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Nikon Quality

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Buy pro equipment if you plan on beating the sh*t out of it. That's why pro equipment costs so much. Else, get used to replacing your stuff whenever you break it. But beware ... same cost either way.

--
http://letkeman.net/Photos
 
I would agree to the extent that most of the stuff made in Thailand has been troublesome in my experience. Luckily I have one D200 and one 18-200 that were made in Japan. I've had and returned 2 18-200s, 1 70-300, and 1 D200---all made in Thailand. The lenses all had the slip within 2 months and the 70-300 rattled like broken glass. Unfortunately it doesn't appear that there are any 70-300 Japan copies. Both the D2X and D2Xs cameras have been excellent. The D200 thailand copy had a bad shutter out of the box. I now have a new rule if it is from thailand I don't buy it. With lenses that is fairly easy to know without looking at the lens or box. It is usually under $1000.

All that being said I am/was the owner of two $4500 Canon Mark III cameras that wouldn't focus single shot or servo shot. They also didn't like hot weather or bright sunlight. In spite of my dislike of the thailand made nikons I must say none of them exhibited such disappointing performance as these two expensive Canons that were indeed Japan copies. I also tend to stay away from Canon's vietnam and china lens as well.
 
Jason Chan said:
Sorry to hear about your repeated misfortunes. Having used Nikon
bodies and lenses for 15 years without any major problems, I guess I
was lucky. These days, digital SLR's are far more sophisticated and
with the added complexity, I would expect a higher number of
electronics-based failures. I'm not making excuses for Nikon, but
there's no question that today's cameras are significantly more
complex than film bodies.

As for your lens, that's just horrible! I had that lens and while it
didn't match up to the f/2.8 zooms I had, I never thought it would
fall apart. That certainly doesn't inspire confidence.

Question: Do you think switching to pro-grade Nikon gear will restore
your confidence in the brand?
Click to expand...
I honestly don't know how to answer that. My 70-200 F/2.8 VR has already been rebuilt once and has never focused right at distance (Nikon agrees with that, it's not a case of unrealistic expectations). I have recently been looking at both Nikon and 3rd-party pro lenses to cover the 18-70 range. To be honest, the best lens I've had so far was the Sigma 100-300 f/4. I sold it when I moved to the 70-200 for the extra f/stop in brightness, but that lens was built like a tank and never gave me a moment's problem.

So, at the moment, my answer is, unfortunately, "I don't know".

--
=~ AAK - http://www.aakatz.com
=~ Author of The White Paper
=~ http://www.aakatz.com/whitepaper
 
sfisher said:
AAK is your real name Joe Btfsplk by any chance? I've never heard
of such bad luck. I'd be on the look-out for falling space debris ,
if I were you.
Click to expand...
LOL! I used to be in the software industry. Developers loved me - I was the greatest bug-finder ever. If the software was going to break, it would break while I was using it!! :-)
sfisher said:
--
-Steve
===================
Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in
establishing tonal relationships. Ansel Adams
Click to expand...
--
=~ AAK - http://www.aakatz.com
=~ Author of The White Paper
=~ http://www.aakatz.com/whitepaper
 
... is an $850 lens that has only 5000 frames on it since I got it back from Nikon to stay in one piece. I have never beat this lens, or any other. I treat my tools with loving care, and always have.
Kim Letkeman said:
Buy pro equipment if you plan on beating the sh*t out of it. That's
why pro equipment costs so much. Else, get used to replacing your
stuff whenever you break it. But beware ... same cost either way.

--
http://letkeman.net/Photos
Click to expand...
--
=~ AAK - http://www.aakatz.com
=~ Author of The White Paper
=~ http://www.aakatz.com/whitepaper
 
AAK said:
AAK said:
Question: Do you think switching to pro-grade Nikon gear will restore
your confidence in the brand?
Click to expand...
I honestly don't know how to answer that. My 70-200 F/2.8 VR has
already been rebuilt once and has never focused right at distance
(Nikon agrees with that, it's not a case of unrealistic
expectations). I have recently been looking at both Nikon and
3rd-party pro lenses to cover the 18-70 range. To be honest, the best
lens I've had so far was the Sigma 100-300 f/4. I sold it when I
moved to the 70-200 for the extra f/stop in brightness, but that lens
was built like a tank and never gave me a moment's problem.

So, at the moment, my answer is, unfortunately, "I don't know".
Click to expand...
I'm surprised to hear that your 70-200VR required a rebuild. That's not particularly confidence-inspiring. I never had any issues with my first generation Nikon AF lenses or AF-S ones. I had tons of confidence in my equipment and the lenses never failed mechanically or optically. I remember one time when this heavy metal door slammed on my 80-200 f/2.8 which cracked the distance display window but the optics were still fine. From your experience, I'm not sure I'd be confident duplicating that experience with today's lenses.
 
