Where to fix my D800? (Not Nikon Sydney)

[Gil80]

Hi all,
I have an urgent question and I hope someone here can help me out.
I shipped my D800 to calibrate and fix it's left focus issue which was confirmed to have that know bug. It was sent to the Sydney service centre.
I sent the camera together with my 14-24mm and the 80-200mm f/2.8
The 14-24 was sent because I tested the camera with this lens. The 80-200 was send for a regular calibration after being at my disposal since 1996.


Yesterday I used LensAlign MKII with FocusTune to calibrate my lenses and I was glad to see that the above lenses shows perfect AFA value of 0. There is a slight shift to +1 when shifting from 14-24 and about the same with the 80-200.
However, I have a couple of lenses that I didn't think need service since they had sharp results with the D800.
Now, after the service, the nikon 50mm f/1.8 needs over +20 AFA and the nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 needs +15 @ 70mm.
I don't want to rush into conclusions but it seems that the camera was "fixed" by biasing the AFA values internally with the lenses I've sent them.

Obviously they will calibrate the lenses to the body. No surprises there.
The real surprise is that after the body arrived from service, my other lenses who usually had anything between -5 to +5 AFA value, are now having +15 and +20. Meaning that I suspect the body fix was in such a manner that threw my other lenses way up in the AFA value. As if the AFA was biased internally to +10.


As you know, when a lens that used to be +3 and now showing +15 all of a sudden without really using it at all, means that every lens I might mount on my D800 will show a great amount of back focus which will need to be adjusted by +15 or +20.
Also, the 50mm need way above +20 while before the body fix it was on +5 AFA!
So I'll repeat myself; I don't expect to have my lenses perfectly calibrated if they were not serviced BUT I also don't expect them to show +20 all of a sudden.

After talking to the service center about this issue, the immediate response was that I probably had my lenses hit in a way which affected their focus (not true). The general response was that the fix they made is by standards and problem is with the lenses...

What I have to know is, is there any other recommended nikon repairer in Sydney?

Thank you

[ameerat42]

Gosh! Sorry I can't help you there.
Am.

[William]

Try and find a retired Nikon tech guy , Thank goodness we have one on the Goldie (Canon) , I know it does'nt help much but I wish you luck

PS : worth while a phone call , Maybe he can put you on to somebody , Here's a link with Ph Numbers : http://www.whitepages.com.au/busines...owa-waters-qld

[Gil80]

Thanks for the support... if they were only nice. *removed - see the site rules...rules 3-7*

[William]

PS : Check my last post : Re the PS - Bill Worth a try

[Gil80]

PS : Check my last post : Re the PS - Bill Worth a try

Thanks! you sure it's ok to call him like this? out of no where

[William]

Thanks! you sure it's ok to call him like this? out of no where

Yep , He's aussie and a nice guy to deal with

[I @ M]

What I have to know is, is there any other recommended nikon repairer in Sydney?

Firstly, what are you expecting "another Nikon repairer" to fix?

My advice is to ring Nikon ( or take the camera there ) and talk to Steve in a calm manner. Explain thoroughly ( repeat, calmly ) the situation and see what he can advise.

They did our two D800 bodies and there are no further issues with focus --- except with an AF D 50mm F/1.8 --- which are known to be rather optimistic with focus anyway.

[ricktas]

I thought it was standard procedure to calibrate a body and lens together. That they take the camera body and your lenses and each gets calibrated to work as a set, thus calibration/adjustment of the lenses is part of the process. Well that is how I have always had it done when I have paid for it.

So as per Nikon's advice, i think you need to send body and lenses (all) into them.

[Lance B]

Firstly, what are you expecting "another Nikon repairer" to fix?

My advice is to ring Nikon ( or take the camera there ) and talk to Steve in a calm manner. Explain thoroughly ( repeat, calmly ) the situation and see what he can advise.

They did our two D800 bodies and there are no further issues with focus --- except with an AF D 50mm F/1.8 --- which are known to be rather optimistic with focus anyway.

This is good advice. Keep sending it back to Nikon until they get it right. I would not be inclined to send it to some other so-called backyard Nikon service "agent" because these are sophisticated pieces of equipment that need up to date Nikon service equipment, tools and programs.

[Gil80]

@Andrew - Thanks! I might do that.

@Rick - After speaking with several professional photographers, each and every one of them told me that they never send the body and the lens together, exactly from the reason I just encountered.

What will happen now is they might calibrate the other lenses I have to the D800 but it might be that every new lens from now on that will be mounted on my D800 will have a huge front focus issue.
They were professional at calibrating the body and the 2 lenses I sent them but it doesn't seem logical that 2 sharp lenses that worked perfectly before the fix, are now unusable (mostly the 50mm).

