Sony is known for developing it fantastic cameras, we can’t deny that but the camera we’ll be talking about today… well, it initially seemed like a great piece of hardware. While the Sony A7 III has been one our Top 10 System Cameras for a few months, it seems it has a major defect that’s resulted in Sony facing legal action. A US-based lawsuit was brought against Sony after several A7 III owners discovered their shutter completely destroyed, which obviously renders the camera unusable.

According to DIY Photography, the lawsuit states that, despite Sony’s claims that the A7 III features a shutter that actuates 200,000 times before eventually breaking, several users have reported a breaking shutter between “between 10,000 and 50,000” uses. In the best-case scenario for folks that have experienced this mechanical failure, they’re only getting a quarter of the promised uses. Even worse, this defect reportedly happens just after the year-long warranty expired, forcing consumers to fork out between R7,500 and R10,000 for repairs.

Shut it, Sony

While it’s not confirmed how this shutter defect is caused, the filer of the lawsuit, John Guerriero, speculates that the problem occurs “…[w]hen a user removes the lens, the shutter is closed and stuck. In most instances the shutter has become detached… the shutter blade catches on the front edge as it moves down in taking a picture … because the blades are positioned farther forward, so they ‘catch’ and fail to fully clear.”

Users will apparently begin to hear an “atypical” shutter sound just before the device fails. This is then followed by the display turning black with a message that reads, “Camera Error. Turn off then on”. You’ve probably figured this out already, but turning it off and on again doesn’t fix the problem.

Without a shutter the camera is completely unusable. While the lawsuit doesn’t specify how many people have been affected by the problem, it must have been reported by a fair few to be classified as a class-action case.

Source: DIY Photography