DSLR Owners has your camera ever had a visit to the Doctor?

[rmp]

Owned a 300D, 20D and 30D. Never had any problem with any aside from Err20 on the 20D. I use my kit pretty intensively in ardous conditions too.

[Ivanerrol]

No, Hope not, mine's a Singapore Special - International warrantee. Although now run out.
Results as listed with 30% attention required worries me though.
D200 on the horizon before my D70s joins the 30%

[squeeze]

hi all. i'm a first time poster but have been reading this forum for sometime now. i had my d70 for over a year now. its a fantastic camera!! however i am thinking of taking it for a clean. would you recommend diy or bringing to the shops for a clean?

thanks

[Glen]

Squeeze, do it yourself. Put your location in, one of the benefits is there may be a meet or shoot nearby where someone can show you how for free. I would suggest getting the Giotto Airrocket from Birddy, may not even need a wet clean after that

[squeeze]

Thanks for that Glenn. that would at least save me $80 to get it cleaned

[Glen]

Squeeze, there is a minimeet on the 5.8.2006. Put yourself down for it, great chance to meet twenty likeminded souls and have soomeone show you how easy it is

[squeeze]

Done and looking forward to it

[sky]

Thanks for the new thread Glen, much appreciated.

I use my work d70 every day for newspaper photos, we've had the camera for a couple of years now, very few problems.

However, now that I'm looking at buying my very own camera, I'm now facing decision time about who to purchase from (as mentioned in previous posts).
When you bought your camera (either from a Nikon shop/internet/or grey market) were you able to purchase an extended warranty. I live in regional SA, so the nearest camera repairs place is at least 400kms away!

[bumthology]

nop, havent been and i got a d40

has anyone got a fisheye or know of a good one for the d40.
my sister wouldnt like to get one for the d40 but i kinda think its a waste of money

[jberth1]

I have to admit - I think my D70 was a dud. It was one of the first (March 2004 first use), and was back to the doctor 4 times in my ownership. The power FPC was replaced, it had back focus issues, the power switch was replaced, and the final straw was having the main board replaced. With less than 10K exposures, I thought that reliability was pretty poor.

Nikon Aust (partly Maxwells) were very good about things and covered everything under warranty - even after 2.5 years !

I would have to think that a warranty (any warranty) would be esssential due to the short development cycles of new gen bodies.

Cheers

[photoham]

Let's see - D70 slight backfocus and sensor alignment when new - it went back to Maxwells who checked the focus and said that there was nothing wrong. Sensor had the infamous tilt problem which could not be fixed.

More recently the BGLOD - repaired for free out of warranty (as would be expected).

Here's hoping the next camera (maybe D200 ??? ) will be more reliable!!

[binky]

My D70 had to go back to Maxwells when it was about 20months old.. shot about 7000 frames at that point. When checked out, I was told that one of the motors (mirror?) was suffering from an overvoltage problem and had to be replaced.
Was out of warranty but I had paid with AMEX .. so it got covered under that... whew!

[Monkies]

Got my first DSLR when visiting my girl in NZ july 04, not seen the doc yet. so about 3 years later and still going strong.

[jamesw]

my d70s is at the doctor right now... its cosmetic damage (crack in the body where the auto focus switch is (ie auto or manual) and the flash will not stay down (i had it taped down, hahah)), but its covered under insurance.

the only problem is that i have been without that camera for a few months now. but i kinda figured that would happen, so in anticipation i bought a back-up body - i am currently using a d70.i bought it with about 5000 clicks, by now it'd have 10000 though.

[petermmc]

My D200 was recently at doctor for a few annoying dead pixels and grip rubber becoming loose. Returned and all is now well in those departments. None of my other nikons inlcuding d70 have ever made a visit.

[marcotrov]

Yep, unfortunately same as peter. My D200 needing Hot/dead pixels rectified. Rubber on mine OK but they are also fixing the fact that my AF switch on front of body has an extra switching poin between M and AF-S. Bit of a pain when switching or thinking your switching from AF-S to M
Hopefully it will be back next week.
cheers
marco

[iluxa]

Yes. A while ago I had to replace the entire sensor in my D70 as it had a "trade mark" from Sony - huge red dot and thin red line from this dot to the end of sensor. It appeared only at high ISOs and only after sooting in low light. Remapping of dead pixels didn't fixed the problem. Also I had a really bad experience with Maxwells about this issue.

[janrif]

After a long trip which included sand, surf, dust & other such items, I sent my equipment to the factory for a service, cleaning, checkup, etc... nothing specific. It came back a new camera & I came away deciding that every year or two -- or after prolonged heavy usage -- I would send my gear in for another such service... no different than servicing a car periodically or defragging a hard drive, etc. Just my .02 US now worth .01

[potato1]

i had to send my 1d in for a busted shutter. Was taking photos at the Adelaide classic and all of a sudden there were black blades flying through the viewfinder.

[photohiker]

Do we know the % of Nikon shooters here? There seems to have been a lot of issues with them in general, and the D70 in particular.

I've had a couple of Canons, and haven't had a breakage (touch wood) even though I have dragged them through some quite inhospitable terrain.

