The Sony Gave Me A Scare...

[Lesley Jones]

... yesterday. I last used it on Monday to take the stars to finish off the Swan Lake image. So that was on the tripod, manul focus and repeated fiddling with the high ISO noise reduction/long exposure noise reduction - off and on and off again. I got a shot I could use and put the Sony to bed.

Yesterday morning I took a shine to the light on our bedroom window and sat on the bed with the camera. It turned on, but it wouldn't focus and in fact, I couldn't change the point of focus from the centre. There was about 90% battery left. I turned it off and on a couple of times and changed from AF to MF and back again, but no joy. I eventually removed the battery for a few seconds and that fixed it, but it gave me a scare. The camera is now six years old and I know nobody would entertain a repair and I simply can't afford another camera.

It's only taken some 2,600 shots and I treat it very carefully. Is this likely to be a one off or should I be worried?

 

[Pete Askew]

It seems that digital cameras suffer these little glitches every now and them. I'm sure it is triggered by certain combinations. I sometimes have to remove the battery from the Leica Monochrom as it refuses to 'wind-on'. I have just updated the firmware so maybe that fixes that little bug. Maybe you should check if there is a firmware upgrade for your Sony.

 

[Lesley Jones]

Cheers Pete! Maybe it was just me. I have a second cold in as many months and I'm not exactly thinking clearly. They abandoned the Sony several years ago and I'm sure I had the last firmware upgrade. According to the guy in the shop, I won't be able to get memory cards any longer either. Just as well I bought a couple more before I went to Cornwall. Why does technology insist on racing ahead and making everything redundant?

 

[Hamish Gill]

GREMLINS!

Very unlikely it is anything to worry about ... What's the camera? Doesn't it take CF cards? Or just pro-duo?

 

[Lesley Jones]

Now you know better than to get all technical with me @Hamish Gill ! The camera is a six year old A700 and I think I use the pro-duo. I managed perfectly well with just the two cards for ages, but I threw caution to the wind just before Cornwall and bought another two. So that's 16Gb of memory which I couldn't use in a month of trips away. I think there is an option to use bigger cards that are easy to obtain - I'm just not used to them. Oh... and you'll be pleased to know with everything else I have on my plate at the moment, I've suddenly decided to rebuild my web site. Without Flash, using HTML5 and compatible with desktop, tablets and phones

 

[Hamish Gill]

good move on the website! Flash is well dead!

Your camera, it seems, also takes the readily available and much cheaper "compact flash" cards ... Might be worth looking into if you need one again ... Pro duo cards are ... ... well in the same boat as flash based websites ...