[Frank Dimmock]

Hi all,

I thought I would let everyone know if they haven’t already discovered that the PMW-200 has the same lens as the EX1 and EX3 and appears to have exactly the same problem with the zoom. I had hands-on at BVE in London on Tuesday and vented my frustration at the Sony rep on their stand. All he could do was “apologise” and roll out the same old party line of “built to a price point” when I told him about the problem, but then I don’t suppose I could have expected anything else.

Frank.

[Frank Dimmock]

Hi all,

This is just an update to my last post in case anyone is interested in my progress.

As I think you all probably guessed, I got nowhere with Sony and basically they ignored me. The upshot of that is I won’t be buying another Sony product and my partner who was looking to buy a an EX3 will be buying Panasonic!

The zoom problem is caused by a cr@p motor/gearbox specification – the actual motor is a good quality part, but it is just not up to the job. It has quite a low reduction ratio and just hasn’t got the power to drive the lens smoothly. The motor is supplied by 3 Volts and if the camera is held vertically and the zoom operated, it works fine in one direction as the weight of the internals drop in the driven direction, but reversing causes bad juddering as it tries to “lift” the lens. When inverted, the exact opposite happens.

I have sourced a replacement motor gearbox and a spare lens and am currently grafting the motor in place of the original. It’s actually quite simple because the motor is a barrel shape and an industry standard 16mm diameter. The new motor is a 6 Volt one with more power, a much higher reduction ratio and will be driven with a variable 0 to 12 Volts from the main lens supply. Control will be probably a PWM controller powered from the 12 V supply, but controlled by the original 3V motor feed. This means all the original functionality of the handle and remote zoom will still work in addition to the rocker control, plus of course any plug-in controller. The PWM will be from either a PIC or an analogue circuit, but that’s phase 2.

Frank.

[Frank Dimmock]

Hi all,

Thanks for the comments.

Yes, I realise that if the slack is in the actual lens barrel itself, I can’t do anything without taking the lens apart. According to the people at True Lens Services in the UK, that’s not possible without destroying some of the retaining rings and of course there is always the danger of damage, misalignment etc. It’s not a route I would go down. If the problem is the lack of torque from the motor, or stiction in the gears in the drive, that should be fairly easy to overcome with a better motor/drive/control. A miniature stepper motor is a possible solution. I don’t really want to take the zoom handle apart either, but I might just out of curiousity!

I see the problem as more of a challenge and just knowing the actual cause would be a good start, apart from the fact that the root cause is Sony’s lack of care in making it work properly in the first place! I know it’s a Fujinon lens, but it is specific to the Sony EX3 and the buck stops with Sony.

I’m waiting for feedback from the company I bought the camera from, as they are pretty disgusted with the response from Sony UK. I bought the camera 2nd hand and the original Silver Support ran out in August last year, but I still have 18 months of the dealers warranty remaining.

I may end up having to buy a new lens and maybe I will get some “assistance” from the dealer. The logical upgrade would be the XS8x4AS-XB8, but I understand it suffers with the same zoom problem as the standard lens. There are other alternatives, maybe a good SD lens I can use with the supplied ACM-18 adapter, but I need to do some research first.

Thanks,

Frank.

[Frank Dimmock]

Hello all,

I’m new to the forum, so please go easy on me!

I’ve bought an EX3 recently and found the slow zoom problem with the lens. I bought the EX3 primarily as an HD upgrade from my SD DSR-250 and PD-170 for wedding work and of course slow zooms are essential.

The dealer has confirmed the problem and checked my lens on several other EX3s and other lenses on my EX3 and they are all the same. They are obviously not impressed and lent me an excellent lens for my first job, but that doesn’t solve my problem. I broke the bank buying the EX3, so can’t afford a new lens and Sony aren’t interested. The dealer has asked me to email them with my complaint and they will forward it to their Sony representative, but I don’t know if that will do any good.

Being an engineer and having access to world-class electromechanical engineers, I’m wondering if anyone has attempted to cure the problem or knows of the exact cause? I’ve obtained the schematic diagram for the camera, but can’t find one for the stock lens. There appears to be a 3V and an unregulated 12V supply through the lens connector, but short of dismantling my lens, I can’t easily learn any more.

Question: Does anyone have any hard info on the problem, know of a technical solution or even have a broken lens I can obtain to pull apart please? I’m of the opinion I can resolve the problem with a better motor/gearbox, maybe using an R/C servo or similar?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Frank.

[Frank Dimmock]

Hello all,

I’m new to the forum, so please go easy on me!

I’ve bought an EX3 recently and found the slow zoom problem with the lens. I bought the EX3 primarily as an HD upgrade from my SD DSR-250 and PD-170 for wedding work and of course slow zooms are essential.

The dealer has confirmed the problem and checked my lens on several other EX3s and other lenses on my EX3 and they are all the same. They are obviously not impressed and lent me an excellent lens for my first job, but that doesn’t solve my problem. I broke the bank buying the EX3, so can’t afford a new lens and Sony aren’t interested. The dealer has asked me to email them with my complaint and they will forward it to their Sony representative, but I don’t know if that will do any good.

Being an engineer and having access to world-class electromechanical engineers, I’m wondering if anyone has attempted to cure the problem or knows of the exact cause? I’ve obtained the schematic diagram for the camera, but can’t find one for the stock lens. There appears to be a 3V and an unregulated 12V supply through the lens connector, but short of dismantling my lens, I can’t easily learn any more.

Question: Does anyone have any hard info on the problem, know of a technical solution or even have a broken lens I can obtain to pull apart please? I’m of the opinion I can resolve the problem with a better motor/gearbox, maybe using an R/C servo or similar?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Frank.