Michael

[gstark]

Michael,

No, we do not. I would expect that, because of the site's history, that we would have more Nikon than Canon users, but that is not something that I consider to be of any importance nor of any relevance.

Inhospitable terrain is nothing special for these cameras, and is a basic design goal. Try dropping your camera ... say from a height of four feet, onto a concrete floor. Please tell me what your expected outcome is before you do this.

And no, I won't pay for any repairs. I know: I'm no fun. But then, I'm not a fungi.


The D70 was subject to a factory recall due to BGLOD.

The D200 allegedly suffered from banding issues, but every example of those issues that I saw really came back to poor technique on the part of the user: banding would be an expected outcome based upon what the user was doing, and the camera in use really didn't matter at all.

The Canon 1Ds Mk III has been suffering some serious focus issues, and to my knowledge that has been recognised as an issue By Canon.

Beyond that, you hear the bleatings from various ill-informed sources about issues such as back-focus or front-focus, or other obscure issues, all of which, really, distill down to the fact that many people simply have less than zero understanding of how to use, and how accurately assess, the various features of the camera they hold in their hands.

The bottom line is that most issues can be written back to user error ID-ten-T. That includes dropping, by the way.

I have seen, and spoken of, some very serious build quality issues with Nikon. They do appear to have gotten their act together in this regard, and that is a good thing.

Canon do not seem to have, as a general rule, suffered from those issues. But I might contend that Canon have had other serious issues to address: a design that requires three buttons to initiate or change a feature suggests to me serious ergonomic and fundamental design problems, but that is a different discussion entirely.

As a whole, both Nikon and Canon make cameras and lenses that are reliable, serviceable, usable, and help the competent photographer to produce images.

That is the goal of those instruments, and that is the task in which they succeed.

[photohiker]

Try dropping your camera ... say from a height of four feet, onto a concrete floor. Please tell me what your expected outcome is before you do this.

And no, I won't pay for any repairs. I know: I'm no fun. But then, I'm not a fungi.

Well, no, I don't think I will try that I did drop the 10D a short distance onto the carpet once, but no ill came of it. Back in the film days, on our honeymoon, I loaned my lovely new wife my prized pocket camera (Oly XA) and broke into a cold sweat when I heard it rattle from the roof of the hire car down the side and onto the pavement. Amazingly, the damage was a tiny scratch and the camera still worked (and still would if digital had not taken over).

I hear you about the bleatings. I can still remember all the fuss over the 10D focussing. People were writing theses on dpreview and elsewhere about the horrendous focus errors, while I looked at every shot I took and couldn't imagine what the heck they were on about. I suspect I took a lot more photos than them too, they must have spent all day typing up their manuscripts I think it was about then, the term 'measurebator' came into being.

The 1D3 issues certainly appear to be real, and Canon is offering a no cost remediation involving actual repairs to the camera and firmware I think.

Anyway, like you say, are many people with cameras of whatever brand that don't have issues. (thank god)

Michael

[Dipstix Pix]

My 10D had taken about 40000 frames and the shutter died - I had a new one put in aboot 18 months ago. I recently sold it to a friend of the family (his mom bought it for his Xmas present) and it is still in fine fettle.

I have my 300mm 2.8IS lens in at Canon at the moment as one of the three mounting points on the back of the lens was bent when I was at the V8s at Eastern Creek - luckily I got one of the mechanics at Stone Brothers racing to bend it back so I could shoot for the rest of the weekend. Did alright too as I got one of the lead pix published in coverage of the event in the next issue of Motor Racing Australia.
So I wouldn't damage the bodies I went and got it checked by Canon.

Pissa of the year. I bought four new L series lenses last year in Australia so I could qualify for the new Canon CPS system (which I had been a member of for the previous 25 years). Because I spent so much on the lenses (could have saved aboot $4000 in HK) - I couldn't afford the ID Mk 3 and after all the bad press its had I didn't want one until they got it right. So they kicked me out of the CPS and instead of the repair normally taking a few days I am already at 10 days with no idea when it will be back

Tell you what a Nikon D3 and those three new lenses are looking good at the moment

[Grev]

^ That is bad that they kicked you out...

And we have had many people not buying the 1D3 because of the AF issue, and the purely fundamental ergonomic flaws of the 1d3 for when you're in portrait grip, your right hand thumb cannot reach the little directional joystick! Which is another reason people have stayed with their older Canons, believe it or not.

Which might also explain the sudden influx of people coming into PC to look at the new Nikons...

[brianrsmith]

please some feedback ,on new 150-500 sigma lens.

[gstark]

please some feedback ,on new 150-500 sigma lens.

Which is relevant in this thread ..... in which way?

Brian, welcome, but I suspect I'm missing the point of your post.

Also, please take some time to read the FAQ, and please make sure that you put a meaningful location into your profile, as indicated in the FAQ.

