Sony 100-400 GM help, Tripod collar broken, seeking solutions

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Kopite4Ever

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Good evening,

So the tripod collar on my sony 100-400 lens was turning but not loosening or tightening the collar at all to allow vertical shots when mounted on a tripod. I took it apart and managed to use some pin style players and could loosen it and tighten the mechanism, but that's not ideal in the field really. It's the little screw that is doing nothing. So in my infinite wisdom I tried to glue the screw into the hole and glue the knob to the screw with some really sticky gorilla glue stuff. It worked for a few turns but the same outcome now occurs so turns out this bit of genius didn't really have the desired effect.

Now any suggestions on shooting vertical on a tripod given this predicament? The lens is a heavy bugger and I don't fancy just attaching the camera to the tripod with this lens and just trying to hold/balance the tripod. Since the collar mechanism does not come off I am all out of ideas. Is it a case of send it to Sony (not in warranty so god knows how much that would cost) or just hand hold any vertical shots and bump the iso, shutter speed and hope for the best.

Cheers
 
Sounds like the thread is stripped. With the proviso that I haven't seen your collar, the best solution is to retap the hole to the next size up and replace with the appropriate new screw. If you know anybody into model engineering or similar, now is the time to get friendly :)
 
Yeah the thread is absolutely gone, I bought it second hand so its probably been over tightened to hell in the past :rolleyes:

Sadly the only person who I knew was an incredible model engineer sadly passed away a few years ago. Maybe his son kept his things I will enquire.

Cheers
 
I think I’ve found a site that does Sony parts for these lenses but the item names mean nothing as there are no images. Gonna contact Sony see if they can tell me what I need to reconstruct it
 
Kopite4Ever said:
I think I’ve found a site that does Sony parts for these lenses but the item names mean nothing as there are no images. Gonna contact Sony see if they can tell me what I need to reconstruct it
Click to expand...
It sounds like you’ve been unlucky buying second hand. I’d contact Sony to see what they can do. It’s a £2K lens after all so I’d try to properly sort out the issue. Don’t forget any issues like you have will hit the resale price if you ever sell in the future. It will also make it harder to sell too as I doubt any one would be happy to buy a lens with this issue.
 
For anyone that's interested here is Sony's reply to this situation after contacting them (which was a bit of nightmare tbh). The foreign call centre just couldn't grasp what I was trying to explain I had to record a video.

Thank you for contacting Sony Support.

In regards to your enquiry, please note that the part number for the part number below :

(A-2181-290-A TRIPOD RING ASSY (9145))

Also please note that this part is not available separately from the tripod ring assy and we do not advise to change it yourself as the mount assy needs to be removed first, if you want to change the ring assy. As a result, the lens may be not correctly adjusted and this could result in partial blur.

-------------------------------------------------------

Basically the screw and knob I need (as seen on this image, they don't supply separately so it needs this whole part in the image. Does not look too bad I thought & I follow on an enquiry for a cost: its this simple cylindrical metal housing nothing more nothing less afterall.

1607524013705.png

The quotation for repair was the part @ £536 inc VAT yes thats right a 1/5 the cost of the lens on this metal circle with a blood plastic nob !, 2 hours labour @ £78 p/h because its a GM lens then insured postage on top of that :rolleyes:

That's about £750 to simply replace a plastic f'in nob and a tiny screw !! That's nearly half price of what I bought the lens for. Not really sure this even warrants a response I just wanted to vent some anger. Might just chuck it down the stairs and see if the home insurance will pay out.
 
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Problem is I know I am being fobbed off with this. Sony's own website sends your to here for parts : https://uk.eetgroup.com/Guides/Sony

I can find the trip knob https://www.eetgroup.com/en-gb/457427702-sony-tripod-knob-wid-w124520383

I just need the little stopped screw that goes with and I am sorted. will cost all of about £30 but no one there wants to help me. I have been onto the service centre and they flat refused to let me speak to a lens technician or even email them. I feel like selling it all up and going to Canon I am well fed up with Sony's attitude. I have had this with an OLED tv I had with them.

I own nearly 10k's worth of Sony camera gear and they don't want to know, really poor customer service.

I NEVER put complaints in but I dont really want to leave this.
 
