A65 Back focus issues

[wyattclan]

I am a camera enthusiast rediscovering photography after a gap waiting for digital to get affordably good enough. I am was a film buff, Kodachrome, Velvia etc and slides mainly!.

I have a major back focus issue on A65 with Sigma 28-105 f2.8, Minolta 100-300 APO. I have several others as well but these are the worst.

The forums seem to find this is an issue with the A65. I have tested the lenses on an A77 and they are OK.

Although this happens with cameras because of mass produced tolerances the results I am getting are unusable. The camera can be returned to Sony for a few weeks with the lenses but I find it INCREDIBLE that this issue seems so prevalent. Interestingly the 18-55 kit has the same issue.

I have waited for Sony to produce the current A77 and A65 cameras and with a lot of MInolta glass was really looking forward to using this at the Olympics.

Sony technical support is a group of people in India using call scripts. The contact I talked to didnt understand back focus or APO lenses. There is no techinical support contact in the UK apparently for cameras. Nikon and Canon have understandably got the market sown up. Very sad.

Any experience from others and a quick fix is most welcome.

[mikeyp2000]

It definitely sounds like a badly adjusted AF module.   If you have sent the whole set of camera+lenses for calibration, you can be optimistic about getting it back reasonably well adjusted.

24mp on aps-c is very punishing for even slightly mid-adjusted lenses so even when your camera comes back you may still find some lenses don't quite AF with 100% accuracy.  That's why you need AF micro adjustment such as in the a77.   Older Sony cameras had ways of DIY unofficial adjustment for the AF module, by turning 3 screws hidden near the tripod mount.  I successfully calibrated my a700 that way.  However, I don't know of any way of accessing the same sort of screws for the a77 or a65 as the AF module is now under the flash and inaccessible. 

[wyattclan]

Thanks for your reply. I think you are right on the AF module. I worked on test shots with an ex-Sony chap and two A65's showed the same problem. A third I have now bought at another retail outlet seems OK with the same lenses. The OK one did have v1.04 firmware wherease the faulty one had v1.03 but I dont know if there was a fix included.

I did try extensively the third camera before buying the other retail outlet after my experience with the previous two.

The results look stunning from a recent holiday.

I had heard of doing adjusting the sensor with the A700 and others but thought it should be correct "out-of-the-box".

I will see how I get on with it now and if OK ! will look to move move to an A77 or later which should prove even better.

I remain dissappointed with the quality from Sony however and didnt get my DSLT for the Olympics because of it....

[QualityGate5b]

I have the same issue.  I have just posted a reply on another thread in this forum (probably the wrong thread). Originally I thought it was user error, or a problem with my lenses, but I am sure I am using the correct settings and I get sharp results using the same lenses on my A200.  My additional problem is that I purchased my unit from a Hong Kong supplier and I don't want to return it to China (I have already had other issues with goods I have returned to China), so I don't know how to go about getting it fixed.  From what I can make out, there seem to have been a lot of A65s sent out with faulty AF.  What makes matters worse is that I have seen posts where users have returned their cameras for service, only for them to come back with no adjustment as they are deemed to be within industry tolerances.  A camera with this size sensor should have micro focus adjust capability.  A camera costing this price should have a correctly functioning AF system out of the box.  This issue is well documented, Sony seem to be doing nothing to address this problem.

[blaireau_photo]

Hello QualityGate5b - Welcome to the Sony Forums

From what I have read about warranties when purchasing abroad, the terms of the actual warranty itself vary from vendor to vendor - have you checked the terms of your warranty to see if there is worldwide cover or if the warranty itself can be transferred to another territory.

Let me know any details that you have of your warranty policy if in doubt and I will look into this for you.

Thanks,

Simon

[QualityGate5b]

Simon,

Thanks for your helpful reply.  I have been in touch with the supplier.  It seems I have a 2 year warranty with the supplier himself.  It looks like I am going to have to bite the bullet and send the unit back to him.  The warranty states it covers:

1. Manufacturer Defects (Known issues caused by particular product and various other ailments that can cause product to malfunction)  
2. Replacement of item if necessary
   • Items arriving damaged on arrival (it is our responsibility to ensure items are packed well before shipment)

...Once received, item will be inspected by our technical staff, and we will email you within 14 working days to describe errors found with the product and plans to fix or replace your item....   I advised him it was a back focus issue and asked if he could resolve it, he replied:  'After we receive the camera from you. We will send it Sony service to repair as soon as possible.' !   I just hope when it comes back, that it is not deemed to fall within industry tolerances.  Thank you for your interest.

[blaireau_photo]

Hello again

Thanks for your reply. I suppose the positive thing here is that the warranty was two years instead of one. I appreciate that having to send it halfway across the world can be a bit of a pain but fingers crossed that you can get this sorted out.

Simon