Your opinion: f717 return

If your camera falls under the serial number, but you are not experiencing any problems, is it worth taking it back just in case?

Your opinion please.

James_Vic1 said:

If your camera falls under the serial number, but you are not
experiencing any problems, is it worth taking it back just in case?

Your opinion please.

Click to expand...

this is a fairly subtle problem that is evidenced in a narrow range of luminence. I'm guessing...just guessing...that many of us (like me) that thought their camera was just fine have the problem and don't even know it. I'm sending mine back in a few weeks after a do a nov. photo shoot.

n/t

Thinking about it.. mine is sn: 13210_ , manufactured in August. I'm going to play around with the HAF, which I haven't used a whole lot in the 2 weeks I've owned the cam. If I encounter enough poor-focus shots that seem to stem from this problem I'll proceed.

Seems like Sony is making it easy for us to expedite the fix, and it'll be interesting to see the progress reported by those who are wasting no time in getting their units serviced.

Erik Leung
San Francisco

James_Vic1 said:

If your camera falls under the serial number, but you are not
experiencing any problems, is it worth taking it back just in case?

Your opinion please.

Click to expand...

Yes, it is very narrow. I don't know to what extent the zoom affects it but the brighter the ambient light was the worse the focus was. I wish they would just have the light come on later (darker) but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Hal

santa said:

James_Vic1 said:

If your camera falls under the serial number, but you are not
experiencing any problems, is it worth taking it back just in case?

Your opinion please.

Click to expand...

this is a fairly subtle problem that is evidenced in a narrow range
of luminence. I'm guessing...just guessing...that many of us (like
me) that thought their camera was just fine have the problem and
don't even know it. I'm sending mine back in a few weeks after a do
a nov. photo shoot.

Click to expand...

It sounds to me like the problem is a firmware "value" that is used in determining camera function. If the value is wrong, then the camera has the problem. But just because the camera has that problem, doesn't mean it will affect you. You might never take a photo at the conditions it is a problem. As an analogy- consider finding out your car has a problem with a backseat seat belt and needs fixed. You never have anyone ride in the back seat so it is not really a problem. So you forget about it. 2 months later, you have to take your 3 nephews for a ride and you are suddenly affected by the bad seat belt. Basically, I'd hate to have a situation where the lighting isnt great but the photo opportunity is ( child's first step??) be ruined because of a problem you know about. Also, if it is a wrong value in the firmware, Sony has the exact serial numbers affected. If yours is, when it is convenient, send it in and have it fixed. Until then, enjoy taking pics.

James_Vic1 said:

If your camera falls under the serial number, but you are not
experiencing any problems, is it worth taking it back just in case?

Your opinion please.

Click to expand...

--

Ogre - DSC-F707 - Just push the button and see what you get, it might surprise you.

--
Jay Jervey
Former Sony DSC-S70, S85, F707
Canon S200 (ultra portable)
Sony DSC-F717

Yes, because just because we haven't experienced it doesn't mean it isn't there. We don't take a lot of low light pictures. But when we do we want to get them sharp. So... Monday off they both go to Sony.

James_Vic1 said:

If your camera falls under the serial number, but you are not
experiencing any problems, is it worth taking it back just in case?

Your opinion please.

Click to expand...

--
also known as PT Kitty > ^..^
http://www.pbase.com/ptkitty/galleries
http://www.annchaikin.com

thanks everyone.

Im hoping I can walk into the Sony service centre near me and have it fixed on the spot.

James.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1009&message=3680206

--
http://www.pbase.com/slo2k

Here is an aussie take of things. I don't have a 717 but I have a 707 and a new & painful history of Melbourne sony service centres in the past couple of weeks.

If you have a problem with your focus, definitely take it to be fixed BUT and it is a big BUT, the Melbourne (and Geelong) based sony authorised service agents don't seem to have a clue about the 707 and obviously the 717..Might be worth not doing anything if your camera does not appear to have a problem. If it does,hopefully Sony will instruct these centres on the correct fix procedure and you will not have the experience I am going through right now.

My experience...four weeks ago, I noticed my 2 month old 707 had a dust speck right inside the lens assembly. It wasn't doing any harm and not affecting the photos, but silly me wants things perfect, and takes it to the recommended Moorabbin authorised repairer. They had it for two weeks and I ring to see what the problem is... "We need a third opinion"..on a dust speck?? Then my husband spoke to them, and they admit, they had never had a 707 before and had to get the lens assembly specs from Sony. This done, they removed the dust speck and tightened something inside that was loose". Yep even I groaned when I heard this little tidbit of info.

I get my camera back and straight away notice that my dust speck is gone but now there are a sprinkling of fine dust specks inside the lens assembly instead... then I check the IR mode and it is now clunking instead of clicking between ir and normal mode. The nightframing is a slow clunking affair now. Thirdly close focus on full optical zoom (within focal range) is suddenly quite soft and when clicking the auto set button, it goes OUT of focus totally to an absolute blur instead of holding the soft focus it had. Zooming out a little fixes this problem but it is one that didn't exist until they fiddled with the cam.

