Broken EX1 Baseplate! Who's that one guy....?

Chadfish

Chadfish

Veteran
What a near heart attack!
Broke one of my EX1s last night... Some joker kicked over my tripod and it fell, hitting the back of a theater seat. The base plate (part that you screw in the tripod plate to) broke and the camera hit the cement floor hard. Looks to be replaceable, but one screw hole may be stripped. So I can't just order a part if the hole is stripped out. I have a protection plan at B&H that was sold as "No questions asked" supposedly covering everything. I'm trying to remember a thread, maybe a year ago, started by a guy who made a stronger base plate for ex1/3. I searched "Base plate / baseplate" and got nothing. Can anyone remember that guy. I now see the weakness of these base plates and want to get a beefier one.

Luckily the show was over, and my battery was out. I actually screamed a little like a girl as it hit the floor. The camera seems to be working. And the guy was nice saying he's pay for damages and gave me his card. Anyway, the camera is useless without a tripod. So if you remember the dude, or the title of the thread and can search that thread, let me know please.


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To top it off some dude with a handycam and a standard def television as his monitor beat me to the "Tape Out" on the sound board!

{{{{{{{EDIT}}}}}}} 6/26/11 Here is how the story turned out and the solution to the problem!
 
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You better check out the entire optics path. The camera may SEEM okay, but viewed footage on a large screen may reveal half out of focus, vignettes or backfocus issues. Be careful!
 
Yeah I think I'm just going to send it in for a checkup to B&H. I hope they pay shipping like the sales guy said with their special protection plan I got.
 
LAME! B&H is closed for passover until April 27th! I can't even begin the process of getting it fixed for 10 days. You'd think they could have some non religious people working there to service the people that make B&H possible...THE CUSTOMERS!
 
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Yeah I got that saved, but I still want them to check out my camera. One of the plate screws were pulled out and stripped the hole, so I need more than the plate replaced. I also want a "check-up" if they do anything like that, and maybe get the latest firmware. Like Basspig said, the lens could be out of whack a little.
 
Been there - it cost over $1000 dollars as I recall for Sony to fix my EX1. A baseplate is a very cheap solution. I now have Olof's on 2 EX1s.
 
I would rather Sony check it out.. B&H aren't camera alignment facilities. They can't realign optics, as far as I know, not being a Sony service center.
 
@Chadfish, I have an extra base plate (I bought two) from Curtis (not Olof) for $50 if you want it. His curve to fit the bottom form of the camera. There's a thread here somewhere with photos. I think I fitted it on my camera but its basically like new. I have the other one on my camera now. PM me if you're interested. (EX3 baseplates are different.)
 
Mark I would think that B&H would sent it to Sony, or give me an address to sent it to. But it's their protection plan that I paid 500.00 for, so I need to talk to them first - only I have to wait 10 days due to a very long religious Holiday.

Duke I'm interested! I have 2 cameras, so I want to protect the one i won (not covered by anything!) as best I can. Sending PM.
 
Chad, I had a similar thing happen filming a high school band concert. I happened to
be standing with my back to the camera when someone hit the tripod leg, I managed
to turn around and catch the whole thing before it hit the concrete floor. I still
wake up in a cold sweat thinking about that. Anyway I have a small machine shop
and might be able to help if you need it.
 
Thanks Scott I'll keep that in mind. For now I'll wait and see what B&H says after they get back from Passover.
 
Hey Chad, Curtis at JuiceDesigns.com makes a version for each the EX1 and the EX1R. I have the Ex1R version on my camera. After seeing several users with destroyed mounts, it was a no brainer for me! Bolt it and forget about it... Good luck and lets us know your resolution with B&H and Sony.
 
Duke M. Sold me his JuiceDesigns.com baseplate for 50.00. So I'm set for one camera. I have not put it on yet. And I got this awesome 500.00 protection plan from B&H that covers anything - user error, drops, kicks, submerging in water - and covers shipping. So I sent it off a few days ago to a company in NY. B&H just refers you to them as they don't handle this stuff. I really hope they can't fix it, because then they have to get you an EX1R!!! I did complain in a letter I left in the box, "My EX1 is also having issues with "far red" contamination. It can't seem to block out infrared light from lights and the sun. It makes synthetic black fabric look brown. Please fix that too." Ha ha. I figured I'd give it a shot!
 
Just wanted to give an update about the damage to my EX1 that happened from the baseplate failure.

Refresher: The camera was on the tripod after shooting in a dark theater, then accidentally kicked, tripod hit the seat, baseplate broke, and camera hit the cement. It didn't appear that there was damage at the moment, but upon inspection at home I noticed that a small metal plate on the bottom of the camera broke. It was where you attach a tripod plate. Seemingly a small fix. Luckily I paid 500.00 to B&H Photo for a 3 year, "anything goes" full protection plan, meaning I could slam the camera down and jump on it over and over, then send it in for free repair or replacement. So I did that. The company I sent it to said it would take about 15 days turn around time (about a month and a half ago). Well, they held it for longer than that, then sent it off to Sony because they couldn't fix the problem. Weeks later, today, I got a small heart attack when Sony sent me and estimate to approve, but upon calling the warrantee company they said to disregard it and they will handle it. So yay! No bill for Chad! But incredibly the bill for the repair is $2,708.19! Can you believe that? That's 5 hrs labor @ 135.00 per hr, one "front frame" at 258.00, one new lens for 1,523.47, and one new mic holder assembly for 44.99. Mostly due to a cheap out on the baseplate by Sony. Honestly I was hoping they couldn't fix it, which would mean they have to get me a new camera!

I am so glad that I bought that protection plan. In most cases I don't do that, but with the 6,100.00 camera I did. Saved me 2,200.00! So I'm just sharing this story with you in case you were interested, and as a warning that with video equipment like cameras, it's worth the extra money to protect your stuff. I could not pay that price, so I would be out of a camera and out of jobs I need that camera for. Oddly nothing seemed wrong with the lens or the mic holder...
 
Very good to hear it worked out in the end. Some people are just plain clumsy and don't use their eyes to avoid toppling a $7k camcorder. lol

Anybody got anymore of those plates they like to sell me for my new EX1?
 
the first thing i bought for my ex1r last week was olofs base plate for the bottom of the camera. its very solid . i also bought the sony tripod plate mount and it snaps on/off my tripod plate perfectly.olof makes great stuff. would
absolutely recommend his stuff. just ordered a hoodloupe from him.
check his gear out at westsideav.com
 
Was the lens assembly actually damaged? If just the base plate broke, why a new lens? That seems like an exhorbitant bill.
 
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