Sony A6700 Potential Lock Ups On The A6700

[dcisive]

I was out shooting with my A6700 yesterday with the 200-600G attached. I was out looking for birds since it was the first sunny day I'd seen in almost 2 weeks here. It was about 42 degrees F and about 70% humidity. That said I managed to nail some great bird shots for a bit. Then I went to my buttons that run the Subject Recognition On/Off (I have the red record button set for that) and the AF-On button on the top back for the purpose of running through the subjects desired selection. I was hitting the AF-On button quickly to cycle to Bird just making sure that's what it was on and I got a LCD screen with hash marks on it then it died.

I removed the battery, reinserted it and fired it up. Did the same thing half a dozen times. I was thinking "oh boy I got a defective camera?" So later I went to another location and this time virtually ALL the shots of birds were out of focus. I got home. Disassembled the lens, battery and let it sit for a bit while I began working with the images on my card. An hour or so later I re assembled it all and tried my best to get it to repeat the offense. I rapidly hit the AF-On button when selecting the various subjects and it simply would NOT burb this time and worked perfectly.

So.......this morning I called Sony Tech Support and spoke to a Tech. After describing the problem I got and that I couldn't get it to repeat he asked #1 were my shooting conditions involving cold or moist environment? I said Yes. and #2 How are you holding, supporting and walking around with the lens. I told him most often when transporting it I tend to walk around with my fingers on the grip allowing the lens to hang as I walk. Then support it by my left hand when shooting.

So...........here's what he had to say. He said he has run into some fairly rare instances where with the smaller bodies, if one is using their larger zoom lenses. Like the heavy ones especially the 200-600G, that if a person is NOT supporting it by either the lens or at least by the tripod mount (in my case I have that nice Kirk replacement foot which is longer, lighter and more solid then the stock one) that they've noted there can be a small temporary compromise of the connection of the contacts between the body and lens. Due largely to the fact the weight difference is substantial. Also what can contribute to this is the very slight compromise of the contact added with some temperature/moisture in it's environment.

He said what points to this is I had not had it happen the other day when I did happen to walk outside in similar weather but carried it by the tripod mount not the body hanging the lens off of it. Also that with NO other lens does it nor has it happened. So I'm going to assume at this time he's right and I have nothing to worry about. Because I sure don't want to have to return this baby again. I'm enjoying it far too much. If there were in fact some issue of firmware/hardware that was epidemic in this model (as has been seen on a Reddit forum I searched this on) then I would have no choice. I'll keep you all updated on whether this may happen again. Pray it doesn't that's for sure. The results when it worked yesterday were exemplary.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Wow, never heard of that before, but then again the explanation does sound plausible.

 

[dcisive]

While it may be possible, that Sony's "intention" for the A6700 may have been for a small lightweight travel type system. There are a LOT of folks out there using 100-400's and 200-600's on this camera because of it's shear performance parameters. But I suppose it could be that the mount and attendant electronics not being so heavy duty might have been lost in the mix a bit. It certainly, by observation doesn't seem to be in any way compromised as the mount is just fine and solid, I guess you can't get around physics entirely. So care has to be applied in this case. I had that lens with a A7RV for a bit and never felt it was a weight compromise or something to be concerned about. Hopfully it's an issue in the past now.

 

[AlphaWorld]

I have attached my strap to the lugs on the 200-600 rather than the camera. It’s a little less convenient, but it means that I have a camera body weighing less than a kilo supported by 2.1kg of lens instead of 2.1 kg of lens hanging from the camera mount. If you are hanging onto the grip, then the weight isn’t hanging straight down, but at an angle, applying torque to the mount.

And I mean any body, not just the little A6700. I do this with the A1 and other bodies.

I think they put those lugs on the lens for a reason…

Not saying anyone had to be as paranoid as me, but it might avoid that issue.

 

[dcisive]

I have a replacement camera coming tomorrow. This one had better NOT do this hiccup or I will have no choice but to throw the towel in on this camera. I don't want to believe it's an endemic issue that will surface time to time. I have NO patience for issues built into products. My Z9 is flawless in operation and I DO expect that from this camera as well. We'll see I'll let you know.

 

[dcisive]

Just to follow up. The replacement camera does NOT do the lockups and is perfection. Glad I sent it back for replacement.

 

[Vogelerik]

I was out shooting with my A6700 yesterday with the 200-600G attached. I was out looking for birds since it was the first sunny day I'd seen in almost 2 weeks here. It was about 42 degrees F and about 70% humidity. That said I managed to nail some great bird shots for a bit. Then I went to my buttons that run the Subject Recognition On/Off (I have the red record button set for that) and the AF-On button on the top back for the purpose of running through the subjects desired selection. I was hitting the AF-On button quickly to cycle to Bird just making sure that's what it was on and I got a LCD screen with hash marks on it then it died.

I removed the battery, reinserted it and fired it up. Did the same thing half a dozen times. I was thinking "oh boy I got a defective camera?" So later I went to another location and this time virtually ALL the shots of birds were out of focus. I got home. Disassembled the lens, battery and let it sit for a bit while I began working with the images on my card. An hour or so later I re assembled it all and tried my best to get it to repeat the offense. I rapidly hit the AF-On button when selecting the various subjects and it simply would NOT burb this time and worked perfectly.

So.......this morning I called Sony Tech Support and spoke to a Tech. After describing the problem I got and that I couldn't get it to repeat he asked #1 were my shooting conditions involving cold or moist environment? I said Yes. and #2 How are you holding, supporting and walking around with the lens. I told him most often when transporting it I tend to walk around with my fingers on the grip allowing the lens to hang as I walk. Then support it by my left hand when shooting.

So...........here's what he had to say. He said he has run into some fairly rare instances where with the smaller bodies, if one is using their larger zoom lenses. Like the heavy ones especially the 200-600G, that if a person is NOT supporting it by either the lens or at least by the tripod mount (in my case I have that nice Kirk replacement foot which is longer, lighter and more solid then the stock one) that they've noted there can be a small temporary compromise of the connection of the contacts between the body and lens. Due largely to the fact the weight difference is substantial. Also what can contribute to this is the very slight compromise of the contact added with some temperature/moisture in it's environment.

He said what points to this is I had not had it happen the other day when I did happen to walk outside in similar weather but carried it by the tripod mount not the body hanging the lens off of it. Also that with NO other lens does it nor has it happened. So I'm going to assume at this time he's right and I have nothing to worry about. Because I sure don't want to have to return this baby again. I'm enjoying it far too much. If there were in fact some issue of firmware/hardware that was epidemic in this model (as has been seen on a Reddit forum I searched this on) then I would have no choice. I'll keep you all updated on whether this may happen again. Pray it doesn't that's for sure. The results when it worked yesterday were exemplary.

Hi, I am new to this forum. Reading your experience I think I have had similar hiccups with my A6400 attached to the 200-600 lens. Quite e few times the autofocus would not work. Finally I found out that uncoupling the body and lens a little and snapping it back will do the trick to make it work again.
I am considering upgrading to the A6700, but might run into the same problem again...

 

[dcisive]

It's not really the A6700's fault. Hanging a 4.7lb lens onto that body's mount and hanging it by the body isn't a really great idea. I did happen to get another body as a replacement and never carried it that way much again. So far never had it do that issue again so that must be the trick. Just carry by the lens and you'll be fine. Or better yet place that combo in a Kinesis holster bag and you'll never have issues.