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right I have done a fair bit of model engineering in my time .but I cant seem to grasp what your actually trying to do . (need more detailed photos ) really . could the thread be tapped out ? without actually seeing or being familiar with the broken part its hard to come up with a working solution .balls in your court
 
The exterior mechanism is this.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pipukyks78m4unh/IMG_2426.HEIC?dl=0

This is the locking screw with the rubber end that screws into the mechanism above which tightens or loosens the barrel. That locking screw has another smaller screw with turns it. Said pin/screw is usually attached to the plastic knob. Mine now has the pin/screw snapped off into it.

www.dropbox.com

IMG_2427.HEIC

Shared with Dropbox
www.dropbox.com www.dropbox.com

This, the said pin snapped with the other items.

www.dropbox.com

IMG_2428.HEIC

Shared with Dropbox
www.dropbox.com www.dropbox.com

hope that makes some sort of sense ?
 
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the black fox said:
right I have done a fair bit of model engineering in my time .but I cant seem to grasp what your actually trying to do . (need more detailed photos ) really . could the thread be tapped out ? without actually seeing or being familiar with the broken part its hard to come up with a working solution .balls in your court
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The difficulty is that you have to dismantle the lens to get the collar off - unlike the lenses with a collars I've owned! Retapping and making a new screw is pretty trivial if you happen to have a lathe.
 
a photo of your lens showing what you have left with the broken knob off may help to see what's needed . is it just a stud showing ?

Rob.
sorry just seen the photo
 
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Stegosaurus said:
The difficulty is that you have to dismantle the lens to get the collar off - unlike the lenses with a collars I've owned! Retapping and making a new screw is pretty trivial if you happen to have a lathe.
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The whole system is external to the tripod collar itself I dont need to take the collar off to fix this issue. I can technically still have this working. I just tighten and loosen the screw by a small pair of pin pliers instead of the plastic knob.
 
no the locking screw is in tact but the smaller screw that connects to plastic knob to said locking screw has snapped
 
do you just need some sort of knob fitted to this ?

Rob.
sXwQOZyN.jpeg
 
GyRob said:
do you just need some sort of knob fitted to this ?

Rob.
View attachment 301475
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There is a snapped smaller screw in there. Blue Arrow on my image.

you can see the smaller screw snapped off in the bottom right of this other image. That snapped screw is usually fixed into the plastic knob
 

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robs a engineer so should be able to help if thats the offending part above ? either drill it out and tap it or silver solder a new top on it..screw extractor should get the old screw out fairly easy. I presume the plastic cap dome fits atop this ?
 
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I am utterly utterly amazed I cannot just buy those 2 screws from Sony its absolutely baffling they are just screws to me as a layman. This cannot be the first time this has happened to someone with this lens or a similar telephoto they produce.
 
Ah now I see all the pieces ,it looks like a fairly simple fix .. I presume the circular (shiny) disk just fits in the plastic cap and is secured by the knurled edge .. ? If it was mine I would silver solder the disk back on the large screw section and then refit , perhaps adding a touch of glue to hold it .. if you don’t have the skills or blowtorch to do that another alternative would be to go to a car parts shop and buy some liquid metal 2 part glue and simply glue them back together ,it’s a epoxy glue that sets as hard as the metal .. then refit either option even buying a small blowtorch and silver solder will cost under £20

It’s very very easy to silver solder ,you would need a small blowtorch about £15 and a small strip of silver solder with built in fluxing possible place disk upside down on a brick or tile the place the large screw on top of it . Heat till cherry red then apply the solder . Leave to cool then refit into dome . . I might have some you can have in the workshop will look tomorrow
 
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Kopite it’s now Saturday night last post on this was weds . At least a thank you for trying to help or a line to say that did or didn’t help would be nice .
Grrrrrrrrrrrr why do I bother
 
Your right I should have said thank you sooner. So thank you for the replies.

Having said that I have been on a 4 day 14 hour shift pattern since Thursday in the front of the pandemic so it hasn’t been my priority. You yes your right grrrr
 
No problems thanks for the thanks . LOL .. have you managed to fixit yet . If your lacking in basic skills the liquid metal is the best bet at around £7 . I mended a iffy tripod with it
 
I had a search on google last night. It seems there are a few people have experience of the plastic knob has cracking or just spins. It looks like a design fault to me as if I’m correct the metal threaded shaft locks onto the plastic knob where the small rectangle part is and a very small locking thread attached the round top after the plastic knob has been fitted.

