Shield3 Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 So my a7r2 has had to go into repair twice now. First time the USB port didn't work at all (would not charge or connect to a PC). I bought this used with the MACK warranty. Turnaround time for repair (MACK had to get a part from Sony) - was about 1 month. Thursday night I was headed out to a game to film - my a7r2 would make a strange noise and only turn on and off for about 1 second (no menus). It would do this repeatedly 4-5 times then shut off. Almost sounded like it was trying to initialize the IBIS system upon startup but couldn't. Leaving the battery out overnight, removing the lens / battery off for hours (and trying 5 different batteries) made no difference. What is scary is I didn't drop, bang or even slightly bump it - I was testing some picture profiles and had it mounted indoors in A/C. Since I could not find a way to do a hard reset online and the fact it's under warranty, I sent it back in Friday 06/09. This is making me very nervous about continuing to buy $3k Sony "disposable" cameras. While the Canon C models are expensive and don't have the ultra slow mo or dynamic range, they certainly take care of their customers and make much more reliable bodies. I had 3 cameras I had prepared for the shoot - a7r 2 + Metabones, a6300 for some 120p and an alternate angle, and a 1dx for stills. I had to rig up the 1dx quickly for the "center field / pitching view shot" and it didn't miss a beat. 0 problems. Sigh. Please share your experience with any NEX / A7 series bodies. I strongly suspect my IBIS module went haywire on my a7r2. Flynn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPC Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 I recently sold a three year old 5D MK III to fund an A7R II. even after intensive use, the Canon was like new and I got a very good price. Within two days (yes, days!) the paint had started to rub off the Sony and has continued to do so ever since. Same for the lenses. Although the Sony seems particularly shoddily built, last year I had to repair under guarantee a GH4 (touch screen broken), LX100 (sensor filth), EM5 MK II (buttons stopped working) and a Sony A6000 (circuit board fried after less than a month). That's more cameras to fix in 2015 than in the previous 25 years of pro work. Seems to me that cameras are currently brought to market too soon and that early adopters pay a high price to be beta testers of equipment that is often built to minimum acceptable standards. Flynn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff CB Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Currently field testing a A7r 2 to buy as a video/stills camera. Giving it a go after they fixed the overheating issue. Love it so far. Stories like this make me very nervous. I've been using the NX1 and the only issues I've had are it freezing with Lexar cards, other than that they have been rock solid. And my D750 which I'm looking to replace has given me 0 issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chris Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Owned the a7rII since the day it was released, my cam still looks like new and no issues at all. I've had the a5100 for almost two years now, it's with me everywhere, it's always in my bag/car/carry-on, and even though it's all plastic it's still a 9 or better. Michal Gajdoš 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmcindie Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Both my RX10 ii (zoom rocker is now very fiddly) and my A7s exhibited problems quite quick (less than 1 year). A7s got a weird LCD issue with the right side having some bad pixels in a row. Also it lost the ability to notice when someone puts their eye next to the viewfinder. On other news, my old 5d iii from 2012 has no technical issues, but it just peeled off a bit of the rubber on top of the electronics. Glued it back on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Members Mattias Burling Posted June 11, 2016 Super Members Share Posted June 11, 2016 Both A7sii and RX100iv jammed, froze and needed battery pulled almost daily. Never happened on Canikon or Panasonic. Tiago Rosa-Rosso and Flynn 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jax_rox Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 I don't know that I'm a big fan of the Sony anodized bodies - certainly they're easier to scratch. Overall though, I haven't had particular reliability issues. My A7s does the slow boot thing from time to time, which is annoying, but it's fine really. Haven't had any major problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliver Daniel Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 The arrow buttons on my A7SII get a bit jammed, and you have to press them hard to make them work sometimes. Battery life percentage is weird. It will be 100%, switch it off, then turning back on it will be like 43%. Then it will die in 5 mins. Other than that, no issues at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richg101 Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 The fact that you are regularly using the usb port on the camera to charge a battery would imo go some way towards explaining why you;re having issues. basic logic tells me to avoid using a delicate connection like a micro usb port for everything except firmware update. it's NOT a professional port. When using a Sony camera for professional use you have to consider which functions are genuinely right for pro use. canon use common sense and don;t provide in body charging for the exact reason that if they do, people will use it and knacker their usb port. Since the A7Rii sits within the consumer devision sony have included consumer functionality - just because it's there, if you;re using a camera professionally it should be basic logic that tells you to invest in a £20 external charger, and a proper card reader. I'm unable to comment on your other problems, but based on the fact that you;re using the usb port for a job that should be done with dedicated devices like chargers and card readers, I assume other logical steps to ensure a consumer device is kept within it's comfort zone may be being overlooked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vladimir Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 im using my sony a7s for two years and havent any issue since the moment of buying. And worth to mention im no carefull user) Sometimes when i needed to charge two batteries at once ive used a usb port to. No problem with that. Flynn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldolega Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 I plug/unplug the MicroUSB on my smartphone probably eight times a day, have been for years, and I've never had it fail. Sony's jack is probably just cheap and/or poorly designed. Flynn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JurijTurnsek Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 I've dropped my Sony NEX-5N from a +1 meter height 3 times and it still works like a charm. The battery door had to be reassembled and the click wheel sometimes gets stuck until the first press, but that body has been going at it for 4 years at least (and it's a consumer camera). