BULLSH*T ALERT: Help Panasonic. I have a bit of dust on my ND. That'll be $4500?!?!
- Thread starter Logan LeBlanc
- Start date
Logan LeBlanc
Well-known member
OOOOOOoooooohhhhhh haha. Man, I don't know if I could pull that off haha. I fold easily under pressure.
scorsesefan
Veteran
Unfortunately, this seems to be a trend with certain companies. Never had a prob with Panny but my friend recently had a problem with Canon. You really shouldn't have to harangue these people to get service, especially if you're spending thousands on a piece of professional equipment. I feel like it happens more if you're under warranty because they're not getting the $ for their time/parts... You really should insist on sending your camera to another authorized center because this one is obviously not doing the job. In the meantime you may be able to use a screw on ND filter in place of the dirty ND?
Yes I have often thought this to be a sealed unit, having spent some years in clean rooms. Surely someone from Panasonic can demystify this for us? I would love to know. (doesn't help the OP of course-) If his camera is under warranty and has clearly not been exposed to limestone quarries or similar, Panasonic should fix it, or at least provide a cleanup service at a sensible price- the PR would massively outweigh any small cost to them I would have thought.
Cheers!
Rod
tired
Well-known member
wooosh!
Logan LeBlanc
Well-known member
Once the dust settles on this we can CERTAINLY make some noise seeing as I'm not the only case.
Oh, and they ARE telling me that the only way to change out the ND wheel is to change out the ENTIRE CMOS ASSEMBLY. Thank god Panasonic doesn't make cars.
"That oil change is gonna require a new engine sir" WTF?!?
What a terrible, terrible design flaw.
Logan LeBlanc
Well-known member
Darren Levine
Veteran
it's probably less complicated than that
it's a sealed unit, having a facility that is equipped to open it and repair it probably would exceed the cost of just swapping out the whole unit with another factory sealed unit.
what you could argue is that they might have been able to find a way to have the sensor exist outside that sealed unit, but that is highly debatable
Logan LeBlanc
Well-known member
That's the point I was trying to make with them. Passing on the cost of a new sensor assembly ($3500 on up) to the consumer just to save money is an insanely ballsy move especially when a brand new camera is only $600 more.
The ND could have been completely independent but they opted not to do that. As to why is the REAL question.
They must have been reeeeeaaalllyyy confident with their design.
If the area behind the protective glass is sealed, then Panasonic owes you a fix for free. It's their contamination that got on the filter.
If you exhaust your efforts and still have the problem, then you have nothing to lose. Take it to a jeweler and have them open it up and see if they can open up the sealed unit and clean it. They will charge you an hour or two for labor. Bring a camera and video the insides. I want to see what it looks like.
If you exhaust your efforts and still have the problem, then you have nothing to lose. Take it to a jeweler and have them open it up and see if they can open up the sealed unit and clean it. They will charge you an hour or two for labor. Bring a camera and video the insides. I want to see what it looks like.
Logan LeBlanc
Well-known member
Hope is not lost my friends. Stay tuned.
Worzel Gummidge
Carbonite Member
It's time these greedy corporates had a rocket up their a*rse. Totally BS Panasonic, you should be ashamed of yourself, but as USUAL, profits before service!
Greedy? Profits before service? Panasonic lost $9Billion dollars in 2012, $7Billion in 2013. It was in serious trouble. After tremendous layoffs and consolidation, Panasonic is now making a profit. It's unfortunate for all of us that many people lost jobs and Panasonic has had to consolidate. As you may recall, it was observed that we could expect much confusion, delays, and disruption of the video camera divisions since they have now consolidated into one division. They have less money for R&D, fewer people to work on projects ,and in general, are likely to have difficult management choices as they regroup back to health.
Is that an excuse? No. It an explanation of why Panasonic may not be on the ball in areas such as repair, which is not the focus of any company, much less, one that is trying to recover.
Is that an excuse? No. It an explanation of why Panasonic may not be on the ball in areas such as repair, which is not the focus of any company, much less, one that is trying to recover.
I think the essence of this thread is more about the disproportionate cost of what is in effect removing a bit of dust from a flat filter, regardless of how the unit is built.(and if the whole unit has to be replaced then that would seem a poor call in these days of modular design.) I cannot but help thinking that those sums quoted would buy you a top class Zeiss lens by way of comparison- now there's something for your money!
Rod
Rod
bill totolo
Veteran
Had the same issue on my Sony. Solution was to cannibalize a dead camera and replace the glass filter. $450. Perhaps you can suggest this to Panasonic?
kwkeirstead
Well-known member
Effective strategies need to set a reasonable balance across all their component parts.
If customers get the notion that equipment cannot be repaired, they will cut their losses and start shopping around.
If customers get the notion that equipment cannot be repaired, they will cut their losses and start shopping around.
Logan LeBlanc
Well-known member
Exactly. I never thought about an issue like this because I was under the impression that it was 100% sealed. Now I know and it'll DEFINITELY be a factor in future purchases.
"Panasonic lost $9Billion dollars in 2012, $7Billion in 2013..."
Yes and they should ask themselves why. With such support on their products, no doubt people turn to other brand.
the loss is not the reason for the lousy service, the lousy service is the reason for the loss.
i worked for too many company using the same marketing BS (sign contract first, hope for service after), cutting on support , outsourcing every customer point of contact to the lowest level possible (after all ,a customer is great only once, when he pays the invoice, after, it is just trouble).
Obviously they are at the point they do not even try to make you believe they care for you or for their product..
the proof in the pudding (well , actually on the ND filter)...
Yes and they should ask themselves why. With such support on their products, no doubt people turn to other brand.
the loss is not the reason for the lousy service, the lousy service is the reason for the loss.
i worked for too many company using the same marketing BS (sign contract first, hope for service after), cutting on support , outsourcing every customer point of contact to the lowest level possible (after all ,a customer is great only once, when he pays the invoice, after, it is just trouble).
Obviously they are at the point they do not even try to make you believe they care for you or for their product..
the proof in the pudding (well , actually on the ND filter)...
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Logan LeBlanc
Well-known member
(Golf clap)
From what i've read, the losses are mainly due to competition from Korean monitor and television makers, the drop in the value of the yen, recovery from the recession, loss of domestic sales due to the Japan earthquake. Sony had similar losses for similar reasons.