My EX1 has taken some serious abuse and keeps on going!

Buck Forester

Buck Forester

Well-known member
A little while ago while at Monterey Bay I was stupidly hand holding my EX1 as small waves crashed onto the beach near Cannery Row and I was lifting my camera over the waves so I could stay low... but one wave broke differently than I expected and crashed into the front of my lens, the entire front half of my camera was half-submerged before I could yank it up. I immediately turned off my camera and removed the battery for a while thinking it was already toast. I turned it back on after it was dry and everything worked but the auto zoom. I was happy and bummed at the same time... lost my zoom. But after another day the auto zoom returned no problem... I got lucky!

Then twice I dropped my camera (fell out of the back of our van) on cement from about 5 feet high. And they were hard slams. Total free fall with a loud smack. The first time nothing happened, worked great. Whew! The second time (I won't let it happen again, I'm pushing my luck!) the LCD wouldn't come on but the viewfinder and everything else was fine. I found an online tutorial on replacing an EX1 LCD so I took mine apart to see if there was anything I could see that was obvious... there was a ribbon pin connection inside that had separated from the fall... I reconnected it and everything is el perfecto!

Another time I accidently left the switch 'on' and put it in my enclosed bag and by the time I pulled it out again it was too hot to even touch. I thought it would've been fried inside.

I've never upgraded the firmware from the original and only shoot SxS cards. It's nearly two years old now.

This camera, at least from my experience, is pretty tough! I don't expect to ever sell it so I'm not worried about sharing what mine's been through, ha ha! And the warranty is long gone. I shoot a lot in the salty air, the sand, the snow, the heat, the cold, and I'm absolutely impressed by the durability and stunning pictures from this puppy.
 
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Wow! That is some kind of abuse for any camera much less a $ 6500 EX1. Of course, I had to ask myself what kind of guy does that (repeatedly) so I looked up your photostream website and was blown away!! The colors, composition were first rate - some were almost surreal. Keep up the good work - I think the old adage - "can't judge a book...." applies here.
 
Remember Fodhessa's video? The one on the quad, they hit a tree root or something and the camera was very violently catapulted forward... it didn't even stop recording.

A friend of mine said these are "warrior cameras", he's probably right.

I wouldn't try my luck, but it's nice to know they are solid :).
 
Man you have had some lucky breaks, um, non-breaks. I'm so worried any jarring will make my zoom stutter even more that I treat it real gentle. I have a backup EX1 even that I do not use.

Speaking of delicate, stuttering zoom: I was showing an idiot colleague of mine my camera, and he went "Wow!" and just grabbed my zoom ring handle (the little screw-on thing on the zoom ring) and just jerked it down. I fear this may have contributed to my zoom stutter issue that even the Libec zoom controller can't fully overcome. I wonder if I am being paranoid, or if it's a definite no-no to touch the zoom ring while the servo is engaged. Anyone?

Maybe I should just remove the screw-on handle on the ring for idiot protection?


Also I got the 3 year "Anything goes" B&H protection plan when I bought the camera. It was 500.00, and I feel good I have it. It even includes shipping. My backup does not though, as It was a prize. The B&H guy says I could drop my camera out of a plane and still get it fixed for free. Operator error IS covered! Still I am very gentle with my precious.
 
I removed that handle, I don't find much of a difference between it and just the ring. Besides, it used to get stuck on my left hand when using servo and handhelding the camera.

Chad, what about stealing? Do you get another one as well?!

That's sick! I mean, anything goes, really anything goes? I don't get it, I don't esteem people as much as to believe they won't abuse that insurance...
 
Iudex I do remember Fodhessa's video! I cringed when I saw it. He eventually got that camera either stolen or broken when he loaned it out.

When I bought my camera the B&H guy said anything goes, but you have to have the camera to send back to them. No, he may have been a lying sack, but I don't think so. Anyway, I don't think people would abuse that protection plan. Why? So you can send you camera back> On the other hand, if they have to replace it, and there are only EX1Rs.... Wait, I gotta go, um, "shoot" something.
 