The idea is to bring only the lenses to inspect them without the body and see if they find an issue. In the meantime I'll test the exact same lenses from a different source and see if I can reproduce the results.

Thank you guys for your support and help

[arthurking83]

...... because these are sophisticated pieces of equipment that need up to date Nikon service equipment, tools and programs.

The only issue I have with this part of the comment is that going by the OP's original complaint, Nikon's authorized service agents seem to have no clue as to how to use this sophisticated equipment!

If they did the OP's situation wouldn't exist in the first place.

No harm in trying an unauthorised repairer ..... could they really do any worse?


I've set reset and reset again my D300 with a few focus fixes over the years .. mainly for the manual focus lenses, but I did have a go at adjusting the AF calibration for the mirror once too. Set it back to where(I think) was the original setting.

Can't really recall that it misfocused after I had a go at calibrating it myself .. and I'll readily admit I had no idea on what I was actually doing. A non authorised Nikon repairer will, or should, have some idea on how to calibrate, repair, reset and readjust almost any Nikon camera.

My belief is that Nikon have introduced all these sophisticated gizmos and instruments to fool us into believing that only THEY have the knowledge on how their cameras work, and how to 'repair them'.
They probably really do close to nothing more than the average knowledgeable camera serviceperson can do using their expertise anyhow!

These tactics from Nikon remind me of the old days when car manufacturers began using their proprietary vehicle diagnostic comms ports all those years ago, for the strict purpose of making it impossible for non authorised repairers to service those vehicles. Luckily(for us) governments around the globe stepped in and forced them to use standardised comms systems, whereby anyone with the easily available tools can now diagnose issues with their vehicles.
Cameras will never be as vital a part of everyday life as are vehicles, so the governments will never take action to prevent this type of monopolisation of servicing for cameras .. and we'll just 'have to live with it'.

Don't think for one minute that these diagnostic equipment are vital to the operation and servicing of cameras and are borne of any need to keep the devices working in top condition!
They are simply a channel for the manufacturers to force consumers into using their authorised service centres at inflated pricing levels, and as a means to protect their corporation's profitability.

Eliminate the competition(in this case indy service people) and they then have the right to charge massively inflated service/repair pricing.

[Mathy]

.....

No harm in trying an unauthorised repairer ..... could they really do any worse?

.....

My belief is that Nikon have introduced all these sophisticated gizmos and instruments to fool us into believing that only THEY have the knowledge on how their cameras work, and how to 'repair them'.
They probably really do close to nothing more than the average knowledgeable camera serviceperson can do using their expertise anyhow!

These tactics from Nikon remind me of the old days when car manufacturers began using their proprietary vehicle diagnostic comms ports all those years ago, for the strict purpose of making it impossible for non authorised repairers to service those vehicles. Luckily(for us) governments around the globe stepped in and forced them to use standardised comms systems, whereby anyone with the easily available tools can now diagnose issues with their vehicles.
......

They are simply a channel for the manufacturers to force consumers into using their authorised service centres at inflated pricing levels, and as a means to protect their corporation's profitability.

Eliminate the competition(in this case indy service people) and they then have the right to charge massively inflated service/repair pricing.

Moving off topic (sorry for the small hijack) to illustrate Arthur's point.

Trying blowing a clutch bearing in a Citroen C4 in Australia - quote for repair $2,900 (incl replacing the flywheel). Cost of parts $1900 . Cost of parts in the UK? AUD$910. Cost to freight them here? AUD$120. Savings? $800. An experienced mechanic should be able to do the job in 8 hours, that means our mechanics are charging $125ph - go figure, and we wonder why people buy gear (or automotive parts) from overseas My local Citroen dealer wanted $700 for a Timing Belt kit that cost me $120 landed to my front door from the UK - it WAS THE OEM part, made by SKF. These cars are as common as muck in the UK and Europe because they are extremely economical to run - try 5km/litre around town - that's what I get. And the engine was originally developed by Ford and can be found in some of their cars, Peugeots and Minis. Not exactly rocket science. Basically the Dealers frighten you with 'we will only warranty the labour and not the parts' - well horse puckey, as long as there freighted correctly, they will be in the same condition as any parts that I bought here, possibly better, because the UK has a higher turnover.

I have absolutely no sympathy for OZ businesses who bleat about people being able to buy globally. If they didn't rip us off, we'd be quite happy to buy locally. Thing is, I'm not sure that many of us actually realise how 'ripped off' we are.

So, I'm all for encouraging independent service people, who provide excellent technical advice, service and labour, whether it be for cameras or cars, or anything else, cheers Deb

[arthurking83]

That's always been the biggest issue with imported stuff, and imported cars I've had A LOT of experience with(until recently never had a local branded vehicle).

