Matthew Durr Photography

Well, first order of business out of the way, I haven’t posted anything on the site in a while. A week-and-a-half, to be exact. Though I mentioned previously that I would soon go back to my old–and quite frequent–posting routine, I didn’t realize just how busy I would be in my last micro-semester before the beginning of summer. That, combined with sickness, has made it difficult to get out and make photographs aside from my normal work assignments. I still have a lot of work to do on the 85mm f/1.4 review, but will get that up as soon as I am able.

So! As many may know, I had to send in my NEX-7 for intensive repair relatively recently. The sensor cleaning function had completely quit working, and I wanted to get it fixed before my warranty ran out (which would have been just a few weeks ago). Instead of the optical low-pass filter activating ultrasonic vibrations to knock dust loose for easy removal, nary a click could be heard when the cleaning mode was supposedly activated.

After a brief back-and-forth with Sony’s online repair center, I got everything squared off with a prepaid overnight to Sony’s repair center in Laredo, Texas. Important note, everything else about the camera was near perfect, both cosmetically and functionally. Sony lists about a 10-day turnaround for repairs, which I was well aware of. However, I hoped to get the camera back a little ahead of time so I could use it on a trip to Destin. I would be leaving on a Friday, so I called the repair center on Wednesday of that week to get ahold of upper management. Politely I asked that if there was any way to expedite my main repair (since I previously wrote in the repair order to also do a full-diagnostic to check for other problems, as well as a cleaning if possible), I would appreciate getting it by Friday. I was assured by two different people that it would be shipped out that day in order to make it by Friday (I called twice that day to confirm).

All is well, right? Wrong. Strike one. My NEX-7 was instead overnighted the day I left, so it arrived home while I was halfway to Destin. Bummer. Compound that with the fact that I couldn’t access my mail for another two weeks, and I was rather anxious to get my camera back.

Strike two. Upon opening my tightly-packed NEX-7, I found to my dismay that not only was the sensor cleaning function not repaired, but the LCD screen (which was immaculate when I sent the camera in) had large, multiple marks of coating loss all over the screen. I honestly thought I had received a different camera with my serial number merely stamped onto it. How could they send me a camera in worse shape then before? I knew that the problem with the screen couldn’t be due to temperature fluctuations in shipment—I’ve used the camera without fail in 100-degree heat and 10-degree cold—so needless to say I was irked with this treatment.

After a lot of runaround, I got Sony to file another repair order. They knew that if it wouldn’t be repaired this time, I would get my money back and go to something else (honestly, my confidence in the company was shaken, and the Nikon d600 looks VERY tempting). As a kind gesture, they sent a loaner NEX-7 to use during my repair period.

Finally, after about six weeks total, I ended up with a fully-functional NEX-7. The sensor cleaning works, and the LCD screen is good-as-new. Why they didn’t repair it right, the first time, is beyond me. The repair parts along with the cost of overnight shipping surely weren’t cheap, and ordering twice of everything didn’t help matters.

Instead of striking out, Sony hit a solid double out to left field; extending the warranty another six months. Very nice of them, so we’ll see if the camera needs any more work in the near-future. I sure hope not.