F828 in for repairs at Sony (focus probs, imgs)

[Iskander Hannivoort]

Well, I finally got fed up with my F828, quite disappointing. The major problem wasn't the purple fringing, it was the fact that my F828 would not focus at infinity when at max optical zoom (200mm).

Here are just two examples that I took from my balcony. I compare the results with those of my F707 that I had for 2 years and have no problems with at all (except the occasional purple fringe -- oooh!).





These are 100% magnifications without resizing. I take my F828 pictures at the 5MP mode. As you can see, the images of my F707 are clearly sharper than those of my F828. I tested this with multiple apertures, manual and autofocus, all three autofocus modes (pattern/center/selective) and continuous autofocus. Pictures on the F828 taken with high shutter speeds, but even at 1/2000s, this blurring shows up, so it cannot be camera shake.

And the F828 does clearly capture more detail and sharpness than the F707, even when downsampled to 5MP, as you can see from this 100% magnification:



No editing done here except cropping. It's just maximum detail per pixel.

So I sent my F828 back to Sony for repairs (also adressing the PF issue, which only shows up very infrequently but has caused a few bad images). Something in the back of my head tells me I'll get the camera back with nothing done on it, with a comments that all parameters fall within their required limits (I had that before when I sent my P50 in for excessive noise).

I'm just hoping for the best, since scouring DPReview for a replacement camera was useless. I don't want another 5MP camera since my F707 is excellent in that respect. I don't want the Canon 300D or another DSLR because I fly a lot and just want one camera with me that does it all, I don't have space or patience for multiple lenses (or money). I love the 28-200mm range of the F828, it is capable of taking REALLY GOOD pictures, can't live without the InfoLithiums, so it's F828 or nothing..

Will let you guys know how it came back in a week or two and see if they were able to kill the PF monster as well!!

 

[alonewolf85]

Everytime i sent my 717 in it came back worse lol

Well, I finally got fed up with my F828, quite disappointing. The

 

[Iskander Hannivoort]

Yeah, I don't have a whole lot of good faith for this mega-corporate company where I get the feeling that they don't care about the problems of one user (as is stated by others on this forum)..

Well, I finally got fed up with my F828, quite disappointing. The

 

[Iskander Hannivoort]

Well, I got my F828 back for repairs. Twice.

The first time, they told me the camera was fine and that it was my own error regarding focussing. On the CA issue, they told me to shoot at a higher aperture.

On the latter, I told them that I don't buy an expensive Mercedes, and when I find out it vibrates at high speeds, accept the solution to just drive it at speeds under 50.

I immediately checked in the camera again after showing the pictures (AGAIN) of the problem, and they agreed there was a problem.

Now, I have the camera back, and they claim to have found the problem and repaired it.

Guess what: It's WORSE than ever!!!!!!!

Sony Netherlands, you guys suck. I'm going away on holiday next week and if I send in the camera now, I won't get it back in time. And if I did, I don't think it would be fixed anyway. I didn't have much faith in their repair department, and that has simply been confirmed. Now I'll have to try and get another camera.

 

[Yves Pelletier]

Thank you, I just discovered the same problem today (bought the beast yesterday, and discovered what a forum was this evening - thanks to his problem), and thought I did not know how to use the camera. I bought mine in France. Serial number is 1717xxx.
Is this a known issue ?
Is there a series of serial numbers concerned by this problem ?

And finally, does anyone want to trade a 828 that works for mine ? (I'm not placing to much hope in this, though...)

Well, I finally got fed up with my F828, quite disappointing. The
major problem wasn't the purple fringing, it was the fact that my
F828 would not focus at infinity when at max optical zoom (200mm).

Here are just two examples that I took from my balcony. I compare
the results with those of my F707 that I had for 2 years and have
no problems with at all (except the occasional purple fringe --
oooh!).





These are 100% magnifications without resizing. I take my F828
pictures at the 5MP mode. As you can see, the images of my F707 are
clearly sharper than those of my F828. I tested this with multiple
apertures, manual and autofocus, all three autofocus modes
(pattern/center/selective) and continuous autofocus. Pictures on
the F828 taken with high shutter speeds, but even at 1/2000s, this
blurring shows up, so it cannot be camera shake.
And the F828 does clearly capture more detail and sharpness than
the F707, even when downsampled to 5MP, as you can see from this
100% magnification:



No editing done here except cropping. It's just maximum detail per
pixel.

So I sent my F828 back to Sony for repairs (also adressing the PF
issue, which only shows up very infrequently but has caused a few
bad images). Something in the back of my head tells me I'll get the
camera back with nothing done on it, with a comments that all
parameters fall within their required limits (I had that before
when I sent my P50 in for excessive noise).

I'm just hoping for the best, since scouring DPReview for a
replacement camera was useless. I don't want another 5MP camera
since my F707 is excellent in that respect. I don't want the Canon
300D or another DSLR because I fly a lot and just want one camera
with me that does it all, I don't have space or patience for
multiple lenses (or money). I love the 28-200mm range of the F828,
it is capable of taking REALLY GOOD pictures, can't live without
the InfoLithiums, so it's F828 or nothing..

Will let you guys know how it came back in a week or two and see if
they were able to kill the PF monster as well!!

 

[Cherilyn]

I thought I had a manual focus problem at first, too, but a couple of folks here on the STF turned me on to "Infinity minus" focusing. The way the thought process goes, when you focus on infinity, the camera tries to focus a little bit past infinity (I don't know why), so the idea is to roll it out to infinity and then bring it back just a little tiny bit closer.

And it works! Give it a try, it might save you a lot of aggravation!

Best of luck,

Cherilyn

Well, I got my F828 back for repairs. Twice.

