Defects in D800

[Lance B]

Errr, hang on, they wanted a camera that will actually take decent photos rather than just being a conversation piece for the cafe latte sipping brigade.

[arthurking83]

Would be good if all/both companies would bring out a new camera FF without all the bells and whistles like they used to be , A Kingswood version if you like

Bill...I think the Leica may fit that description

A Leica <-> Kingswood???



A Leica is like a srtipped down super elite luxury car.

Think of Leica as a Rolls Royce Silvar Saliva(or whatever the newest incarnation is called??) .. a Belmont version with wind-up windows, three on the tree, drum font brakes, and hose out rubber floor matting .. only with a few hundred dollars knocked off the million dollar price tag.

Stripping down cameras has nothing to do with increased costing ... so a camera maker producing a stripped down version of a camera is a form of self restriction in marketing terms.
99% of features are simple additions to firmware for these extra functions.
Most of these features are what actually makes cameras better than the previous generation.

No one is compelled to use every feature for a given camera body, but in removing them, or not enabling these features is pointless and doesn't save much money in real terms(maybe a few dollars for the extra firmware code per camera).
But it is these features that sells more cameras, and as they make more cameras, the price per unit goes down. You get cheaper camera with more features.
Can the world be any more perfect?

I can't see the relevance to Mongo's focusing issue here either ... unless by bells and whistles you also mean auto focusing as well?

A Japanese camera maker eliminating AF in one of their cameras??? .... whoa!! .... bold move I reckon.


But no doubt it'd be an instant classic and they could easily sell it as a limited edition for 3x the price of the body it's based upon too.
Use a bit of pseudo leatherette covering in a gaudy disgusting colour, and Andrew's caffe latte sipping brigade will get all frothy with anticipation!

[mongo]

Alright guys - enough chit chat.


Mongo has done some preliminary test With this D800 since getting it back yesterday. He can not post all of the test charts but has put these up for your comments. Needless to say, Mongo is still very unimpressed and unhappy. What do you think of the post fix images.


All taken with 20-200VR at 200 wide open. All images of 3 are taken and combined as left image , middle image and right image i.e in The same order they appear in each image set. At one stage Mongo was starting to think there was something wrong with the left side of his 70-200 so he turned it about 150 degrees and took the images of the chocolate drink container both normally and at 150 degress to exclude any defect in the lens on one side. Still no change so its not the lens. It is the same as before i.e very bad on the left, OK in centre, not really good on right

test-70=200..jpg

test-70-200-@f2.jpg

test-4--70-200-@2.jpg

test-370-200@2.jpg

[Wayne]

Mongo,
Looks like Nikon cleaned it with dust blower and gave it back. I would be showing them the images taken here to further demonstrate.

[mongo]

Mongo,
Looks like Nikon cleaned it with dust blower and gave it back. I would be showing them the images taken here to further demonstrate.

Wayne, Mongo intends to and he may not be happy with another fix either. They will be lucky at this stage if Mongo will even accept another new body altogether . He thinks its time for his money back unless something radical is done.

[Feg]

Spewing.

[mongo]

Mongo just realised that the test to exclude the lens as the problem was ill conceived. Rotating the the whole rig through 150 degrees did not, of course, expose a different part of the lens to the left side of the camera's sensors - in fact, the same part of the lens was still over that part of the sensor. So, is it possible that it is the lens at this stage ???? Mongo has a number of very fast lenses but none of the useful ones for this test are AF - they are all manual so can not use those for this purpose.

Even if the AF on the camera has now been fixed (and Mongo is a long way from thinking that it has been), does that mean that a 70-200 VR purchased new and used briefly for less than half a dozen times is defective too ?? MOngo knows the VR1 models were not ideal for FX but they could not be as bad as this is showing up either. This is NOT the the edge of the lens. These images were taken at less than 2/3rds of the distance from the centre of the lens to its edge. In either case (or both) , it is not looking good for new Nikon equipment at this stage.

[WhoDo]

That's a ridiculous amount of difference for such an expensive piece of equipment, mongo. Take it back, with the lens, show them the images and point out that either way it's a Nikon problem and it needs to be fixed NOW! This is their flagship camera and a high end lens. I wouldn't accept the results you're getting on a consumer body and kit lens!

