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jppistu · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 781 Location: Puget Sound region

I have a Sony Alpha A100 (yes, it's old-ish for a DSLR, but I have no budget for a suitable upgrade). It's exhibiting bad behavior that used to happen on rare occasion but now happens regularly enough to make it difficult to use.

When I'm using the dial for shutter speed or aperture (same dial, what it affects depends on other settings) the setting will jump in the wrong direction, sometimes drastically.

For example, I'll be trying to get down to 1/125 and it will go 1/800, 1/640, 1/500, 1/400, 1/1000 (that's "thousand" not "hundred" and not because I changed direction on the dial). The next time I might get down to 1/500 and then it would jump to 1/2500 while I'm still trying to go the other way. Or with the aperture, it might go f5, f4, f3.5, f22.

I checked and I have the last firmware issued for this model (1.04), so a firmware upgrade won't save me from this obvious bug. The fact that it's doing it more frequently makes me think I may soon end up with a camera that only works in Programmed or Auto mode, which would not make me happy, to say the least.

If anybody has any input or suggested solutions (other than taking it in to a shop, which I've already ruled out for this body due to its age and the fact that I never liked it all that much to begin with), I'm open to suggestions. I did try searching on Google but couldn't find anybody else having this problem.

PaulCowan · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 4181 Location: Evolving

I don't know this camera but I do know that with Canon cameras there is a secondary battery hidden in the body to keep the date/time system going and remember the settings. When that battery dies (after four or five years) the camera starts to go haywire. Since the Sony must have some back-up power for the same purpose, I suggest checking to see if there is a hidden battery that needs replacing. It cost me $3 and two minutes with a screwdriver to bring my 5D back to life after it had spent several years in the morgue.

jppistu · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 781 Location: Puget Sound region

I thought about that but couldn't find any door/access port that revealed such a battery. After reading your message I looked again and still couldn't find anything, but it gave me a different approach for a Google search. That brought me {ahem} to an online copy of the camera manual. (Who reads those?! heh heh...) It does have a battery, but it's internal and supposedly recharges off the main battery or AC power. This many years down the road, though, it would make sense that the rechargeable battery might not hold a charge, or only a weak charge, and I could definitely see that causing flakiness in the operation of the camera.

I guess if it gets bad enough I may decide to take the thing apart and see if I can replace that battery, if a replacement part is available and not too pricey. Obviously its out of warranty, and if I ruin it, well, that will certainly be an excuse to shift my budget priorities. :) Otherwise, if it gets to the Auto/Programmed only stage and I don't want to bother with it, I'll just give it away or something. Maybe donate it to a small camera repair shop for parts. It's still usable, if frustrating at times, so I'm not going to do anything drastic yet.

I wonder if anybody will find this thread by searching on Google after experiencing the same problem...

jppistu · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 781 Location: Puget Sound region

I should add that I was looking for external access to that battery because I thought I'd seen that on another camera. But that might be me going senile...

Anyway, thanks for the input!

PaulCowan · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 4181 Location: Evolving

The canon cameras have a little tray on the bottom that unscrews, so, yes, some cameras have external access.

Finding this thread won't do anyone any good unless you can get to the battery, replace it and report back on whether or not that fixes the problem.

BTW, where would you find a new Sony internal, rechargable battery to put in? Unless you can get a replacement there is no point in dismantling the camera (which, if you are anything like me, would guarantee it never worked again, anyway).

jppistu · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 781 Location: Puget Sound region

jens61er · Joined: 07 Sep 2010 Posts: 32 Location: Denmark

I think its the contacts inside the dial that are dirty.

I have no idea how to clean them, but you could try turning the wheel quickly in both directions and see if that maybe can loosen and move the dirt around, making better contact.

But I also suggest looking/asking in http://www.dyxum.com/'s forum.

Jens

jppistu · Joined: 20 May 2006 Posts: 781 Location: Puget Sound region

Wow... I had thought a little about it being dirt/dust but didn't really think about how to address that. I just tried your idea, I spun it fast back and forth quite a bit, and then powered it on. Definite improvement! It did a little bit of skipping in the wrong direction, and some instances where I'd move the dial but the setting wouldn't change (something it's also been doing but I forgot to mention earlier), but overall it's behaving much better than it did before.

I will definitely check out the dyxum.com forums too.

Thanks!

jens61er · Joined: 07 Sep 2010 Posts: 32 Location: Denmark

You are welcome.

I hope it will be possible to clean the contacts, because the quick turning massage will probably only help temporarely.

Jens