Sony A200 Viewfinder Problem!

George7

George7

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George
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I recently bought a brand new Sony A200 Digital SLR as my first SLR and I am very happy with it in general, but I have noticed something which is constantly annoying me. When I look through the viewfinder, something shines in my eyes from inside the viewfinder unless I completely isolate all light coming into the viewfinder. It is really annoying me and quite distracting. It has come over from the left hand side and there seems to be a series of metal rings on both sides and it is only on the left hand side when it reflects. The rings don't seem off centre (more onto the left than onto the right for example) so I don't know what's going on!

Help me please! Is there something wrong with my camera or is this normal?

Cheers! :thumbs:
 
Hi George,I've only had my A200 for a short while and still getting to grips with it myself but I haven't experienced what you are seeing in the viewfinder and have just checked to make sure :thinking:
I assume your lens is seated properly ?
I'm sure someone with a more expert opinion will be along soon to help you out though :thumbs:
 
That does not sound at all right. I'd take the camera back to the shop.
 
Yeah to be honest I didn't notice any problems the day I got it, only the day after, so I'm not sure if I've done something without realising which has somehow moved the shiny rings to the right more or something, or moved the viewfinder lens (or something like that!) but now that I've noticed it, it's really aggravating. I wish I could get a picture but unfortunately it's near enough impossible. I will try when I get home though.. By the way, are there metal mirror(ey) rings in your a200 when you look into the lens at an angle? My sister has this camera as well but she is in Bath which is about 200 miles away so I can't really check hers :p
 
Small world ;) What times do you work? I'm really starting to think there is a problem now.. :( This is a picture I took down the viewfinder which pretty much shows what I see when I look down (well, almost.. it shows a bit more than I see of the inside of the viewfinder) but pay attention to the left hand side.. It's really annoying and distracting.

DSC08590.jpg


EDIT: Here's another pic showing the metal things which I think are causing the problem.

DSC08584-1.jpg
 
Looking at mine, I think it is meant to be there, although I have never really noticed it before.
 
leaky5 said:
Looking at mine, I think it is meant to be there, although I have never really noticed it before.
Click to expand...

Does yours reflect light when you're looking through the viewfinder though?

I have just emailed the seller (a camera shop in Cardiff), this is what I wrote.

I recieved the Camera (Sony A200) on Wednesday. It works well but I have noticed what seems to be a fault in the viewfinder. Whenever I look into the viewfinder, there is something which reflects any light getting into the back of the viewfinder into my eye which causes an extremely annoying 'artifact' on the left hand side of the viewfinder (only the left). The only way to stop this is to completely cover the area around the viewfinder with my hand to stop the light getting in which is impractical in normal circumstances. I think I know what is causing the reflections (some metal rings within the viewfinder) but they seem to be pretty normal and seem even on both sides, so I really don't know why this is happening. When I look at the viewfinder from a distance it looks pretty normal, the external plastic curves at the edges but I think it's supposed to be like that which makes it even more confusing. I have no idea what the cause of the problem is. I hope you can help!

Thanks

I would have written more but there was a character limit. :(

Hopefully I'll get a reply back soon.

Just to clarify, before I'd noticed this problem, I had not touched any of the delicate parts of the camera at all. When I recieved it, I got it out of it's box, put the lens on, done. Didn't touch anything like the sensor or the external plastic on the viewfinder at all. So I don't think it's something that's been manually dislodged..

What I really want to know now is exactly what's wrong... Or if it's supposed to be like that :( I think that's what's aggravating me the most, simply not knowing what the hell is actually wrong. I've been googling various things pretty much all day and have found no results at all which is a bit disconscerting. :shrug:
 
Do you wear glasses? If the viewfinder is not very well shielded, this will make it worse.
 
If it turns out not be a fault (other than a design fault) see if you can get a rubber eyecup for your camera so as to get a light seal when you look through the viewfinder.
 
I've just had a look at my A200 and I don't think I can see anything like that. Looking through the viewfinder, it's surrounded by black areas, no rings or reflections. I wear glasses by the way.
 
Hi guys just registered with this Forum and noticed the A200 thread so took a look.
I have had two A200's now and have not seen this prob before, most unusual.
However on the subject of the A200 I purchased my first from Amazon at the end of last September and on Thursday the lens decided to judder like crazy as soon as it was turned on.
I phoned Amazon who told me to talk to Sony which I did and got a reference number to prove that we had spoken about the problem then called Amazon back and within 15 hours a replacement A200K arrived on my doorstep via Citylink, most impressive Amazon.
The faulty A200K is being picked up by DHL on Monday.
 
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