Bill_de Loc: US

The answer!

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Mitzis

I thought battery, too. I have a Pentax 3 that started doing wired things like repeated mirror flapping, dead screen when one particular battery went below 30% charged. Got rid of that battery and it never happened again.

Capn_Dave

Way back when, I purchased a toy called the Mavica. It was sort of an expensive toy at the time and used a disk drive to store photos on. I had a disk drive failure and sent the camera back to Sony for repair. I think back then it cost about 150 for the repair. The camera worked fine for about 3 months and the drive failed again. Sony said it was out of the 90 day warranty period but to send it in to evaluate it. No luck and this time they wanted to charge me more for the same problem. I told them to send the camera back I had plans to use it as a small boat anchor. Apparently they went ahead and fixed it while doing the evaluation. No Matter, no more complaints from me I just stopped buying anything with the name Sony on it. I had a similar experience with a well known manufacturer, It was an easy decision for me and now I use strictly Canon and their lenses. Easy Peasy and even with service which I seldom use they are always helpful. That is until the time they are not.

gwilliams6

Yes there had been some A7III with premature shutter failures, and yes in NJ there was a class-action suit over it.

But also know that the A7III is the largest selling single fullframe mirrorless camera in the world and most folks have had extraordinarily reliable and superb performance with it, pros and amateurs alike . Those stories dont make the forums, only any failures or issues.

I personally have owned Sony A6500, A7RII, A7RIII, A7III, A9 and now own A7RIV, A1, A7SIII. I have made hundreds of thousands of professional and personal shots with these Sony cameras around the world without a single camera failure, ever. Never had an issue with my A7III.

In my 40+ years history owning Nikon and Canon gear (both brands) I did experience the occasional camera failure in both brands of gear. No camera brand is immune to this, NONE. And no single camera model is ever without some issues.

My advice, try to talk with the Sony sales rep for your area (your dealer can direct you to that person). I have found them to be more directly responsible to consumers.

Your issue needs checking out. Call Precision Camera in Enfield, Connecticut , they are a major Sony authorized repair facility. Maybe they can diagnose your problem better.

https://www.precisioncamera.com/

Best to you.

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larryepage Loc: North Texas area

When a company sets up a repair network (or really any type of support network), they have a couple of choices about how to fund it. It can be set up either as a Cost Center or as a Profit Center. A cost center is funded from part of the gross profit generated by the manufacturing center (or maybe another group), while a profit center is expected to generate enough revenue to cover its cot of operation and probably some profit to contribute to the corporation. Most manufacturers of business, commercial, and industrial equipment tend to use the cost center approach, while most consumer product companies choose the profit center approach. The final customer will see a much different support picture depending on which approach is chosen.

Long experience with Sony has made obvious that their profit center repair network has been much more company-centered than customer centered. Modules or major subassemblies are made available rather than parts (resulting in much higher materials costs for repairs), turnaround is longer as these modules and subassemblies are not stocked at local depots, but must be ordered from the factory for each repair, and repair support is ended much sooner after discontinuance of the sale of a product. Repair is provided only as long as a profitable volume of broken products remains in the marketplace. I have previously provided detailed examples of experiences with a ProWalkman, a BetaMax VCR, and a Trinitron television. Consumer protection laws claim to have made some difference in the level of support, but the real-life impact has actually been been fairly minimal.

I suspect that the recent major sales to big organizations still has them in quite an uproar as they work to enable their network to provide the unfamiliar level of support that will be required in this and some other lines of business that are extending beyond the consumer products market,

gwilliams6

Just know that Sony Imaging is a completely separate and different company within the huge Sony corporation, so no experiences with other consumer Sony products or services applies to their Imaging products.

Sony has an excellent record of taking care of professional and amateur camera users and when they let down in this area, yes they should be called out on it. I have found their response as good as any I have had from Nikon or Canon over the decades. But my personal experience has been on the Professional level. So on the amateur level I know from others' experiences related to me.

Keep Sony's foot to the fire here to properly take care of you. That is what I would do. But don't buy into some fake news historical conspiracy theory of any corporate lack of caring about its customers. Sony doesn't succeed with unhappy customers, and it is the #1 mirrorless brand in the world and growing.

Cheers

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Understood. But Sony was founded 75 years ago, and even though their earliest roots were as a repair business, they are still at their core today a consumer products business. That's what they really know how to do. Anything else is new to them, and they are still working to "figure it out." I've been studying them in detail for almost 50 years. They are, without doubt, a formidable outfit, but they do not have everything under control by any means.

paige1209

If you used a credit card to purchase the camera, call them and make a complaint immediately. You should get satisfaction. You will have to provide documentation which includes how you tried to resolve the problem. I purchased a computer from Sony in the 80's that didn't work and after several weeks, my credit card company awarded me a full refund. Hope it turns out well.

Lila (paige1209)

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

This is the best selling full frame mirrorless camera of all time! When you sell a lot of cameras, the weakest point will eventually become a "big" problem. Having owned an A7 lll since it came out, I can report never having a problem with the equipment, but only from the user. I remember when Nikon was having a problem with oil from the mirror hitting the sensor. All manufacturers will have some sort of problem eventually when they push the envelope of development. The OP seems to be on a rant and overly antagonistic which raises my suspicion level greatly!

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

I bought my A7 III in mid-2018 and have shot ~75,000 pix with it. Great camera with no problems to this point.

I would suggest trying a different battery and lens. Dirty lens contacts can cause problems as can a faulty battery.

bwa

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Was there a need to say Filipino lady?
Sounds sextet and racist.
Try calling again without hostility and work your way up politely.
I have found that this method works wonders.
Ignore the possible accent as we all sound different to others.
Good luck and write a letter if necessary.

letmedance Loc: Walnut, Ca.

Try a different SD card.

pego101

Always buy with American express card they add a 1 year warranty to any purchase with the card .

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

If your car burns out a headlight or has a coolant leak, is it now a piece of junk? If this happens out of warranty do you demand they fix it for free. When one of my cameras or lenses stops working, I don't call around and piss and moan, I send it out and get it fixed. Don't waste your time trying to get an out of warranty, freebee. Just get it fixed. Newish things break. Old things break. If you still want to use the product you get it fixed. Try this. Find a repair facility. Mail it to them. Thank them and pay them for their work and get on with your photography. Simple.
...Cam

User ID

Some folks lifestyle consists mainly of complaining. Cony is not unique in that.

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