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Fox Posted June 12, 2016 Share Posted June 12, 2016 45 minutes ago, aldolega said: I plug/unplug the MicroUSB on my smartphone probably eight times a day, have been for years, and I've never had it fail. Sony's jack is probably just cheap and/or poorly designed. MicroUSB is indeed designed to be used for charging: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#Mini_and_micro_connectors. But probably as a camera is a lot heavier than a smartphone there are more forces on the USB port when moving the cable (a smartphone will move together with the cable, an a7RII with a 50 F1.4 doesn't). Here's an image of the USB port (on an a7R): http://***URL removed***/articles/2352853254/sony-a7r-teardown-roger-cicala-lensrentals-gets-his-hands-dirty?slide=9. Sony soldered the USB and HDMI connectors right on to the main PCB. I don't like that. But, most other cameras don't even offer in-camera charging, so... On the a7RII they did the same: iFixit a7RII (see step 11). But it seems the audio jacks now got their separate PCB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shield3 Posted June 13, 2016 Author Share Posted June 13, 2016 23 hours ago, richg101 said: The fact that you are regularly using the usb port on the camera to charge a battery would imo go some way towards explaining why you;re having issues. basic logic tells me to avoid using a delicate connection like a micro usb port for everything except firmware update. it's NOT a professional port. When using a Sony camera for professional use you have to consider which functions are genuinely right for pro use. canon use common sense and don;t provide in body charging for the exact reason that if they do, people will use it and knacker their usb port. Since the A7Rii sits within the consumer devision sony have included consumer functionality - just because it's there, if you;re using a camera professionally it should be basic logic that tells you to invest in a £20 external charger, and a proper card reader. I'm unable to comment on your other problems, but based on the fact that you;re using the usb port for a job that should be done with dedicated devices like chargers and card readers, I assume other logical steps to ensure a consumer device is kept within it's comfort zone may be being overlooked. It's a hell of an assumption to assume I'm "regularly using the USB to charge the camera" based on the fact I stated it stopped working. I had the camera for a while before I'd even tried it. I have about 14 batteries and 2 dual chargers and 3 single chargers. No, only tried it once as I had my phone charging and was curious how long it'd take in a pinch - this lead to noticing the failure, and then seeing if it would still sync on my pc (which it didn't). I could play devil's advocate and remind you Sony lists in the manual that USB charging is fine but I won't bother. In fact Rich I only cared that the USB worked in order to get the much needed firmware updates. But, feel free to continue to make all sorts of assumptions. Flynn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Carter Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 16 hours ago, Shield3 said: It's a hell of an assumption to assume I'm "regularly using the USB to charge the camera" based on the fact I stated it stopped working. I had the camera for a while before I'd even tried it. I have about 14 batteries and 2 dual chargers and 3 single chargers. No, only tried it once as I had my phone charging and was curious how long it'd take in a pinch - this lead to noticing the failure, and then seeing if it would still sync on my pc (which it didn't). I could play devil's advocate and remind you Sony lists in the manual that USB charging is fine but I won't bother. In fact Rich I only cared that the USB worked in order to get the much needed firmware updates. But, feel free to continue to make all sorts of assumptions. If a manufacturer makes a product and instructs me in the proper use of the hardware... and then "the internet" finds out that some bit isn't robust and won't work as advertised (IE "even though the manual says to charge via USB, this will trash the camera over time"), I don't think it's user error - it's manufacturing error. (Even worse is when a manufacturer makes an amazing and robust product and then leaves the market... FU Samsung. What an amazing camera you dropped.) Shield3 and Flynn 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBounce Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 Don't kid yourself, these are consumer grade cameras with consumer grade service. Shield3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugela Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 On 6/11/2016 at 7:00 AM, Mattias Burling said: Both A7sii and RX100iv jammed, froze and needed battery pulled almost daily. Never happened on Canikon or Panasonic. My RX100iii never froze, jammed or needed battery pulls. Had it since the day it was released in Canada. A user issue perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Members Mattias Burling Posted June 13, 2016 Super Members Share Posted June 13, 2016 6 minutes ago, tugela said: My RX100iii never froze, jammed or needed battery pulls. Had it since the day it was released in Canada. A user issue perhaps? Only user issue is your reading, I had a iv not a iii jhnkng and HelsinkiZim 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markr041 Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 12 minutes ago, Mattias Burling said: Only user issue is your reading, I had a iv not a iii Ok, I have an RX100 iv, have used it for seven months. I have shot scores of hours of 4K video, 120 fps video, 240 fps video, in six different countries and I have never had it freeze, jam or need a battery pull. I also occasionally stress the lens using a magfilter and Raynox 250D, with no consequences. Have not used it yet in freezing temperatures, though. I am confident the bad experience is not user error. Bad copy or these are also symptoms of a bad sd card (My GoPro would freeze and require a battery pull often until I used a different sd card). Anyway, jamming and freezing for the RX100 iv ain't normal. Mine does get a heat warning every once in a while though. That does not cause the camera to stop working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugela Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 19 hours ago, Mattias Burling said: Only user issue is your reading, I had a iv not a iii It is basically the same camera, other than an updated processor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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