It's now been a little more than six months since I got my NEX-7. I've been completely blown away with the camera. It's so close to perfect for my habits and preferences. Except for one thing… it doesn't seem to be built to last.
The on/off switch has been getting tighter, sometimes almost impossible to turn. The battery compartment door has become loose. The top coating of the rear screen is coming off at the edges, as is the front part of the rubber handgrip.
And no – I've not been careless with the camera. I've treated it similar to every other camera I've had, and never seen any similar problems.
I've just sent it away for service under warranty, but this makes me worried. I want to be able to count on the camera holding up for at least a few years of normal use before needing to be replaced.
Have any of you had similar problems, or have I just had bad luck with my copy?
My story with nex-3K is similar. I had to send it away within the first year because of stuck shutter. the screen also has deteriorated around the edges. I will probably buy a protector for my next one. On the other hand my canon 30d has needed a new battery door, fine otherwise.
I have been using my NEX-7 for about 10 months now (around 20k shutters). The only fault is my lower rear rubber grip came off. My power switch is getting tighter due to a salt water incident. Beside the cosmetic faults, I don't have anything else wrong with the mechanical function of the camera. I don't have any E-mount lens though.
Anything mass-produced is a lottery of potential issues, but I haven't had any problems with the 7 (9 months use), and didn't with the 5 (a little less than 18 months). The 5n I didn't have long enough to count for much, but it felt very much like new after my few thousand snaps on it. I don't baby my gear, but I also don't scale cliff faces in driving rain and snow with it either. I also live in a great climate for camera gear.
I think it is safe to say that the TrueBlack(r) coating on the lcd of all NEX cameras wears off quite easiliy. That issue is solved with a screen protector.
My issues with the NEX-5N have been mostly electronics/firmware related. Certain features of the camera, such as white balance, front curtain shutter, and the touch screen would stop working at random until I reset to factory default.
My nex 3 had to be CLAd by Sony because the lens release button got stuck. And my nex 7 had the grip starting to peel off. I was surprised to see that 6 months into it's life..
twald wrote:
I think it is safe to say that the TrueBlack(r) coating on the lcd of all NEX cameras wears off quite easiliy. That issue is solved with a screen protector.
.
first thing I did when I got my nex 7 was put on a giotto schott glass screen protector (eliminates glare and light reflections too) and a good quality leather half case...both help in keeping the camera new like in looks and wear. I’ve had no mechanical problems using it daily in the 8+ months I’ve had it. For its price point I think it’s been excellent so far.
I haven't had too many problems with my Nex 5N. The rear dial in the back gets stuck if I haven't used it in a while though usually all it takes is a hard turn of the dial to bring it back to normal.
i've had a NEX-3 for a little more than two years and a NEX-7 for ~5 months. the shutter on the NEX-3 wore out after 18 months and ~60k actuations so that it can't produce consistant exposures at 1/2000 or higher. i also lost a lot of the antiglare coating on that camera.
i haven't had any trouble with the mechanics of the NEX-7 and all my buttons switches and dials feel smooth as new, but the rubber on the hand grip is getting loose on the front and back of the camera.