There are a couple of things that I must warn you about from personal experience. First: protect banging the front lens assembly by any sort of blow. One winter I droped the camera on the frozen ground in a soft case; the camera was fine, but it had trouble focusing quickly and had halo's around the picture from time to time. Don't let anything jar or bang the lense assembly - anything. Second: try to use a hard case and keep the camera in an air tight but not humid environment. Dust will eventually settle in between the lenses in time, and there is nothing you can do about it! I use soft cases for my camera on some shoots for convenience and speed. You must clean and blow out the inside of these soft cases from dust and lint regulary because they "breath" as you carry them and constantly force these contaminents in between the lenses. It use to be a big problem with tape; just leave your camera on the passenger seat on a suffari, and you can watch the horizonal bar lines on playback (if your're lucky) as the dirt impacts the video heads. But the lenses will inbed debre in time and a film from pollutants on the surface, and that is why a professional camera man will trade for a new camera as time goes on! PS sorry for the spelling -- I gata go!
 
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Iudex said:
Remember Fodhessa's video? The one on the quad, they hit a tree root or something and the camera was very violently catapulted forward... it didn't even stop recording.
Click to expand...


LOL, yeah, don't ever do this:

cambike.jpg


He went off a jump, and (obviously), the ex1 ripped straight off, smacked the ground, and rolled a couple of times, kept recording the whole time! I picked it up and we continued shooting throughout the day, nothing wrong with it at all. and as chad mentioned, it eventually got stolen :( all good though, insurance gave me a brand new ex1r.! heres the footage - http://www.vimeo.com/4349506

definitely chiming in here and saying these cameras are much more durable than they appear, although I'm going to refrain from duct taping them to things in the future.
 
Yeah! I'm happy for you Fodhessa! I was kind of sad for you when you told us about the incident.

The dog passing by is priceless :D.
 
So I did it again... this time I was using my EX1 inside a Ewa-Marine waterproof thing in a salt water swimming pool. The Ewa-Marine failed big time and water just poured in. Not 'leaked in', but - blub blub blub - poured in. @#$%@#!!! My EX1 was recording at the time. I dumped the Ewa-Marine bag upside down, camera still running, and water dumped out like a bucket. @#$%@#! It took another 15 seconds or so to get to the "off" switch and I pulled it out of the bag and yanked off the battery. No WAY could it have survived that one. I'm thinking luckily I'm insured.

Short story long, I left my EX1 is the direct hot sun most of today so any remaining moisture would be gone. I thought about leaving it out a couple/few days to be sure, but I was pretty darn confident my EX1 was wet toast regardless. So I turned it on and it powered up. ??? Good start. I zoomed in and out no problem. The audio bars were working. I popped in an SxS card and hit record... nothing. Nada. Zilch. The record light wouldn't come on, neither on the top handle or the side handle. Oh well. I pushed it hard a few more times, turned it on and off, and WHOA!, there it goes! "Record"! Tried if a few more times to make sure it wasn't a fluke, and it's fine! I took the card out and viewed the clips on XD Cam Transfer and it's flawless!

I seriously have no idea how it survived a complete salt water immersion inside a bag. My EX1 is possessed by an angel or something. I'm tempted to send it in to Sony servicing for a review and cleaning and firmware updates, but I'm a little afraid they'll mess it up, ha ha!

This recording machine, at least in my personal experience, is completely amazing.
 
I would definitely send it in for servicing. Your luck will run out in the middle of a job when the camera stops working completely at random.
 
What do you need an underwater housing for, your camera has been under water without protection more often than mine has with protection. LOL

The great thing is these cameras have so few moving parts compared to the old tape drive cameras. Sooner or later the salt is going to eat into something though and I doubt if Sony can clean it all out.

(Or maybe you'll take it in a fresh water pool. hahaha)
 
Buck: that's ridiculous! these cameras can be something else sometimes. Also good to see you and chad still active on the forum, I'm happy to be active on here and in the film world again!
 
hey man! Not currently, been amassing currency and focusing on writing the past couple of months. Moving to chicago within the month and am going to be shooting plenty of things! really looking forward to it. What have you been up to?
 
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