Pre-Purchase Question re: PMW-EX1

problems

problems

I bought an HVX within the first few weeks after its release. It displayed similar problems including some weird, red banding and random lock ups. After posting some screen grabs on DVXUser, Jan C. personally oversaw the replacement of my camera. Awesome service.

Like they say... never buy version one of anything.
And if you do, expect a few problems.

I plan on getting an EX1.
And I also expect to run into flaws.
That's the price of staying ahead of the curve.

Sorry to hear about your EX1. Hopefully Sony has the kind of customer service Panasonic displayed during the release of the HVX. I've yet to have a better customer service experience than I did with Jan and Panasonic.
 
I got tired of waiting for them to send me the prepaid shipping label, and since UPS's web time and cost calculator is down, I drove to UPS with the camera myself thinking it'll just be $25 or so to send it to NY. Suprise! Almost $70 to ship it! I declined. It's cheaper to drive down, pay tolls and parking. So that's what I plan to do Friday, if no shipping label arrives by today's end. A four hour round trip commute, plus walking a few blocks with a large box under my arm.

Believe me, I have tried at least fifty times, to power this camera back on. Had this happened on a paid job, I would have lost a lot more than the day's pay--it would have cost me my reputation. Even if the camera DID start up again, I would not trust it for any job. I would have to swap it out for one that doesn't have a marginal CPU/motherboard or whatever. Anyway, it's dead as a brick, a $7000 brick that displays a logo and not much else.

UPDATE: UPS shipping label arrived in e-mail about 7pm. Too late to ship today, so it goes out first thing tomorrow. Looks like mid-week next week is the earliest I will see a replacement camera. Meanwhile, the 15-day trial ticks away on my CineForm Prospect 2K trial, with no camera to evaluate it with.
 
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At this point, I realize that I've made a big mistake by not personally taking a day off to drive to NY and get the EX1 exchanged. B&H has had my old EX1 for two days and is just sitting on the exchange instead of promptly sending out another one. There is no notice that a replacement will be shipped or has shipped, and it looks like we could end up waiting until next week for a replacement, and by then, the trial period runs out on CineForm and my ability to evaluate it with no camera.
I expressed my disappointment with having to rent at $350/day while I wait for my paid-for camera, but despite their telling me I could just come in for an exchange, they're making me wait because I sent it via UPS, overnight.
We just got an e-mail from them, and in great expectation we opened it... but it was not a tracking number. It was a survey. Not a smart time for them to send a survey, as they're not going to find me in a position to give them a high score today.
 
It's now been THREE whole days that B&H has had my PMW-EX1 in their hands, and the only response I got from them today was "we will look into your concern". Wow, they're starting to sound like a Brooklyn 'sham' camera shop instead of the reputable camera shop that I've dealt with for the better part of a decade.

At this point, I think I'll cancel my order with them and order it from somewhere else. I heard good things about AbelCine Tech. Has anyone had experience (good or bad) with AbelCine? How fast do they ship, and how are they on dealing with defect exchanges. (Should I get another bum EX1, I don't want to be stuck waiting for over a week for a new one--I may as well just rent instead of own the camera).

If nothing ships by 6pm this evening, I'll be placing an order with an alternative, so I'd like to hear of experiences with AbelCine and others in the NY/CT/MA area. Thanks.
 
AbelCine Tech, smaller and more professional, serves the industry, BandH serves the masses, and there is no comparison. Speak with Greggor at AbelCine, NYC I had a great experience buting my Ex-1 and accessories.

I dealt with them in person, but I got great responses from them over the phone before I dropped in on them.
 
Thank you for sharing your experience with Abel Cine Tech. The interesting thing is the difference between sales handling and service, returns handling. Never had a return with B&H until this month, and boy, what an eye-opener.

I think the FAX I sent to Mr. Schneber got things going, because at 9:30 Thursday morning, their customer service e-mailed me to say that it was out of stock. Two hours later, they e-mailed me again, three times, to say that they were indeed shipping a replacement that day. The replacement arrived Friday, via a very pissed off UPS driver who told me he's never coming back here (the road had a little slush on it, he's got to be kidding) but it's here and I have started shooting with it again.

My latest experimental first shoot with this camera, testing night low light performance: http://www.vimeo.com/701529

So far, so good.
 
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