ActionCam case design fault ? (SPK-AS2)

[seboyad]

Hi,

I have three AS100V cams.  Two of which are bike mounted. The third is not used in the case, so that one shows no problems.  

I have had them for about 6 months and they are used regularly in their cases.  I am very careful with them and they have not been dropped or used in a way which might damage the case.

My problem is the two bike mounted ones have developed the same crack in the case door where it is hooked on at the top of the case body.  To me they look like stress fractures due to a weak design. Sony support have basically said I must have damaged them during use, but if you take a look at my high res close-up in the attached link I don't see any obvious impact marks/scuffs which could have cracked it and certainly not the same crack on both cases.

So what do you fellow SPK-AS2 users and Sony think?  Do you have the same issue after a similar amount of use? Is it a design fault in your opinions?  How should I proceed with support?

http://s312.photobucket.com/user/blurb182/library/ActioCam%20Case

[Pumpkin_Duke]

Hi,

I have the same case for my AC and having no trouble with the housing - no cracks at all only lots of scratches.

Basically I'm using teh AC with my dogs - so not very carefully.

I would say you should contact support again.

Cheers

PD

[jumpsuit]

.....plus could you take a photo of the two cases side by side showing the cracks?

This will help you more with your discussions with customer services.

[seboyad]

Thanks for the comments.

I've uploaded the photos I sent the support team which include the three cams next to each other with the barely used and non-cracked case in the center of the triple cam photos.

http://s312.photobucket.com/user/blurb182/library/ActioCam%20Case

As mentioned the cams are exclusively bar mounted front and rear facing on my commuting bike and used daily. Thinking about it I suspect the vibrations/impacts of the road surface may be too much for the small piece of plastic to withstand.  A bit strange for such a weakness on an action cam really.  

Luckily the casing still seems watertight and I have no intention of using for diving, so it should be OK for now, but if it deteriorates, probably after the warranty expires, my concern is there will be water ingress and whilst the cam is splash resistant the case will fog up as we all know!

I will get back to the support people, but I was hoping for some useful feedback through this thread to point them at.

Thanks again.

[seboyad]

Interestingly, the SPK-AS2 case is now out of stock on the Sony Store and so I went to see what case is now used on the HDR-AS200V which has the same form factor as the AS100.

The new case is apparently the SPK-AS2 !!  With a modified door assembly with a different plastic used.  It looks like a more flexible type of plastic.  Hmm, why would that be ?  Could be a simple redesign, but the cynic in me thinks they are simply addressing an issue in the original design.

[WetFish]

Yes, interesting, interesting.  Perchance have you partaken in any overload events that may have applied additional stresses to the cases, perhaps with a HGV or somesuch?

If this is indeed a design fault, my suggestion would be to purchase something else - a GoPro Hero 3+ Black Edition springs to mind, the build quality and QC are excellent

Hope this helps!