A7III repair UPDATE ... I was surprised. 

Now that there's a lawsuit over this shutter issue I hope we don't need an extended warranty to get this fixed when they fail prematurely.

This weeks guest on The Rusty Show is.... Daaaaaave McKeeeeeegaaaaaaannnnnnn!

That's encouraging and mirrors my own experience, which I mentioned in a comment on your other repair video - I was having trouble activating my extended warranty online but that was resolved in a couple of days after raising a support ticket, with the added bonus of an extra year's worth of warranty more than I had previously realised ;)

Glad to hear that you got your camera back safe and sound and with a little extra service done. Take care and keep up the good work!

Rusty Rocks and Sony’s Smokin! I’m glad Sony came through for you and now you have a fully functional a7III in your arsenal! That’s pretty sweet! 👍 Thanks for the update Dave!!

A bit of an update from my experience - I bought my A7III in Denmark, I live in Sweden and I had the camera converted in the UK to full spectrum (invalidating my warranty). They fixed it all for free because it was this known issue. They even paid for shipping both ways. I had a similar experience to you with a lack of info during the process. The tracking (to the repair center) said the camera had not arrived 10 days later when it came back fixed. Like you say it's forgivable at the moment given the situation. I also didn't get a spare battery :P. I had a note saying they couldn't do a full diagnostic on the camera due to my conversion, but they explained it all to me in detail why it shouldn't really matter. I did notice that this fix completely replaced the motherboard too, as all the settings were reset. So I'm super happy with Sony and the repair center on this! They were well within their rights to simply refuse to fix it, but they went above and beyond, taking the time to contact the conversion company. I had heard bad things about Sony service in the past, but nope, they were amazing!

Glad it's fixed man and was a pretty quick turnaround

I have Sony Imaging Pro Service in the USA and they have been superb and super fast turnaround. Glad Sony took good care of you in UK. Cheers

Happy days, Dave! Rusty approves of this message!

Also had a similar good experience with official Sony repair centre (based in Bridgend, Wales)

Rusty just steals the show !!! Nice to hear that a camera manufacture honers its warranty and doesn't hide behind the hidden clauses in the "terms and conditions " that the majority of us simply do not read. Some time ago I sent an 18-200 lens back to Nikon for repair and as it was out of warranty I had to pay for it myself, after 6 weeks they returned it saying it was all fixed and to be fair I had no more issues with it, that was until I came to sell it !! The guy that inspected it was from a well known camera store so he had no vested interest in giving me false information. His verdict was that the lens had not been reassembled incorrectly and therefore they were not interested in purchasing it from me. So we all have our horror stories about camera repairs just nice to know that Sony seems to be upping their game when it comes to repair and customer services . By the way I do not own a Sony product

Dave IS A TOTAL DUDE, I am a kid In Texas, and while in quarantine at home I have always dreamed of having the skills of filming and editing you have so, as a doer and not a thinker, I started a RU-vid channel to chase that dream. I just wanted to thank you for the inspiring videos and the encouraging content. One of the videos from the quarantine has just dropped and I would love some support! Thanks! New Video

I've had to use Sony's repair services in Sweden once. It was a few years back when the audio on my RX100 broke. I sent it in. My guarantee had expired and I waited for a cost estimate, but instead got the camera back. Audio fixed and for free. 😁📸

Reminds me of when I had to sent my X-T3 to fix the shutter. Not only was the turnaround quick (I explicitly told them I needed the camera in 2-3 days because I needed it for a shoot) but they also gave it the typical mini-service like sensor cleaning (which seems to be standard fare for repair jobs these days)

Glad you got things fixed relatively painlessly, and that your experience does not appear to be unique- judging by other comments. Could have been expensive!

Awesome. Glad to hear. 👍

I sent 2 cams to Sony repair in USA (my fault, both). Total times door-to-door were 8 calendar days, fixed/cleaned better than sent, software updated, both free except for outbound shipping. Zero complaints.

yaaa Rusty, got the spotlight. Thank you Mr. McKeegan.

I've used them twice, a camera warranty repair and a broken lens. Both occasions service was good

awww cute puppy!

They always clean it, But i am shocked they didn't tell you how many dog hairs they found inside :). Service really depends on country ...

All my Sony service has been great. They even replaced my old camera with a brand new one and gave me the remaining warranty on the new camera.

Nice try with the battery :D Im doing this on my camera too if im sending it for repair.

Glad things worked out - was wondering about it (no kidding). Nice try on the battery😁. How about an SD card? Did they reset the cam to initial factory default settings? (Did you double check the SN on the unit they sent you😁?) Out of curiosity, did you check the actuation count for the new shutter? Starting anew on shutter count should add value to the cam at trade-in/resell.

Extended warranty is the keyword here! Luckily I had registered mine and now the guy I sold my camera to is getting the benefit. It is remarkable how silent DPReview and Sonyalpharumors are about this issue. Money not only talks, it also shuts up.

Good 👍 Information

I think my A7III shutter started failing after under 2 weeks of getting it (under 800 photos). I sent it back because I regretted the purchase and I figured out later, from reviewing the last photos I took, that the shutter might have started failing. It does not feel safe to get this camera at all to me. If it can fail that quick then I’ll never feel safe, so to speak. What I’m wondering though is, do they put in a different shutter when you send it in (like a different shutter design? Or is it the same one? I imagine the other A7III cameras don’t have the same shutter, so maybe they can put in a better one when they get the A7III in for repair?

