Bad news and kudos to Nikon

On the evening before my family was returning from a 4-day vacation, the light meter on my 15-month old D70 went kapoot. Everything was about 3-4 stops overexposed, in any mode (M, P, S, A). Same thing with all lenses. I checked that exposure compensation was OFF. The only way to shoot was via histogram (shoot in manual mode, check the histogram, and adjust the aperture/shutter speed). Fortunately I wasn't going to take any more vacation photos anyways.

I went to my trusty local photo shop where I bought the camera. I was hoping that they would tell me that I was doing somthing obviously stupid, but unfortunately they confirmed that my meter was out of whack. They told me to expect roughly a $300 bill to repair it.

I went to the Nikon Service Center in Torrance, CA at lunchtime today and dropped off the camera. I explained the problem and although I didn't ask, the nice woman behind the counter said that they would "comp" the repair even though the camera was out of warranty by three months. Yay!! Kudos to Nikon!! Even though I doubt I will ever switch over to the grey lens side (Canon) due to my investment in Nikon glass, this gesture will go a long way for me.

They estimated a 7-10 day turnaround, but to tell you the truth, I'm not too bummed out. This repair will give me a good reason to shoot some more B&W and slide film with my F100...