The first time, they told me the camera was fine and that it was my
own error regarding focussing. On the CA issue, they told me to
shoot at a higher aperture.

On the latter, I told them that I don't buy an expensive Mercedes,
and when I find out it vibrates at high speeds, accept the solution
to just drive it at speeds under 50.

I immediately checked in the camera again after showing the
pictures (AGAIN) of the problem, and they agreed there was a
problem.

Now, I have the camera back, and they claim to have found the
problem and repaired it.

Guess what: It's WORSE than ever!!!!!!!

Sony Netherlands, you guys suck. I'm going away on holiday next
week and if I send in the camera now, I won't get it back in time.
And if I did, I don't think it would be fixed anyway. I didn't have
much faith in their repair department, and that has simply been
confirmed. Now I'll have to try and get another camera.

 

[alonewolf85]

I told you lol, I went through the same thing, on the fourth repair I flipped and they gave me a new cam, and that one had a scratch in the viewfinder,not each time it took a month or longer. I flipped out and they gave me a refund, i went out and bought another lol

Well, I got my F828 back for repairs. Twice.

The first time, they told me the camera was fine and that it was my
own error regarding focussing. On the CA issue, they told me to
shoot at a higher aperture.

On the latter, I told them that I don't buy an expensive Mercedes,
and when I find out it vibrates at high speeds, accept the solution
to just drive it at speeds under 50.

I immediately checked in the camera again after showing the
pictures (AGAIN) of the problem, and they agreed there was a
problem.

Now, I have the camera back, and they claim to have found the
problem and repaired it.

Guess what: It's WORSE than ever!!!!!!!

Sony Netherlands, you guys suck. I'm going away on holiday next
week and if I send in the camera now, I won't get it back in time.
And if I did, I don't think it would be fixed anyway. I didn't have
much faith in their repair department, and that has simply been
confirmed. Now I'll have to try and get another camera.

 

[Iskander Hannivoort]

Thanks for the tip Cherilyn,

I've been trying it, but I really can't judge it from the viewfinder. I notice that when you have it on manual focus and you turn it to infinity, and then back, it takes a while before it starts to show "99m". What is the exact technique you're using?

Thanks,

Iskander

And it works! Give it a try, it might save you a lot of aggravation!

Best of luck,

Cherilyn

Well, I got my F828 back for repairs. Twice.

The first time, they told me the camera was fine and that it was my
own error regarding focussing. On the CA issue, they told me to
shoot at a higher aperture.

On the latter, I told them that I don't buy an expensive Mercedes,
and when I find out it vibrates at high speeds, accept the solution
to just drive it at speeds under 50.

I immediately checked in the camera again after showing the
pictures (AGAIN) of the problem, and they agreed there was a
problem.

Now, I have the camera back, and they claim to have found the
problem and repaired it.

Guess what: It's WORSE than ever!!!!!!!

Sony Netherlands, you guys suck. I'm going away on holiday next
week and if I send in the camera now, I won't get it back in time.
And if I did, I don't think it would be fixed anyway. I didn't have
much faith in their repair department, and that has simply been
confirmed. Now I'll have to try and get another camera.

 

[Iskander Hannivoort]

Well, I was so fed up with the repairs on my 'old' F828, I was able to exchange it for a new one. I didn't get my hopes up too much, and thankfully so, since this one has EXACTLY THE SAME PROBLEM.

Quite frustrating. The serial number of my old 828 was 1712XXX, the new one is 1726XXX, so that means there's about 14000 in between. Purple fringing is still there too, no worse or less than the old one.

Thank you, I just discovered the same problem today (bought the
beast yesterday, and discovered what a forum was this evening -
thanks to his problem), and thought I did not know how to use the
camera. I bought mine in France. Serial number is 1717xxx.
Is this a known issue ?
Is there a series of serial numbers concerned by this problem ?

And finally, does anyone want to trade a 828 that works for mine ?
(I'm not placing to much hope in this, though...)

 

[Albert Reeder]

Bump

Well, I finally got fed up with my F828, quite disappointing. The
major problem wasn't the purple fringing, it was the fact that my
F828 would not focus at infinity when at max optical zoom (200mm).

Here are just two examples that I took from my balcony. I compare
the results with those of my F707 that I had for 2 years and have
no problems with at all (except the occasional purple fringe --
oooh!).





These are 100% magnifications without resizing. I take my F828
pictures at the 5MP mode. As you can see, the images of my F707 are
clearly sharper than those of my F828. I tested this with multiple
apertures, manual and autofocus, all three autofocus modes
(pattern/center/selective) and continuous autofocus. Pictures on
the F828 taken with high shutter speeds, but even at 1/2000s, this
blurring shows up, so it cannot be camera shake.
And the F828 does clearly capture more detail and sharpness than
the F707, even when downsampled to 5MP, as you can see from this
100% magnification:



No editing done here except cropping. It's just maximum detail per
pixel.

So I sent my F828 back to Sony for repairs (also adressing the PF
issue, which only shows up very infrequently but has caused a few
bad images). Something in the back of my head tells me I'll get the
camera back with nothing done on it, with a comments that all
parameters fall within their required limits (I had that before
when I sent my P50 in for excessive noise).

I'm just hoping for the best, since scouring DPReview for a
replacement camera was useless. I don't want another 5MP camera
since my F707 is excellent in that respect. I don't want the Canon
300D or another DSLR because I fly a lot and just want one camera
with me that does it all, I don't have space or patience for
multiple lenses (or money). I love the 28-200mm range of the F828,
it is capable of taking REALLY GOOD pictures, can't live without
the InfoLithiums, so it's F828 or nothing..

Will let you guys know how it came back in a week or two and see if
they were able to kill the PF monster as well!!