Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Cholly ... thanks for the info ... I'm not at all surprised about Amarillo, though ...

Sent it to them twice - each time they sent it back with a faked report indicating there was nothing wrong with it ....

It shoots reds as oranges ... so I made this snide remark - "So THAT's why you use orange boxes !!!!"

They were very apologetic at first ... told me I could replace it with ANY DSLR on their web site ...

AND, they'd buy it back for whatever I paid for it ... so I told them to send me an a99 ...

After that, they backed off the first offer, but, the second's still in place ....

I dunno, though ... that doesn't seem right, to me, at all ....

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

TRUE STORY:

A few years back my wife was snoring HARD and I wanted to take a picture of her with her mouth WIDE OPEN... so I grabbed the closest camera, the A77 with the 16-50 f/2.8 and the HVL-58AM flash. Sat it on the EDGE of a counter top in kitchen while looking for a SD card... and the next thing I knew; BANG!

The whole rig goes "snoot first" onto the floor from about 3 1/2ft up. The FULL WEIGHT on the front end of the lens. Broke the lens and flash shoe on the camera AND the foot on the flash itself.

OF COURSE EVERYTHING WAS OUT OF WARRANTY... and NO; I didn't have insurance on an APS-C camera.

So, I called Sony, put in the work order, boxed it up and mailed the LENS to Texas because I could find parts for the camera and flash online. (Got those parts and fixed the shoe and foot myself... but didn't have the tools OR the patience to TRY to work on that lens.)

When they got it, someone called and told me it would be $500.00 to fix the lens because EVERYTHING was smashed; the SSM, the ROM Chip AND some of the gearing. AND... that it was out of warranty. (Thanks Captain Obvious! )

Sooooooooo, I told'em to ship it back because for $500.00 bucks I could buy another copy used or just plain do without that particular lens.

Well, a couple of weeks went by and no word.... so I called. They said "we're sorry; it's taking us a little longer to get the parts." To which I said "Wooooah there pardner; I said ship it BACK. I'm not gonna pay that much when I can buy a brand new copy for $100 more." And they said "we'll send it back."

3-4 days later I picked it up at the P.O. And to my HORROR the lens had been repaired!!!

So I IMMEDIATELY checked my credit card account on line... you know; to make SURE that they hadn't billed me.

Lo and Behold THEY DID NOT!!!

It was the SAME LENS... verified by checking the serial number... but it had been FULLY repaired and calibrated!!!

FOR NO CHARGE!!!

I paid for the overnight shipping... but that was it!

The ONLY complaint I had was the turnaround time... but hey; when the fixed the lens GRATIS, I decided NOT to look that horse in the mouth.

That was my last experience with the Texas facility.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

You lucked out, huh, Cholly?

With me - it was the first time I sent the a58 to them - it took a while ... they had it some three weeks ...

When I called them, they told me they were still working on it ....

After the third time I called - within a couple of days - it was back to me ....

But, it didn't take me long to figure out they hadn't done a thing with it ....

BTW - the first time, I sent them back just the body, as I'd just bought my a77, and I needed the 18-55 that came with the a58.

By the time I sent it back the 2nd time, after I'd realized they'd done nothing with it, other than issuing the fake report ....

I'd received my 16-105 DT. So, the second time, I sent them the whole thing back - body and lens.

To my surprise, the turn-around, the 2nd time - occurred within the week. Was I surprised!!!!

But, then, once again - I found they'd done zilch, except enclose a computerized report indicating all was normal.

Since, I've done extensive lens testing with all three of my SLT bodies - a77, a77II, and the original a58.

I've interchanged all the lenses I have for them, which include the 18-55 SAM, the 18-250 DT, the 16-105 DT and Sigma EX 105 OS HSM Macro.

Every single time I take out the card used in the a58 and compare the images with the cards from the 77s - the results are identical ... ALL reds shot with the a58 - come out orange. No problem with the a77s ... REDS are RED!

$600 I paid for this camera. One hundred bucks more got me the a77 (which now sells for more than twice that!)

I paid just over $900 for the alpha a77II ... and am absolutely delighted with it. So, I'm batting 2 out of 3.

Still, the a58 is damned useless to me. I have switched the strap with the a77II (it's just too ostentatious.)

And the 18-55 SAM lens I got with the a58 - is a great lens, and a darned good back-up for the others.

So, unless something changes with their buyback offer - I'm keeping it, for now. But, I'm using the battery for the a77s.

I can't really send them back just the body only, with no lens, strap, or battery, now, can I?

Although, on the other hand ....

Acat1234

Before the defect showed up the camera was very good for a rank amateur like me. Zoom was fantastic and picture clarity very good. Very disappointed when system died and decided not to buy another.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Must be just that model, Acat … never had any problems like that with my Cybershot HX100V …

Still works like a charm …

Problems noted above still haven't changed with my Sony alpha a58, though ...

Just living with it ...