It’s obvious to me the plastic knob or very small thread on the round cap will be the weak points. The small rectangle is far too small to give a good lasting connection point between the two.

Initially I thought it was like the larger hoods where it’s just a push down locking mechanism but there seems to be a locking ring inside the collar to spread the locking mechanism across the barrel rather than on one point. That may be another thing to consider if using metal glue as it’s only one chance to get that connect right. You won’t be able to disable to try again.

If you have one of these lenses don’t be too heavy on tightening this knob up as it looks quite easy to strip or break the thread.

I also found this US website that sells the parts but doesn’t deliver to the UK.

SEL100400GM Sony Replacement Parts - Encompass

encompass.com encompass.com

If your plastic knob doesn’t look like this anymore you’re going to have issues fitting it back together and it working.

24A074D7-7DFA-4670-8076-5DF106D9EFFC.jpeg

It’s looks like your plastic knob has been chewed up in the way I’d expect it to as the rectangle connection (key) isn’t a very good connection point for rotational forces at plied by a plastic knob. The Plastic knob will likely wear after it’s turned back and forth multiple times causing the gap to widen until it becomes a full circle.

Looking at the photos and that website I posted I’d say the order of assembly I’m should be:

1/ Plastic knob located onto the small rectangle key on the large thread section.
2/ Round cap with small thread to lock the plastic knob and large thread together.
3/ External plastic cap on top to finish off the aesthetic finish of the plastic knob (likely held by glue or adhesive tape).

To be honest I’d be telling Sony it’s a clear design fault as a plastic hole that’s likely 1-2mm thick at best to fit onto a metal key will chew the plastic. There are several examples of it happening on google. Anyone with this lens and the plastic knob rocks slightly when undoing it will have the same issue in the future.
 
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A large diameter knob on a small diameter shaft is always going to cause problems. Frankly I would think of it as a fail safe... the shaft breaks before a heavy handed idiot damages his lens! Although I've used 'liquid metal' on certain things, and I hate to be a downer, I think you'll be lucky for it to hold under these particular condtions because the adhered surface is so small. If all else fails, PM me and I'll see what I can do.
 
Thanks all. I have a few days off now so will have a look into a few suggestions and see if I can get a solution going.
 
Stegosaurus said:
A large diameter knob on a small diameter shaft is always going to cause problems. Frankly I would think of it as a fail safe... the shaft breaks before a heavy handed idiot damages his lens! Although I've used 'liquid metal' on certain things, and I hate to be a downer, I think you'll be lucky for it to hold under these particular condtions because the adhered surface is so small. If all else fails, PM me and I'll see what I can do.
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If the knob is designed as a fail safe then that part should be available as a replacement part on its own and not need the whole mechanism replacing at a cost of £750! Designed in fail safe mechanisms are supposed to be designed to be easy fixes and save costly repairs not cause the replacement of whole assemblies. I think it’s safe to say it’s likely poor design. I’d like to see Sony’s destructive testing MTTF results for this part as there should be testing data for a part that’s often opened and closed.
 
rob-nikon said:
If the knob is designed as a fail safe then that part should be available as a replacement part on its own and not need the whole mechanism replacing at a cost of £750! Designed in fail safe mechanisms are supposed to be designed to be easy fixes and save costly repairs not cause the replacement of whole assemblies. I think it’s safe to say it’s likely poor design. I’d like to see Sony’s destructive testing MTTF results for this part as there should be testing data for a part that’s often opened and closed.
Click to expand...

Agreed.... my remark was intended to be tongue in cheek :)
 
Hi all. So I think I have the same issue with my 100-400 lens. Took the collar tightening knob off and the hole on the plastic knob is practically a perfect circle and it clearly isn’t going to turn the rectangle on the collar tightening screw. The cheapest replacement I can find is in the US and is $65 before tax and delivery. Surely they can be bought in the UK?
The only link I could find to buy was on Partssimple.
anyone managed to source this in the UK. Like you are saying the design surely means this must happen a lot. Thanks James
 
No updates from kopite so we don’t know if the problem has been resolved or not .
 
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