I refuse to send it back to Moorabbin and want someone with experience to fix it up . I ring Sony who tell me the Geelong authorised repair place has experience and suggest I take it there. Only when it is with a service centre, can Sony investigate the problem I have with the other service centre. Despite misgivings, I realise, nothing will be attended to until I take it to another centre.

I drive to Geelong and leave my beloved camera with them with full instructions with what is wrong and I ring Sony with my job number and they open a case file and tell me they will monitor the camera. Sounds efficient to me and I feel happier.

Next day I get a call from the Geelong technician who asks me what is wrong with my video camera (???). He says he can't see the specks of dust as the lens is reflecting too much. I explain how he needs to look at it from a side angle in the light and can't believe I am explaining this to him. He says he will need to talk to Sony and get back to me.

Meanwhile I ring Sony in a panic and they tell me I should have never been sent to Geelong as they repair tvs etc and not cameras. They recommend I contact the third authorised agent on the other side of Melbourne who has vast experience with cameras and get them to suggest something. I wonder why I wasn't told that in the first place and I ring them. They were extremely honest and tell me that they know no more than the Moorabbin centre and that it should have never been sent anywhere but back to Moorabbin as they screwed up in the first place and it needs to be repaired under scrutiny by a visiting Sony tech .

By this time, I'm nearly in tears.... and then the Geelong tech rings back and I can only say a big thanks to him as he knew he wasn't experienced enough to take the camera apart and repair .He had organised my camera to be sent to Sony Melbourne to one of their techs who is experienced with cameras. I'm feeling a lot better now as Sony is dealing with it directly and I am told by customer relations that the tech is investigating the whole situation and will undertake repairs and I should know the result early next week.

The bottom line is though, these authorised centres just do not have a lot of general experience with the digital cameras. I have been told, if they have something they can't deal with, one of the Sony technicians visits their centre and does supervises the repairs or they organise the gear to go to Sony itself. In my case,seeing it was a simple dust speck, they sent the specs and had it been cleaned properly and that was it, not a problem. Tightening the loose bit was were things went wrong. The service centre should have consulted Sony before fiddling with it.

I went from a camera that worked perfectly albeit having a dust speck, to one with lots of dust specks, a dodgy focus and a dodgy IR mode. Scary and now you know why I am posting.

James_Vic1 said:

If your camera falls under the serial number, but you are not
experiencing any problems, is it worth taking it back just in case?

Your opinion please.

Click to expand...

--
My aim is to live forever.....so far so good.

Thanks Skippy,

Ill be taking mine to a Balwyn centre, but will make sure things are ok before going there and handing the Cam over.

James

James,

I asked SONY about that since I live in NYC I figured there had to be a center within driving distance. I was told that they were all being sent to one location (in PA I think) so I would have to mail it in. :-(

They will come to my job on Monday and pick it up. They said it should take a week, ugh.

Oh well, PS7 should be arriving by the time my SONY is going. I took 100 shots today and I'll another few hundred over the weekend and use those shots and my time learning PS7 until my baby comes home again.

Good luck

Harry

http://www.pbase.com/hpb

n/t

If you have not experience any problem yet try this test, it will mostly fail 100% if your serial number is listed

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1009&message=3682487

I never know mine has HAF issue until I test it extensively after the issue was made official. Tim lauro already did my test and found the same result 100% failure. There is also an interesting finding by Tim that the HAF problem actually affect the Overexpose Flash that some experience. Time will tell. The best thing to do is try the test if it fail just get it fix.

James_Vic1 said:

If your camera falls under the serial number, but you are not
experiencing any problems, is it worth taking it back just in case?

Your opinion please.

Click to expand...

--
SmokinMan



Sony DSC F717 (On Hand...Yipeeeee!)
Canon S-40(SOLD)
Olympus IS-1 35mm Film

Camera http://www.pbase.com/smokinman/

Reminds me of what I had to do with my early S/N F707. I hadn't experienced the dreaded BFS (Blue Flash Syndrome) until the issue was raised in this forum. Sure enough, when I shot a series of tests, it showed up in about 1 shot in a dozen. So it was there, waiiting to happen at some critical time. I sent mine in and got it back in 4 days, to Sony's credit.

So far I haven't found a problem. I feel my pics are coming out better than with my 707. As far as I can see the problem arises in limited situations. Most of my shots so far have been outdoors where it should not arise. I'm sending it in to be safe. A minor bump on life's highway.

Harry

http://www.pbase.com/hpb

Funny you should mention that; I asked if I could bring mine in to Westwood, which is not far, and was the key location for the DLS fix, and had previously fixed the HAF on my 707 within 3 hours; I was told that all cameras requiring this fix must go to Bristol (PA), so even if I take it to Westwood, they'll send it to Bristol anyway

Loren

James_Vic1 said:

thanks everyone.

Im hoping I can walk into the Sony service centre near me and have
it fixed on the spot.

James.

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/lorenbc/
http://www.photosig.com/viewuser.php?id=4994

Loren,

Bummer isn't it? I was hoping to, take it in myself. I really did not want to mail it out.

Harry

http://www.pbase.com/hpb