange card with a plastic bag. register online with serial number
and you are all set....

Do they require a proof of purchase date to register?

----
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fallsroad/

alien3333 · Oct 7, 2005

you dont during the time of reg, but you need to submit
a copy of receipt when asking for service, so the same thing.
dont mess around, they will deny service

serial #, company name, date of purchase are all needed during
registration, cannot change afterward.

alien

fallsroad said:
alien3333 said:

they ship over night, you will get it tomorrow.... a piece
of orange card with a plastic bag. register online with serial number
and you are all set....

Click to expand...

Do they require a proof of purchase date to register?

----
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fallsroad/

alien3333 · Oct 7, 2005

That is quite new, thanks for sharing, but it must not be the "oily spots"
here, it is some oxidation or fuss on the inner lens because of "unsealed"
design in the fz10, I had the fz10, so I know what you are talking about.

alien

rsrascal said:
When I got my FZ10, I didn't immediately notice the difference in
the lens surface for quite some time as compared to my FZ1 and
others. The lens had a soft velvety appearance instead of the
crystal clear look of the others. It didn't appear to have any
effect on picture quality so I just lived with it for over a year
(warranty period), but it kept bugging me. I had an extended
warranty with Ritz (seller), who, when contacted, advised that the
warranty only pertained to mechanical problems and not the lens. I
then contacted Panasonic about the problem and was told that, yes
the warranty would replace the lens but as it was beyond the 1 year
warranty period, I would have to pay for labor. Anyhow, I'm
convinced that bad lens' are not uncommon. BTW, it also had a spec
of something on the inner surface.
--
Cheers, Gene (The one in Oregon)

Oly D-450 Z - DMC FZ1v2 - FZ10

wotevah · Oct 7, 2005

I'm holding off too. No rush, the FZ15 is going to hold for a while longer...

I think now is the perfect time for Panasonic to acknowledge this problem, seeing as all other major manufacturers announced their own problems with significant camera ranges, their own notice will just be adding to the noise. If they wait until everyone else is quiet again, they'll get a bit more unwanted exposure.

--
-wotevah

alien3333 · Oct 7, 2005

Pana first need to validate the claim, investigate the claim, verify if it is
real, or not, have a technical meeting with R&D and Q&A and senior
technical advisor, then marketing and PR and press release ...

this process take from 3 days-2 weeks ....

I am in the tech industry, so I know it well.

The truth always cost and it will take time to reveal it.
Company culture also count big time.

alien

wotevah said:
I'm holding off too. No rush, the FZ15 is going to hold for a while
longer...

I think now is the perfect time for Panasonic to acknowledge this
problem, seeing as all other major manufacturers announced their
own problems with significant camera ranges, their own notice will
just be adding to the noise. If they wait until everyone else is
quiet again, they'll get a bit more unwanted exposure.

--
-wotevah

flylow · Oct 7, 2005

--

I emailed and asked, just to be certain, that the lens was covered and here is their reply:

From: Barry Warner
Sent: Friday, October 07, 2005 7:43 AM
To: flylow
Subject: Re: [Fwd: [Fwd: Mack waranty coverage question]]

Ben:
If the lens is built into the camera, it is covered for mfg defects
Barry

http://www.mackcam.com/faq/faq04.html

Can I get coverage if I purchase my product and Warranty from two different retailers?

Yes!! Mack Camera Worldwide Extended Warranty must be purchased within the first 30 days of the purchase of your equipment. If you should require service under your warranty plan, you will be required to provide a dated proof of purchase for your equipment and the extended warranty plus your warranty registration number. Please be sure to retain all copies for your records.

You can mail your registration in along with a copy of your invoice or register online here:

http://mack.dfhosting.com/main_warranty.asp

brick33308 · Oct 7, 2005

I want to get a backpack for my FZ30, but all the good ones I've seen have the lens pointing down. Is the concensus that this is something to avoid? I would use the backpack on days where I'm taking the camera with me, like on photo outings and travel. Otherwise, when at home the camera would sit upright. Am I asking for trouble by using the backpack?

flylow · Oct 7, 2005

brick33308 said:
I want to get a backpack for my FZ30, but all the good ones I've
seen have the lens pointing down. Is the concensus that this is
something to avoid? I would use the backpack on days where I'm
taking the camera with me, like on photo outings and travel.
Otherwise, when at home the camera would sit upright. Am I asking
for trouble by using the backpack?

--

That is what I am trying to find out too. At this point I would not feel comfortable with the lens pointing down in any case.

linuxworks · Oct 7, 2005

I really wouldn't come to the conclusion so fast. it was a first guess. and there haven't been enough reports of problems being widespread - we'd hear about it, if it was.

I may just have had a bad one. sometimes it can be just as simple as that. not all flaws that are seen on single units apply to the whole batch.

brick33308 said:
I want to get a backpack for my FZ30, but all the good ones I've
seen have the lens pointing down. Is the concensus that this is
something to avoid? I would use the backpack on days where I'm
taking the camera with me, like on photo outings and travel.
Otherwise, when at home the camera would sit upright. Am I asking
for trouble by using the backpack?

--
bryan ( http://www.grateful.net ) pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works ,
~~(sample fz30 raw files: http://www.netstuff.org ) ~~~

alien3333 · Oct 8, 2005

Agree, just a "worst scenario" situation with some technical hypothesis. Definitely want to see how Pana response finally.

alien

linuxworks said:
I may just have had a bad one. sometimes it can be just as simple
as that. not all flaws that are seen on single units apply to the
whole batch.

brick33308 said:

I want to get a backpack for my FZ30, but all the good ones I've
seen have the lens pointing down. Is the concensus that this is
something to avoid? I would use the backpack on days where I'm
taking the camera with me, like on photo outings and travel.
Otherwise, when at home the camera would sit upright. Am I asking
for trouble by using the backpack?

Click to expand...

--
bryan ( http://www.grateful.net )
pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/linux-works ,
~~(sample fz30 raw files: http://www.netstuff.org ) ~~~

brick33308 · Oct 8, 2005

how about placing the camera with LCD down and lens pointing up?

mike lan · Oct 9, 2005

alien3333 said:
Pana first need to validate the claim, investigate the claim,
verify if it is
real, or not, have a technical meeting with R&D and Q&A and senior
technical advisor, then marketing and PR and press release ...

this process take from 3 days-2 weeks ....

I am in the tech industry, so I know it well.

The truth always cost and it will take time to reveal it.
Company culture also count big time.

Christmas is coming up first. Nikon or Canon, one of them if not both, will probably come up with something better or at least in the same league as FZ30. If Panasonic continues its denial, there will be other choices available soon. I for one will wait for those models, given the apparent dis-interest panasonic has in even acknowledging the issue. it's not that long a wait.

alien3333 · Oct 9, 2005

that should not matter, since everything is isolated in that direction
from the lens pic.

alien

brick33308 said:
how about placing the camera with LCD down and lens pointing up?

Speaking of FZ30 lens flaws ... :-0

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