A900 Mirror - detached?

Hey all,

Not sure if anyone else has had this problem, but.... After taking a photo with my a900 over the weekend, my viewfinder went black. First thought, did I somehow flip that little long exposure shutter down over OVF? Nope... Popped off the lens to look inside, and the mirror that would normally direct the view up to the OVF was sitting at an angle, loose, on top of where it should be mounted. Looks like it's normally glued here. Mine isn't anymore.. :(

Anyway, has anyone had this happen or heard about it before? Looks like it can just be glued back in place. However, I'd rather let someone else do that rather than risk screwing it up myself. Taking it into my local shop tomorrow, as it looks like an easy job for someone with a clean room and steady hand to take care of. Camera needs a good cleaning anyway...

Greg

Camera is in the shop right now, about to be sent to Sony for a formal estimate, otherwise I'd send a photo of it. I really should have taken some photos to document the issue, but, yah, blew that one...

Anyway, the mirror is still attached to one thin piece (frame) of plastic, but shows glue spots where it was attached to the box itself too. I did not find any other loose parts while doing a cursory examination, but if a retaining clip was lodged somewhere, I may have missed it.

The rough guesstimate was that it'd be $350-$400 to fix this and basically "refurbish" the camera, including full cleaning and calibration. We'll see what Sony says when they actually get it in their hands.

Greg

I'll definitely be sure to reply once I hear more. I expect something next week at the earliest. Will be interesting to see if it's covered under warranty.

In the meantime, someone else found a reference to my exact problem with a Canon 5d. http://captainkimo.com/canon-eos-5d-mirror-problem-it-fell-off/

For the Canon, it actually warranted a recall at one point... So, I don't feel totally alone on this one now... ;)

Short update.... Heard back from Sony. Unfortunately, camera was out of warranty. Not shocked, as I am the second owner and I didn't know the exact purchase or manufacture date.

So, it'll be $382 to replace mirror and a few small parts that were damaged when it came loose and tried to flip up while detached. ETA about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks.

They also noted that the prism was a bit dirty and gave me a quote on taking that out and cleaning it as well. This one hurt... Another $412 to disassemble everything and clean it all out. I skipped their offer for that service. It's not going to affect the quality of the camera's output, and I never noticed an issue previously.

I'm a little curious how the prism could have gotten as dirty as they made it sound. I do use the camera in some dusty environments, but I rarely have had to clean the sensor. Still, has me thinking about the merits of a better sealed body for my personal use.

Next update when the camera comes back home....

Okay, camera came back last Friday, only a couple days after it was received by Sony. So, turn-around was less than half the time quoted.

As for the repairs, seems great. They did give the camera a very good cleaning, so that was a nice. They had to replace the mirror and part of the mirror box where the mirror attaches. They also replaced the focus screen, as that appeared to be damaged when the mirror came loose.

The pentaprism seems fine. I'm sure there is probably some dirt or film/condensation marks on it here or there, but I can't see any problems with normal usage. They gave the view finder a great external cleaning, and that is all I ever felt it needed. I've always had a little trouble getting that perfectly clean up in the corners, etc...

Anyway, happy camper. Wish it were still under warranty, but as I purchased it second hand, and the original owner hadn't purchased an extended warranty, I can't complain. Even after the ~$385 repair, my initial used price purchase + repairs is less than $2000 and I've had 2+ years of good use so far.

Now I hope for at least another year or so out of it as my primary, but we'll see how the 24mp SLT FF does out in the wild... Would really like to have a more sports/action friendly camera with better weather sealing...

A week later, no issues to report. All good with the refurbished camera...

Had my old 28-135mm Minolta cleaned up while the camera was in the shop and it's doing well too. Had an old filter ring stuck on there from a previous owner and they were able to remove that without issue. Other than the off-white color between the ribs of the rubber grip, the lens looks and feels like new again...

Anyway, glad to have it back. Hope to get some good miles out of it while waiting for the a99 or what'ev the next FF to hit the market and come down in price to something I can afford... ;)

I guess since there haven't been any posts here for over two years that no one else has had the problem since? Well today was my lucky day. Taking some photos at a friends house of their new son and the viewfinder went blank. As per the OP I thought I'd knocked the viewfinder curtain but in fact no. I heard something loose inside so carefully removed the lens and found the top layer of the mirror had come away. I'll try to take a pic when I get a chance.

Greg, I take it that it didn't reoccur after getting it sent in to Sony? 2 years down the line would you have done anything different?