emotepix
Well-known member
Mark
Officially, v1.11 is a $100 optional Sony upgrade, not a required modification (that's last week's information direct from a Sony rep). However, if one wants to use the 60GB hard drive option (and indeed the Kensinton SxK options) then 1.11 is required on an EX1.
Because 1.11 is optional, it's officially outside the regular Sony Pro warranty chain, i.e. Sony doesn't care if it's 1.03-05 or 1.11 when servicing their cameras, 1.11 isn't mentioned one way or another under the warranty.
Oh, and the current official turnaround time (at least in Los Angeles, if you physically take the camera in to them) is 15 working days. That's the waiting time. The actual install time is very quick, so I'm told, because they really have the earlier issues (backfocus, vignetting, battery cards, etc) worked out by now, and the repair/upgrade procedures down cold. And they aren't optional, they do fall under warranty, and so are free. But then when one's camera is in there, then of course one opts to pay the extra $100 for the optional upgrade.
Note that I have a late model (7000 series serial number) EX1, and it came to me with all the earlier issues worked out already and also 1.11 installed. (But I was also told that this was an added sales incentive for my particular camera, so YMMV, definitely, on this matter. Mine was an ex-demo unit so not, strictly speaking, 100% new.)
So, explicitly, on my current release EX1: no vignetting issues detected, no back focus issues detected, the CMOS shutter issues (slanting verticals during pans) are indeed perceptively better on my 1.11 as against my mate's 1.05 model, and first thing, I left my battery on the camera all night long and they've obviously replaced the defective part that caused the camera to drain the battery even when off, since the battery was still on over 98% charge the next day. The new paintwork looks lovely, and hopefully the numbers won't rub off either.
Back to topic, I'm sure that things will probably change when the EX1 OS v1.2 or later eventually comes along, since most of the (LA area) EX1 users I know have jumped ship over from SxS to SxK (or "Sony by Sandisk" to "Sony by Kensington") and Sony's SxS sales figures must have told them by now that something's going on.
Let's see how Sony corporate reacts. Today they're charging, for instance, over $250 street price for an 8GB SxS card when an 8GB SxK costs around $50.
It's a different case with the P2 system, because Panasonic never mentioned future cheap storage like Sony did.
If Sony tried to kill the SxK compatibility with a later firmware release then I'm sure there would be a class action suit like nobody would believe, since they plainly stated in all advertising that their adoption of the industry standard Expresscard format was specifcally to allow for lower cost media in the future. Well, the future arrived, just a little sooner than they planned, I guess.
And also, the SxK systems aren't quite perfected yet: The Kensington adaptor cards are a little too long and so stick out of the camera enough so that the card door can't be slid shut to cover them, and also the current card data rates aren't fast enough reliably to capture over 40fps on them, so most EX1 owners I know have kept at least the one or two SxS cards that came with their cameras for overcranked shots. However, for the vast majority of shots, and users...
Interesting times we live in!
Officially, v1.11 is a $100 optional Sony upgrade, not a required modification (that's last week's information direct from a Sony rep). However, if one wants to use the 60GB hard drive option (and indeed the Kensinton SxK options) then 1.11 is required on an EX1.
Because 1.11 is optional, it's officially outside the regular Sony Pro warranty chain, i.e. Sony doesn't care if it's 1.03-05 or 1.11 when servicing their cameras, 1.11 isn't mentioned one way or another under the warranty.
Oh, and the current official turnaround time (at least in Los Angeles, if you physically take the camera in to them) is 15 working days. That's the waiting time. The actual install time is very quick, so I'm told, because they really have the earlier issues (backfocus, vignetting, battery cards, etc) worked out by now, and the repair/upgrade procedures down cold. And they aren't optional, they do fall under warranty, and so are free. But then when one's camera is in there, then of course one opts to pay the extra $100 for the optional upgrade.
Note that I have a late model (7000 series serial number) EX1, and it came to me with all the earlier issues worked out already and also 1.11 installed. (But I was also told that this was an added sales incentive for my particular camera, so YMMV, definitely, on this matter. Mine was an ex-demo unit so not, strictly speaking, 100% new.)
So, explicitly, on my current release EX1: no vignetting issues detected, no back focus issues detected, the CMOS shutter issues (slanting verticals during pans) are indeed perceptively better on my 1.11 as against my mate's 1.05 model, and first thing, I left my battery on the camera all night long and they've obviously replaced the defective part that caused the camera to drain the battery even when off, since the battery was still on over 98% charge the next day. The new paintwork looks lovely, and hopefully the numbers won't rub off either.
Back to topic, I'm sure that things will probably change when the EX1 OS v1.2 or later eventually comes along, since most of the (LA area) EX1 users I know have jumped ship over from SxS to SxK (or "Sony by Sandisk" to "Sony by Kensington") and Sony's SxS sales figures must have told them by now that something's going on.
Let's see how Sony corporate reacts. Today they're charging, for instance, over $250 street price for an 8GB SxS card when an 8GB SxK costs around $50.
It's a different case with the P2 system, because Panasonic never mentioned future cheap storage like Sony did.
If Sony tried to kill the SxK compatibility with a later firmware release then I'm sure there would be a class action suit like nobody would believe, since they plainly stated in all advertising that their adoption of the industry standard Expresscard format was specifcally to allow for lower cost media in the future. Well, the future arrived, just a little sooner than they planned, I guess.
And also, the SxK systems aren't quite perfected yet: The Kensington adaptor cards are a little too long and so stick out of the camera enough so that the card door can't be slid shut to cover them, and also the current card data rates aren't fast enough reliably to capture over 40fps on them, so most EX1 owners I know have kept at least the one or two SxS cards that came with their cameras for overcranked shots. However, for the vast majority of shots, and users...
Interesting times we live in!
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since we have KxS but, 32 gig SxS card is retailing for MSRP $1650. With $300 rebate, it will be $1350 which now gives the pressure to Panasonic to price their 32 gig P2 card (est. release dec 08). 