Nikon Service is making me nervous...

Joe
I sent my D2H to the Melville branch and it was in the shop within 36 hours and returned to me in a total of 6 days. So I hope your camera foloows same path, what type of camera and what is the problem. Mine was a D2H with a failed meter, they also replaced the cf card door and adjusted the parralex and cleaned the CCD

 

Joe, what they are telling you is patently false. It does take 24 hours or so to show up on the web page, but the camera is supposed to be logged in immediately when received and assigned a service order number. I have yet to have Snail Mail get the number to me within a week, always call to track your camera. All of my experience is with Torrance. If you haven't asked for a supervisor yet do so, or just ask directly for the service manager. He was out last week but was back on Monday.

I just went through some annoyance with the service people a week and a half ago, which is quite unusual. Keep on them with calls every day.

Drop me a PM if you need more specifics.

 

I am wondering if asking them to rush things is a good idea.

My D2X went in several weeks ago, and in the letter I asked that they hurry it up already. And they did, even overnighting it back to me.

But the camera arrived with focus maladjusted and the inside of the mirror box scratched up.

So I had to send it back yet again. Arrived there this past Monday. Haven't received the official notice as yet.

I want the camera back of course, but I can wait.

Going through all this with a "flagship" camera is very discouraging. I wish there were more choices in the DLSR market.

 

Joe :

Can't comment either way on the service, but I would like to get a feel from you about the issues with the D2X. I've been sitting watching the D2X drama unfold with Ron, Jim, and others, but I still don't have a good understanding of all of the problems with the body.

What's happened in your case ?



John P.

 

My D2H was in for a tune-up 2 weeks ago.

By the time it was logged in the system it was already on it's way back to me. Nikon received it on Friday and shipped on Monday.

Looks like the service can be faster than the paperwork.

 

Joe, isn't it amazing that a "supervisor" can find out that the camera has been checked in and has a service number but no one else can? This has been my complaint with my last service, in the past 3 weeks. I think that something has changed, because my last service call last fall went like clockwork. Nikon still needs to update the system in real-time, the length of time from what is reproted internally to what we see on the web page is ludicrous, at a minimum one day late. Even worse is the snail mail issue. I have had my camera back for over a week now and I still have not received the estimate in the mail.

Keep a watch for changes on the web site. Now that they have it logged I wouldn't expect to see a change for a couple of days, but at least you now know that they have it and are working on it. Next thing you should see is "In Shop".

Good luck.

 

Joe :


Firstly, thanks for the compliment on my hands and shooting. It's appreciated.

Interestingly, I just sent a note to Ron R. asking about his experiences saying I didn't have a clear view of the problems with the D2X. You've bridged (most of) that gap for me. We'll see what he says as well.

The focus issue seems to be hitting a number of people who shoot active subjects, but it's hard to say just how prevalent it is. In a way, this is a bit like the infamous D2H metter failure issue - many people discuss it online, but the absolute failure rate (number failed/number sold) is quite fuzzy. Even the poll here in the Cafe is a bit limited for statistical sampling, as we are, by definition, a self selected group of enthusiasts.

I know Jim F. has commented on the focus failure, but I haven't seen any comments recently from him about the repairs made by Nikon. He was (rightfully IMO) quite steamed over this when it started.

So, I guess I'm still a bit puzzled as to the frequency of this problem.

The definition of this that you provided, however, is extremely clear. Essentially, there is some software/hardware issue where a substantial number of the reticules are not acquiring proper focus. From your description, it would seem that the "voting algorithm" for the reticules isn't optimised (or perhaps reasonably functional in terms of the percentage actively voting with contrasting materials within each reticule). It would be instructive, but hugely difficult, to be able to get a more detailed set of data on the "break point" where the focus acquisition occurs. Difficult, in that creating a moving target with a specific percentage coverage, moving at a sufficient high speed, and controlling the shooting would require a lot of prep in a lab.

This is a solvable but non-trivial problem. Optimising an algorithm of this type is a tough ascent, and it's quite possible that it won't be quickly addressed. FWIW, I look at smaller/simpler voting instrumentation systems all the time, and the logic for those is quite complicated (and obtuse); so this isn't just me blowing smoke. OTOH, I'd sincerely hope Nikon's engineers are much more adept than I am at this problem.

On another point, the microphone issue is actually a big one for me. I purchased the D100 vertical grip after our session in December, and I now use the dictation feature constantly in my work in refineries and chemical plants to note the specific equipment I'm shooting. A failure in that feature would loom large for me.

Thanks for the detailed (and reasoned) reply.



John P.

 

I had to send my D2H in for the broken meter problem. They were superbly efficient here in England. I sent it in on the Friday and I received it back the following Thursday - all fixed.

So they can get it right sometimes.

Keep on at them.

 

Torrance

Sorry to hear of your experience with Torrance. My two experiences - my D1X and my D2H were very efficient and the work was well done. Hope all turns out okay for you.

 

Thomas Hogan took a while to get his camera serviced as well. I would say it is somewhat normal much to my chagrin.

http://www.bythom.com/repair.htm