All the same baloney about how hard they are to repair, and how technical they are .. etc, etc .... PS ... PS!(oops that should have been with a B )

Eventually, I just couldn't work out why these foreign cars were so much harder to fix for them, when they seemed to be usually so easy for me to fix. Are/were they really so technically inept?

This forced me to teach myself to maintain independence from these extortionists when it came to fixing stuff. 20 plus years of having to fix my own technically incomprehensible vehicles has taught me that they were usually easier to fix than some of the locally made rubbish .. errr. stuff.
Of course there were some infuriating design features in these imported cars, but in general I never had any trouble working on them.

As for parts, I always found a good supplier of high quality non OEM parts, and they usually had prices close to 1/4 to 1/10th of the original gear.
In my experience SAAB were the worst in this respect .
Just the timing chain for an old model 9000, SAAB quoted me over $600 for, and I got all the stuff I needed, including chain tensioner, gaskets and other bits(I can't remember now) ... for about $200 from the supplier I found.

So I'm with Deb ... so find a good repairer and try your best to keep them in business.

[Lance B]

The only issue I have with this part of the comment is that going by the OP's original complaint, Nikon's authorized service agents seem to have no clue as to how to use this sophisticated equipment!

If they did the OP's situation wouldn't exist in the first place.

No harm in trying an unauthorised repairer ..... could they really do any worse?

Well, yes they could.

Added to this, Nikon has to do it under warranty and keep doing it until they fix it.

I've set reset and reset again my D300 with a few focus fixes over the years .. mainly for the manual focus lenses, but I did have a go at adjusting the AF calibration for the mirror once too. Set it back to where(I think) was the original setting.

Can't really recall that it misfocused after I had a go at calibrating it myself .. and I'll readily admit I had no idea on what I was actually doing. A non authorised Nikon repairer will, or should, have some idea on how to calibrate, repair, reset and readjust almost any Nikon camera.

My belief is that Nikon have introduced all these sophisticated gizmos and instruments to fool us into believing that only THEY have the knowledge on how their cameras work, and how to 'repair them'.
They probably really do close to nothing more than the average knowledgeable camera serviceperson can do using their expertise anyhow!

Twhnif they do nothing more or less than the average knowledgeable serviceperson, then it would be best to send it back to Nikon under warranty as it won't cost him anything.

These tactics from Nikon remind me of the old days when car manufacturers began using their proprietary vehicle diagnostic comms ports all those years ago, for the strict purpose of making it impossible for non authorised repairers to service those vehicles. Luckily(for us) governments around the globe stepped in and forced them to use standardised comms systems, whereby anyone with the easily available tools can now diagnose issues with their vehicles.
Cameras will never be as vital a part of everyday life as are vehicles, so the governments will never take action to prevent this type of monopolisation of servicing for cameras .. and we'll just 'have to live with it'.

Don't think for one minute that these diagnostic equipment are vital to the operation and servicing of cameras and are borne of any need to keep the devices working in top condition!
They are simply a channel for the manufacturers to force consumers into using their authorised service centres at inflated pricing levels, and as a means to protect their corporation's profitability.

Some diagnostic equipment may be necessary, and from what I have read (extensively) about this issue with the D800's AF, I do believe it is not just a purely machanical fix but does involve some programming of the on board algorithms. If the backyard techie doesn't have this equipment, then what? I still can't see why anyone wouldn't send it back to Nikon as it is free under warranty and they are under obligation to get it fixed otherwise they have to provide a new camera. Can the backyard techie offer this? If the backyard techie stuffs it up and makes it worse, then what? Is he going to stump up for a replacement? Hmmm.

If it is out of warranty, you may like to take the risk with a backyard techie, under warranty? I don't think so. Nikon would have a good case to refuse warranty as someone else has worked on it that is not an authorised agent as these guys are not held to account like the Motor Trader's are. Anyway, good luck with going to court over it and all the hassle that entails, I still say take it back to Nikon as it is under warranty and it is free.

Eliminate the competition(in this case indy service people) and they then have the right to charge massively inflated service/repair pricing.

Possibly, possibly not. If people start jacking up with service costs, they'll quickly jump ship to Canon or some other manufacturer.

Personally, I find it strange to want to use a backyard techie (akin to backyard abortion?) when it won't cost you anything to go to Nikon as it is under warranty. Quite strange.

If you are firm but fair and reasonable, Nikon will be as well. I have never had an issue with anything I have purchased that wasn't up to scratch which required either repair under warranty or out of warranty and they have all ended with a successful outcome for me. It all depends on how you go about things.