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DESIGN FAULT IN A 7 seriesn & A 9


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Hi all.

I had the A9, mounted with the 24 - 70 2.8.

Ok the lens is quite heavy, and you have to support the camera, while the other hand does the zooming.

I was doing some shots beside a boatyard, and was slightly down angled, while trying to zoom between the fence bars !

The lens release button, is just at the end of the handgrip !

Due to my position, long fingers, and gripping the weight, while composing the shot, meant that I had inadvertently pressed the lens release button !

Instead of zooming, the lens unscrewed, and dropped to the concrete.

Strangely enough, the B&W UV filter, stayed intact, but about a third of the front lens scabbed off !

Also the mount got damaged so it would not return to the camera body.

Thank god, I took out the extra insurance... I am 64, and never in my life, have I ever dropped a lens, until now !

My point is, other cameras I have owned, have had the lens release button, on the opposite side of the handgrip, so people with either large hands or long fingers, cannot accidentally release a lens !

Yes, I had the A 7 II for a few years, then got the A9, and never had a problem, until yesterday, where a combination of angle and weight, had a disasterous effect !

Thank god the lens is on the extended Jessops warranty through D & G .

I wil keep you updated on this.

Cheers

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2 hours ago, Wally The Confused said:

Hi all.

I had the A9, mounted with the 24 - 70 2.8.

Ok the lens is quite heavy, and you have to support the camera, while the other hand does the zooming.

I was doing some shots beside a boatyard, and was slightly down angled, while trying to zoom between the fence bars !

The lens release button, is just at the end of the handgrip !

Due to my position, long fingers, and gripping the weight, while composing the shot, meant that I had inadvertently pressed the lens release button !

Instead of zooming, the lens unscrewed, and dropped to the concrete.

Strangely enough, the B&W UV filter, stayed intact, but about a third of the front lens scabbed off !

Also the mount got damaged so it would not return to the camera body.

Thank god, I took out the extra insurance... I am 64, and never in my life, have I ever dropped a lens, until now !

My point is, other cameras I have owned, have had the lens release button, on the opposite side of the handgrip, so people with either large hands or long fingers, cannot accidentally release a lens !

Yes, I had the A 7 II for a few years, then got the A9, and never had a problem, until yesterday, where a combination of angle and weight, had a disasterous effect !

Thank god the lens is on the extended Jessops warranty through D & G .

I wil keep you updated on this.

Cheers

I agree. While I haven't had your lens drop experience, I recently had a 16-35 2.8 GM stop communicating with my a7rIII. Turns out I had inadvertantly pressed the lens release button and the lens had rotated just enough so the contacts were misaligned. I was lucky not have experienced your misfortune! My previous camera was a Nikon D300s and it had the lens release button on the left side... a much better location.

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Not a design flaw but OPERATOR ERROR. Simple as that.

Had a 70-300 land on the lens hood straight to the concrete because I didn't rotate it to lock. Didn't blame the camera for a design flaw. Blamed myself for being careless and inattentive. If it was truly a design flaw the internets will be replete with similar horror stories. I suppose Sony could fashion something requiring a key to be inserted and rotated before you swapped lenses but that punishes EVERYONE instead the minuscule number who need parental guidance. Face it... You screwed up. Happens to us all, but only once if we learned something from it. 

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2 hours ago, VTC said:

Not a design flaw but OPERATOR ERROR. Simple as that.

Had a 70-300 land on the lens hood straight to the concrete because I didn't rotate it to lock. Didn't blame the camera for a design flaw. Blamed myself for being careless and inattentive. If it was truly a design flaw the internets will be replete with similar horror stories. I suppose Sony could fashion something requiring a key to be inserted and rotated before you swapped lenses but that punishes EVERYONE instead the minuscule number who need parental guidance. Face it... You screwed up. Happens to us all, but only once if we learned something from it. 

If , like other cameras, the lens release button was on the other side of the lens , it would not have happened.

Guess you have small hands.

 

 

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2 hours ago, VTC said:

Not a design flaw but OPERATOR ERROR. Simple as that.

Had a 70-300 land on the lens hood straight to the concrete because I didn't rotate it to lock. Didn't blame the camera for a design flaw. Blamed myself for being careless and inattentive. If it was truly a design flaw the internets will be replete with similar horror stories. I suppose Sony could fashion something requiring a key to be inserted and rotated before you swapped lenses but that punishes EVERYONE instead the minuscule number who need parental guidance. Face it... You screwed up. Happens to us all, but only once if we learned something from it. 

Of course operator error may occur. It is for this very reason that camera designers strive to locate controls in a manner that minimizes such occurrences. Sony should have anticipated the problem described.

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9 minutes ago, tinplater said:

Just shows you can't please everybody.  But if there is one lens drop in a couple million lens mounts and zillions of images taken, I would think that's probably pretty good design.  The "design fault" may actually be your long fingers.

I see your time line point; however, after 50 years of handling Nikon SLR's, with the release button on the left, last year with my new Sony a7rIII was the first time I experienced the issue. I will learn and retrain and it won't happen again but it doesn't absolve Sony.

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Having worked for the  MOD, doing the  R&D on various things, If it was found, that an operator, could inadvertently trigger  a weapon, while doing a routine  maneuver , ....  

That was classed as a design fault and the  " Trigger " was moved elsewhere, so it could not be inadvertently operated.

Thats what we called  a  design fault !

Thank you Bokehobo, for your understanding. I am glad your lens did not fall off !

Going by the comments, you would think some people here,  were on the Sony design team !

And I maintain..  the lens release button, should be either at the 6 o clock position or the 5 o clock position.

C heers

 

Edited by Wally The Confused
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see your time line point; however, after 50 years of handling Nikon SLR's, with the release button on the left, last year with my new Sony a7rIII was the first time I experienced the issue. I will learn and retrain and it won't happen again but it doesn't absolve Sony.

EXACTLY  !!!!!

Edited by Wally The Confused
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  • 1 month later...

Ok, I received a reply from D & G, which turned out to be a mistake.

I took the letter  + policy, to my local branch of Jessops, and the boss immediately said, that is a mistake !

He phoned  D & G, and  got me a full refund, for the  24 - 70  f 2.8.   Ok, I paid  1899 GBP for it,   now the price has dropped to  1799 GBP , and that is the ammount I will be receiving later this week, apparently.

Ok, as regards jessops,  Ive bought all my camera stuff from them, over the years,  and , once cameras or lenses approach  1000 gbp or more,   then yes , I have allways  added their  recommended extra cover ,through  D & G.

Thank You Jessops, for your professionalism and efficiency !    Thank god I took out the  extra cover !

  Independent Explanation,   Not From Jessops !

Sorry to hear this Wally, and I agree it is terrible news! The reason the lens re-lease is on the other side, is because of the ability to add the LA-EA3 and LA-EA4 lens adapter and then attach A-Mount lenses. Those lenses have the re-lease on the other side like you would expect. I believe this is the reason for the location of the lens re-lease on the mirrorless cameras. I'm really sorry to hear about this, and yes it's a great thing you had the extra insurance for time like this.

Edited by Wally The Confused
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