[kiwi]

Agree


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Duane Pipe]

I just checked the price of that body Mongo I wouldn't expect anything but perfection from the d800. Get your money back and hang on for a while why they get their crap together. Its time to start another riot mate

[Tommo1965]

Mongo

can you not use a manual focus lens and focus it using the "in focus" indicator in the view finder..that should yield the same results as if the lens was using AF ?.. obviously still selecting the outer left/right and centre points

I agree that that the images are soft other than the centre...I know how deflating this can be mate..as I had AF issues { low light } with a Pentax K5..and after two bodies and many trips back to my LCS...I finally switched systems in favour of Nikon ..and I only choose Nikon as their AF in the D300s/D700/D3 etc etc was deemed to be the best ...a true shame that the D800 has tainted this almost Teflon reputation ....

test some more { if possible}..if the same results are achieved..return the body..perhaps try another..or wait until Nikon has wheedled all these faulty units out...id wait personally until the body is readily available to test before purchase

EDIT

I assume your using Single point AF ?..and if so.. what's it like if you come in one point from either end.....as I said last week my D700 wasn't so good at the outer extremes of the Af module ...but clicking in one point from the outer extremes improved things greatly...that was using as 60 AFD micro..and I honestly don't know if that's a camera issue or lens..but as I never use those outer AF points..for me its not a problem

[Sar NOP]

mongo, if Nikon is not able to fix the AF problem in your D800 ask them to replace it with a D3s !

[I @ M]

Mongo

can you not use a manual focus lens and focus it using the "in focus" indicator in the view finder..that should yield the same results as if the lens was using AF ?..

Steve, totally not applicable unfortunately. This is an AF issue and whether the lens is focussed manually or automatically and whether the camera is set to expose an image if focus or release is set in whichever focus mode is irrelevant I'm afraid.

After quite an educational phone call this morning to Sydney it appears that there may be other issues at play with some body lens combinations. All the slight fits of vapours and replacement body howls are still a bit premature at the moment guys.

[Sar NOP]

I have a friend in France who had an AF problem with her D2Hs+300/2.8 VRII. Nikon France wasn't able to fix it and finally exchanged her D2Hs with a brand new D3s !
They should do the same with the D800...

[mongo]

thanks to all of you especially Andrew. Steve, Mongo did try what you said yesterday in an all out attempt to narrow down the issue but as Andrew said there is a bit more to it than what we both thought but Mongo is very grateful for your suggestion.

Nikon have been in touch this morning and in fairness to them, they seem concerned and keen to fix any issue. Mongo will give them all reasonable opportunity before he says more on this. So, let's see how things work out. Mongo will keep you informed.

As MOngo has mentioned before, Steve at Nikon has been and continues to be very helpful and is keeping Mongo's faith alive that Nikon will do all the right things.

[Bennymiata]

Could someone out there lend Mongo a known, good auto-focussing lens so he can test his camera again?
I'd be happy to help, but I use Canon.

Knowing Mongo's talents, this must be VERY frustrating for him and I do feel for you Mongo.
Not only is it frustrating, but having to take the camera back to Nikon again and again is such a waste of shooting time too.

[Lance B]

Mongo just realised that the test to exclude the lens as the problem was ill conceived. Rotating the the whole rig through 150 degrees did not, of course, expose a different part of the lens to the left side of the camera's sensors - in fact, the same part of the lens was still over that part of the sensor. So, is it possible that it is the lens at this stage ???? Mongo has a number of very fast lenses but none of the useful ones for this test are AF - they are all manual so can not use those for this purpose.

Even if the AF on the camera has now been fixed (and Mongo is a long way from thinking that it has been), does that mean that a 70-200 VR purchased new and used briefly for less than half a dozen times is defective too ?? MOngo knows the VR1 models were not ideal for FX but they could not be as bad as this is showing up either. This is NOT the the edge of the lens. These images were taken at less than 2/3rds of the distance from the centre of the lens to its edge. In either case (or both) , it is not looking good for new Nikon equipment at this stage.

Try focusing with live view, that should indicate whether it is the lens or the AF of the camera.

[Sar NOP]

The Live View AF system is different from the one in the camera viewfinder. It's more accurate to use for example a manual focus with the camera focusing indication.

[mongo]

Try focusing with live view, that should indicate whether it is the lens or the AF of the camera.

Thanks Benny and Lance.

Lance, Mongo did that prior to the repair and it did focus much more accurately using live view but Mongo has not tried that test again since getting the camera back. So, he is off to try that and some samples without the filter (although Mongo has serious doubts its the filter doing this).

thanks Sar. Mongo agrees

[Art Vandelay]

Mongo, not sure I agree with sending in the lens as well. The danger is they may adjust the lens to compensate, which will only lead to problems on other cameras. Unless of course it is a problem.

The only real way to eliminate causes is replicate the tests using a different lens and / or a different body with the same lens.

Good luck in having it sorted though, can't imagine your furry little head having too much hair (or feathers ?) left soon.