[v81]

I have a D80 kit (D80 + 18-135 DX).
The AF motor started making squeaking noises and then died a few months ago (~ 6 months old) on the 18-135.
I took it back (packed it up nice, lens, front/rear caps, reversed hood in supplied soft bag) and after spending 4 weeks without it it was replaced, minus the lens hood.
4 months later the replacment lens starts exhibiting the same symptoms, so now this lens is back to Camera Clinic, this time along with the body just in case there is some strange relation.
The retailer finally has a lens hood for me now, but it might be a while before I can use it.

My first foray into DSLR has been quite a disaster, very poor pictures, and i thought it was me until I tried a friends 18-70DX and 50mm/1.8 on my body.
It seems I've had a bad run with Nikon lenses so far, I hope the next one is usable.

Nice forum, this is my first post of significance.
Cheers.

[Trevor Wardin]

Internal flash of my beloved EOS 300D (Rebel over here?) decided to work only occasionally. This was fixed by the Canon Repair Centre very quikly, no further complaints until now.

[baldrick]

Fingers crossed I am on my fourth Pentax SLR, two film and two digital as well as a couple of point and shoots and never had a problem.........
Simmo

[thelittlepicture]

Yea, but in the end I probably could have fixed it myself

[teresap989]

I keep expecting the shutter in the 300D to go, it's pushing 60k exposures on a 50k rating. But so far no problems Not that I'm too bothered, it's paid for itself about 3x over so far. And now that I've got the 30D and I've done some comparisons... it doesn't look quite so good any more.


This user tried to post spam here, with an illegal link to their website. Oh well.

[leek]

My D700 just came back from the doctor... and seems to be almost like new

Unfortunately it got hit by a freak wave in Feb, and as much as I dried it off immediately, the sea water managed to penetrate and got hold...

It took 6 months, but it finally corroded a vital area, and my camera stopped working completely...

Whilst the D700 is weather sealed, it doesn't stop sea water corroding all the bits it can... all the connectors and screw holes corroded, but the thing that finally killed it was the corrosion to the lens ring... it wasn't making good contact with the lens any more so I kept getting an intermittent Fee error... It got less and less intermittent until I had no other option to take it into Nikon...

It wasn't a cheap repair, but hopefully it'll see me thru until the D700 successor comes out

IF your camera ever has contact with sea water, I'd recommend swabbing it down with fresh water to reduce the damage...

Lesson Learnt...

[aprillove20]

I did,It was just last 2 years ago. The problem was the photo shot looks blurred,lucky enough it was still up for warranty. Now,it works fine!

[mattphelps]

Yep. I have taken my dlsr to the specialist a month ago. It is really nothing serious. Just a little issue regarding the video cables and ports and stuff. I don't know. I think I just do not know how to use the gadget. Well, just a noob I should say. But every thing is fine the "doctor" said.

[chrisk]

My D700 just came back from the doctor... and seems to be almost like new

Unfortunately it got hit by a freak wave in Feb, and as much as I dried it off immediately, the sea water managed to penetrate and got hold...

It took 6 months, but it finally corroded a vital area, and my camera stopped working completely...

Whilst the D700 is weather sealed, it doesn't stop sea water corroding all the bits it can... all the connectors and screw holes corroded, but the thing that finally killed it was the corrosion to the lens ring... it wasn't making good contact with the lens any more so I kept getting an intermittent Fee error... It got less and less intermittent until I had no other option to take it into Nikon...

It wasn't a cheap repair, but hopefully it'll see me thru until the D700 successor comes out

IF your camera ever has contact with sea water, I'd recommend swabbing it down with fresh water to reduce the damage...

Lesson Learnt...

sounds very familiar...mine is still going almost a year after i dropped it in the saltwater. just waiting for that day that it doesnt operate anymore. nikon laughed when i asked if it could be fixed. the only thing that isnt working is the aperture ring.

[aim54x]

My D700 just came back from the doctor... and seems to be almost like new

Unfortunately it got hit by a freak wave in Feb, and as much as I dried it off immediately, the sea water managed to penetrate and got hold...

It took 6 months, but it finally corroded a vital area, and my camera stopped working completely...

Whilst the D700 is weather sealed, it doesn't stop sea water corroding all the bits it can... all the connectors and screw holes corroded, but the thing that finally killed it was the corrosion to the lens ring... it wasn't making good contact with the lens any more so I kept getting an intermittent Fee error... It got less and less intermittent until I had no other option to take it into Nikon...

It wasn't a cheap repair, but hopefully it'll see me thru until the D700 successor comes out

IF your camera ever has contact with sea water, I'd recommend swabbing it down with fresh water to reduce the damage...

Lesson Learnt...

sounds very familiar...mine is still going almost a year after i dropped it in the saltwater. just waiting for that day that it doesnt operate anymore. nikon laughed when i asked if it could be fixed. the only thing that isnt working is the aperture ring.

Good to hear that yours is still going! I also thought John's experience was very similar to yours

[aim54x]

My D300 is currently back in the repair shop after I found it "Petrified" (no power, even with a full battery). I love the old girl and unless it is an extortionate repair I will probably get her revived.

[haring]

Only once. My Nikon D3s had 800 000 actuations. It was working fine. I just sent it in for shutter replacement to make sure it doesn't fail on me during a wedding ceremony...