I’ve just bought a used A7iii from the London Camera Co. which they supplied new in January to a chap. It’s shutter count is less than 2k but as for Sony’s warranty, I have no idea if I’m covered at all or could use the extended warranty? If anyone could advise me that would be great 🙏👍

Oh He changed the lighting to RGB 😍😍

not entirely sure, but it should be valid in EU, and in UK as well, if you got a replacement of something under warranty, a new 2 year warranty is valid on that new part ... so if your shutter got replaced you should have rest of your extended warranty on the whole camera and the whole new 2 year warranty for the shutter :) at least thats how it works here :P

Umm no you’re in the way. Mine love to spread out on my side of the bed one on my put my pillow The Other on the bed itself right before I sleep LOL

Have you checked the serial number if they actually repaired your camera in that time or if they just send you a replacement?

Nobody: Dave: *Inhales deeply* "It's time for a big brain moment" *Takes out battery in hopes he will get a free one*

I wonder if you needed a UK bought camera to get that service in the UK?

MY camera just broke right n ow, it's frustrating it doesn't turn on. I hope Sony support warrany Manila team will be as what you have in your area. I'm very frustrated right now

Dave can you let us know after how many shots you had the failed shutter?

I don’t think he realises they gave him a whole new camera 😂

I had a very similar experience getting my camera fixed by the Sony repair centre, I didn’t hear from them when they received the camera and I had to chase a lot. They fixed my smashed screen but I realised after the 30 day repair warranty they hadn’t fixed an issue with the IBIS

The shutter just went bad on my A7RII. 5 years old, 35,000 actuations. $500. to repair. Do they replace with the same shutter that obviously has problems ? This from a camera that cost $2,700 at the time of purchase. The shutter should last between 150,000 and 200,000 actuations. Searching the internet, this seems to be more common than just bad luck. If I wasn't so invested in Sony lenses I'd definitely jump ship now that the other big names have caught up. Not happy, not should if I'm going to stick with Sony.

Ugh my shutter is going out and i just bought the camera. I hope sony can fix it and make it last this time :/

I've had dealt with Sony CS twice and gotten two vary different experiences. The first was January of 2019 when I had an issue with my 100-400GM and the tripod collar no longer rotating. The Sony site had me send the lens to Precision Camera and this is were things went bad. Got a repair quote of $980 with no details, requested details as to why a tripod collar cost so much and then given a 2nd quote of $1070 with the detail of "return to factory condition". Requested more details over the next week with nothing (operator at Precision Camera learned my voice), contacted Sony about my issues with Precision Camera and they said they would look into it. After another week finally told that they found dust behind the main element and a slight crack in it and got a 3rd repair quote of $1397. Contacted Sony again with all of this, then got a 4th quote of $1075 (which my insurance covered because this quote finally had actual details which were needed). It took 6 weeks from the time I sent it till I got it back and the rear connection plate was not fully screwed back in. 2nd case was last Dec after I dropped my 200-600G. This time when I contacted Sony they told me that they had recently added Photo Tech as a repair center so I used them. This time it took 5 weeks from door to door but the experience was much better. I received a detailed repair quote the first time, but unfortunately it took them a while to get the parts from Sony and they shipped it back to me after 3 weeks. Then FedEx lost my lens for 2 weeks (only live 100 miles from Photo Tech so it isn't like it was traveling that far). The lens works great and except for the hood you would never know it bounced off concert. So for US users I highly recommend using Photo Tech and not Precision Camera for repair work.

Where did your extended three year warranty come form? Sony are stating one year plus one extended warranty.

how many of us are frantically trying to register our warranties now...? LOL

“Activate your extended warranty”... hmmm... maybe a interpretation would be “if you don’t activate it, we’d really Like a plausible excuse to blame you for our failures”... yeah, that seems about right - Sony!!! Bullshit customer support

Pretty lame that you still have to have a card. All that should be tied to the camera serial

Happy to hear that. I had the same issue with my A7 III and apparently the shutter scratched a bit the glass which protects the sensor. Sony replaced the glass on the sensor but now I have a fairly visible piece of dust on pictures. It is between sensor and the glass. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Check if you don't have the same issue. Other than that everything works fine with mine as well.

"Never work with children or animals." - W.C. Fields

Known manufacturing faults like this should be covered by law and repaired/replaced free of charge regardless of any warranty remaining.

I wonder if the service would have been the same if you hadn't made a RU-vid video before you sent it. 😂

I had a tiiiiny bit of plastic fell loose of the SD-card that caused the SD-card not to "click in" while i had warranty.. On my service-papers they apparently change the whole motherbard/mainboard(or whatever its called in the camera-world)..

I have the A7Riii which has not failed, yet. I believe the shutter fail problem is happening with this camera as well. This is a manufacturing defect and should (there are legal precedents) be fixed free for everybody. Let's see what Sony does.

Glad you were able to get your camera repaired. I am just not keen on content creators asking to just "like" their video just because. Which is why I gave a thumbs down. 👎 Any video I watch will automatically get a 👎 if the person asked to "like" their video. The message should be "like, if you enjoyed the video" Just because it was uploaded, doesn't warrant an automatic "like" Have a nice day.

I live near the Sony centre in S. Wales and and have used their service to fix a camera and to check on a lens that i had dropped. Both times they charged me £177.50 both times to look at the item. Wierd and expensive.

so am i the first one XD

Canon is a 3 day turn around and includes a service and sensor clean. You can talk directly to an engineer at any time. Canon is brilliant. 3 week turn around is rubbish and simply not good enough. Thank you for yet another warning about slow Sony support.

1st

Sony? what a load of rubbish!! Sony Cameras suck!