Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Sony 4k authorized service required?

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Posted by Eric Robinson (Member # 2966) on 05-25-2010, 01:17 AM:

I'm from the school of hard knocks. Throw a projector at me and then I reverse engineer it or ask other techs to learn about it. So far I have not received any official training on anything.

So, unfortunately, our company had some Sony 4Ks installed. I know Tony B. your going to tell me we are [sex]

Anyway I made a comment to the install tech that we could make aq few adjustments down the road with one of the lens files and he commented that that would require a service call as if to imply that I wouldn't have access to it.

So, my question is: Does working on a Sony 4k require some type of official training? I'm used to just hacking my way in.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 05-25-2010, 01:25 AM:

Unlock any of the doors and good getting the units to operate again. Needs a code to be back to normal and only the techs have that code....

Posted by Demetris Thoupis (Member # 833) on 05-25-2010, 10:34 AM:

Most probably the code is something simple like 1234 or 0000 !!! [Big Grin]

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 05-25-2010, 02:07 PM:

quote: Eric Robinson
So, unfortunately, our company had some Sony 4Ks installed. I know Tony B. your going to tell me we are

And I'm not one to disappoint you. [Big Grin]

Get on the horn to Sony and hope they can get to you in a reasonable time frame. And if you're super lucky or get the tech drunk you have a very slim chance of getting him to tell you the codes. [Smile]

Hopefully you can post back in a few days with a warm and fuzzy story about their great tech support, but I'm not holding my breath.

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 05-25-2010, 03:12 PM:

Why would now be different than then? Louis

Posted by Michael Wheable (Member # 3327) on 05-25-2010, 03:58 PM:

Sony support are very good here in the UK but there ain't much we can do to the projectors other than change the lamp so pretty pointless delving into the insides. The manual that Sony should have supplied you gives all the technical info we need to know.
To the question of Sony training, ours was how to get the program on the screen using the TMS and the usual this bit does that etc.

Posted by Matt Johnston (Member # 5457) on 05-25-2010, 06:10 PM:

I've been a 35mm guy for a while and will always love 35mm.

That being said, I don't mind the Sony. Which model are you using?

Which files are you referring to? If you have any specific questions, shoot me a PM.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-25-2010, 06:11 PM:

Keep in mind that Sony charges on the order of 180.00 an hour if they send their own techs out. Assumming you have no service contract. The good news is that Sony will train you. You start with an on-line training program and if you can pass that then you are open to do formal training at Sony.

Mark

Posted by Eric Robinson (Member # 2966) on 05-26-2010, 01:30 PM:

Well so far I haven't been able to access any technical info on the Sony websites without registering. Then when I filled out and submitted the registration form:

My Sony Registration

A technical problem occurred, please try again later.

The form asked me to pick a country I was from and the United States was not on the list so I had to pick "other"

So far I'd say support is not easy. [thumbsdown]

I just found the Sony training course I would need, only $3000.00

Posted by Ian Parfrey (Member # 5122) on 05-26-2010, 04:50 PM:

Eric.

I'll play back-up to Tony if he doesn't say you're [sex]

ed.

Like you, I am one who has a life-long enrollment to the University of Hard Knocks. Maybe it is this that makes it hard for me to grasp why anyone would purchase- and therefore own- a piece of equipment that is bound by an unbreakable umbilical cord to the manufacturer... and by definition, at the manufacturer's ( and related Service Tech's) mercy. Is it because they consider the purchaser too stupid to perform their own servicing on that equipment? Or is it purely to lock in that purchaser to overpriced service contracts?

I'm all the way with Tony on this.

D-Crapema (copyright Tony Bandiera Jr) seems to want buyers to fork out plenty $$$ for equipment that depreciates exceedingly quickly, give control to a centralised, remote point AND stiff the buyer for rediculously priced service training and/or contracts.

Granted, there are owners out there that should never be allowed near ANY precision piece of equipment- but hey, if they buy it then let them do what they want with it. If they stuff it up, THEN charge them the earth to fix it...it is their problem.

But there is NO way I'll be forking out these sums of money to buy a D Crapema machine and be saddled with this kind of "ownership". One may as well lease then throw away.

After the SDDS fiasco, Sony should stick to broadcast and leave Cinema alone.

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 05-26-2010, 09:07 PM:

What Ian said. [Big Grin]

LOL with the copyright on "D-Crapema" being mine, from now on anyone else using it must pay me royalties. [Big Grin]

Eric, I do feel sorry for you. It is a shame that this industry in general seems hell-bent on self-destruction.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-26-2010, 11:28 PM:

quote: Ian Parfrey
After the SDDS fiasco, Sony should stick to broadcast and leave Cinema alone.

Although they do make some dam good broadcast gear they are not well liked there either. I heard recently they took a new HD camera to either CBS or NBC and were thrown out...

Mark

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 05-27-2010, 10:47 AM:

I can understand if you lease, rent, or finance a peice of equipment not having access to some service areas because you do not fully own it and the rental house has to be able to rent it again or the finance company needs to have it's investment in good working order because the loan would be secured with the equipment. However if you own the equipment outright how can anyone (legally) stop you from doing whatever it is you want to do with your property wether it is right/wrong or good/bad for it?

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-27-2010, 12:58 PM:

They can't legally stop the owner from doing anything, but that doesn't mean that they have to provide the information necessary to service the unit (e.g. passwords), either. They can also claim that altering the unit makes it ineligible for possible future software upgrades (thus possibly rendering it unusable now or in the future).

Car manufacturers do the same thing--google the Massachusetts "right to repair" legislation for some information on that industry and one attempt to change things. With many modern cars, only dealers have access to certain types of diagnostic information, essentially forcing customers to use dealers' service departments, rather than independent mechanics.

Personally, I find this attitude objectionable, and believe that manufacturers of any product should feel ethically obligated to provide (possibly for a resaonable fee) service documentation for their equipment. That said, this becomes more difficult for software-based products. Is Dolby obligated to provide users with the source code for the CP650? That is about as likely to happen as Microsoft providing users with the source code for Windows.

There is no doubt that we will see more issues like this in the future, both within and outside of the cinema industry.

Posted by Eric Robinson (Member # 2966) on 06-01-2010, 07:26 PM:

What a bargain [Eek!]

I just got this pricing from Sony for access to information about my new Sony 4K's

New Electronic Library Subscriptions
ESML Dealer 1st Year $950
ESML Factory 1st Year $1800
ESML Factory & Dealer 1st Year $2595

Technical Bulletin
1 user - $155.00 / year

Looks like I am SOL