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Rant: Sony Pro Support gets the ball rolling quicker, but Precision still can't get it right. Sent in my RX100iv for no audio playback, and Precision tried to claim it was due to impact. Sony stood behind me and they "fixed" it under warranty. But they got dust on the sensor on the reassembly. Simultaneously sent in my A72 to Precision for Pro Support's included sensor cleaning. It came back bricked. BRICKED! WTF?!? Sent RX100iv back, asked them not to do a factory reset so as not to lose my apps and settings. Got call saying they'd need to reset it in order to troubleshoot the dust on the sensor. WTF?!? Guess you need a factory reset to hold it up to a bright background and put the camera at f/8? Sent A72 back as well. Was told a "senior quality control" technician was reviewing the repair. Both cameras came back within the 3 days as promised by Sony Pro Support, and actually Precision did a pretty good job packing them, a definite improvement over what can only be assumed was the save and pray method they previously used. RX100iv is working fine. No dust. Hope it stays that way. A72 also back, and operational, but . . . A72 now has the rubber exterior, which they apparently replaced for whatever reason, coming off. So back it will go for a third freaking time, for what was originally a simple sensor cleaning. I'll keep the forum posted on how the next, third, round goes. SONY, DUMP PRECISION CAMERA!

Sony "tech" finally answered my pleas and gave me the name and number of their alternative "walk-in" repair facility for NYC. They'd claimed in previous instances that Photo Tech (212) 673-8400 didn't take shipped items for warranty repair. Surprise, surprise, after calling them, they told me they'd be happy to accept my broken RX100iv, with the receipt. After 4 business days, they've shipped the camera back, having replaced the lens assembly to repair sticking lens cover leaves, a problem I also had with my RX100iii. They never called me to confirm receipt, completion or shipping, but on this one instance at least, they're much faster than Precision Camera typically is. It's nice that there's an alternative. http://www.phototech.com/

A while ago I wrote a guest post about my experience with Adorama's third-party warranty company, New Leaf, and my less-than-stellar experience in dealing with them. I eventually got my replacement camera from Adorama, and since New Leaf is the only game in town with them, I held my nose and re-upped, buying another warranty. Not long after my SAR post, I heard from the New Leaf CEO, who called to apologize for the unfortunate experience, and left his personal cellphone number should I ever have problems in the future. Classy, actually. About a month ago, I was sitting at my desk editing photos, having just removed my lens, and my son brought me a fruit smoothie, which I didn't even realize was on my desk. One brisk turn to the left, and oops. The naked A7R2 was bathed in fruity goodness. Surprisingly, it powered up, but the sensor and innards were totally soaked. Thus began the next saga with New Leaf. Day 1 - Call to initiate claim, was told they don't have a record of my camera, warranty or receipt, even though I was staring right at my online account with them, where all of that was registered and visible. Told to email receipt. Day 4 - Got email response telling me they can't cover me because the warranty receipt is not on the camera receipt. I wrote and called Adorama for help. Day 7 - Called the CEO, left voicemail explaining the situation. Later that morning, called the general line to try again with a different operator, who actually knew what he was doing and started the claim. Received pre-paid shipping label to send the unit to United Camera in Chicago for evaluation. Day 8 - Received a callback from New Leaf head of operations, at request of CEO, following up on my case. He was very courteous and quite detailed in explaining the challenges of running a warranty company that guarantees everything from washing machines to TV's to gardening machines to cameras, including maintaining a well-trained employee base. Not that poor customer service can ever be justified, but he give me a good understanding of what's going on over there. Day 13 - United Camera received my unit. Day 16 - United Camera inspects unit, says beyond repair, will inform New Leaf. Called New Leaf to get the ball rolling on a replacement camera. Was given the runaround on having to wait for the slow turning of their gears. Days 17-28 - Numerous calls to New Leaf, practically daily, each time being told a decision, or a replacement, or a check would be coming within one business day. Day 29 - New Leaf placed an order for a new A7R2 with Abe's of Maine, a shop in NJ I'd never heard of. Price was $2600! Day 30 - Called Abe's of Maine to get shipping info, was told New Leaf's AMEX card wouldn't work because the store was in a dispute with AMEX. Called the CEO of New Leaf, so tantalizingly close to a solution. Heard back from a supervisor who left a voicemail saying to call back to solve this problem. Day 31 - Was offered a check from New Leaf in lieu of the replacement camera, in the amount of the Abe's of Maine selling price. Jumped on it. Ordered the camera with my own card. Day 34 (today) - RECEIVED NEW A7R2!! Ok, it's obviously a non-US version, PAL, but otherwise works just fine. Didn't come with instruction manuals and the box had been opened, but the camera is new, or like-new. Registered with Sony for warranty without problem. Bought another New Leaf ADH warranty. Waiting for check for the replacement (could be a month they say), and hoping I never have to use the warranty again, but glad I have it.

Hi there, not sure what terms to search for, almost all of my searches are giving me results regarding the lens motor. My a5k which has seen light use over the years has developed an issue with the zoom in/out rocker which sits around the 'snap picture' button. Sorry, I'm a layman and don't know what the correct terms are for these things. When previewing an image, if I flick the rocker to the right, it zooms into the picture all the way. Now I have to start backing out to see what I want to see. As I flick or hold the rocker to the left (marked W on the camera body), the preview starts to zoom out but then will glitch out and zoom back in and out and in and out and it will get 'stuck' in this pattern until it eventually, jerkingly, zooms all the way out of the preview. This behavior occurs when using the rocker to zoom out the lens, but if I use the zoom control on the lens itself, it works fine, so I know its an issue with the rocker which sits around the 'take pic' button. Has anyone experienced this before? Can you suggest some better search terms? I usually repair my own gadgets and wouldn't mind taking this one on, just not sure where to start. Seems like I'd need to purchase a donor camera to get the parts off of. Thoughts appreciated, thanks.

Can anyone tell me what is used to secure the model dial on a A7R2?. Mine will not stay attached and falls off easily. The inside of the wheel appears to have some kind flexible adhesive, but its is slippery or waxy, and doesn't appears to be an adhesive at all. Thank you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cBAICAiI74 Hi everyone, I have a Sony Zeiss lens (SAL50F14Z) that wobbles very badly. I tried to send it to Sony for repair, but the Sony repair center just sent it back and claimed that the wobble is *normal*. I personally do not believe it is normal, as I don't recall having this wobble before, and my other Sony Zeiss lens doesn't have that. Could the community give any recommendation what I should do? If this is really normal, then it's a big design flaw from Sony!

Took my brand-new A7R2 to Mongolia and it died, luckily on the last day. The shutter began sticking, and while I could manually release it and shoot in silent mode, it definitely needed repair. I've sent it in to Sony's third-party repair house here in the USA, Precision Camera, with whom I have had only terrible experiences in the past. Here's hoping I get it back in time for my trip to the Amazon next week. So far, we're a week into the process, and all I get from them is that it's "in repair," although they have agreed to put a "rush" on the repair. Great. I'll update with any further developments. If Sony could improve the repair process, it would go a long way towards keeping their customers happy.