To me this sounds more like a case of bad luck and my suggestion would be to not waste your money on buying lottery tickets. I have had Nikon for years and so far each piece has been trouble free.

Steve

--

'If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them something more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.'
 
Every industry is the same, Alan. Look at wrist watches. Twenty years ago the equivalent watch of $200 could last you 10 years or more; today, 3 or 4 years at best. With so many plastic parts in a wrist watch the expansion and contraction factors with temperature fluctuations take their toll.

Why should prosumer cameras of today be any different? The companies always want your hard earned dollar, continuously. I do empathise with you, Alan, and I think that your situation is partly to do with bad luck, but still a Nikon D200 is not a 1970s Nikon FM2 in terms of reliability and durability.

Look at my Sonys, with their QC. As you may have read before, one of my 828s doesn't focus to infinity in manual mode as well as having a soft left side with its lens; the other has a jumpy mode dial. Very annoying. My R1 has an issue, too. It also doesn't focus to infinity in manual mode. My Canon G5 has always been okay, but maybe that's just good luck. None of these cameras were cheap when I purchased them, either. I sometimes wonder what the reliability will be like when I retire in a few years, when I purchase two DSLR bodies (and wide angle lenses), the equivalent of the 5D.

In terms of the DSLR body problem, have you checked out a Fiji, while still being able to use your Nikkor lenses?

Also, will you be stopping into the Sony forum at all in the future? I don't expect you'll be replying to my post here. Anyhow, here's a H5 shot I took recently:



Cheers

--
Mesh
Australia
~
5% lighting, 5% composition. 90% location. Get there.
 
AAK wrote:
snipped
AAK said:
I'm not a troll.
I'm a professional photographer
It took five weeks.
Click to expand...
Good pros are registered for Nikon pro service - and get a weeks turn round or faster on pro items and priority turn round on other items - this lens is not a pro item for pro service.

Good pros have back up equipment or use a pro supplier (can cost a bit more) with a good loan service for the occasional emergency situation.
--
Leonard Shepherd

Whilst the camera and lens can be important the photographers skill and imagination are much more important in achieving good pictures.
 
I think for the price the D200 is an amazing camera, however I have 2 of them and I really don't consider the D200 a workhorse all day everyday professional camera. If I were a professional I would have at least 3 of them or one D2x and two D200's for back up.

Like I said, I have two D200's and one is going to Nikon for repair. That leaves me with one and I have a wedding comming up. If I were a professional I would not go to work without at least two cameras.

Also, the 18-200 is a great lens, but it's not a professional grade lens. I'm surprised you think the lens won't fall apart with everyday use. Hey, they're massed produced, someone forgot to tighten the screw. I've had one for a year and it's been repaired by Nikon once. If I were a pro I would expect to replace the D200 and 18-200 lens at least every year. Now if I were paying $4,500 for a camera, I would expect it to last longer.

It's not Nikons responsibility to make sure we have a functioning camera everyday. So I have to make sure I have enough camaeras to keep myself covered and extended warranties if need be.

Good luck,
Bob
 
Jason Chan said:
I'm surprised to hear that your 70-200VR required a rebuild. That's
not particularly confidence-inspiring. I never had any issues with my
first generation Nikon AF lenses or AF-S ones. I had tons of
confidence in my equipment and the lenses never failed mechanically
or optically. I remember one time when this heavy metal door slammed
on my 80-200 f/2.8 which cracked the distance display window but the
optics were still fine. From your experience, I'm not sure I'd be
confident duplicating that experience with today's lenses.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't want to duplicate that experience with ANY lens. :-)

On the other hand, that 70-200 just wouldn't focus at distance at any high focal length. For example, I could shoot an entire concert, spot-focus dead-center on the face of the performer, and every single shot would be out of focus.

Then, it stopped focusing, period. Unless I rotated the lens in the mount (yes, it was loose enough to rotate). Back to Nikon.

That lens is doing well now. Wish I could say the same for the lame 18-200.

There's one other thing to be said. That lens went up in price since it was first released, and often sells today for $849 plus tax and shipping. That makes it a nine-hundred-dollar lens. Is it Pro glass? No. But it is a hunk of glass that costs almost $1000... what was the last $1000 purchase that you were OK with falling apart regularly until it self-destructed? :-)

--
=~ AAK - http://www.aakatz.com
=~ Author of The White Paper
=~ http://www.aakatz.com/whitepaper
 
You need to separate the cost from it. The 18-200 is not a pro lens. 5000 shots is a good number of shots. Still, this is not a good thing to happen. But it's not like such a lens is built like a pro lens. Also, the simple fact it had been to nikon for service probably has a lot to do with it failing. Since it's been torn into, and very well wasn't right from day one.

Still, do you honestly think switching to someone else will get you any better luck? I don't own Canon or Nikon DSLR gear (own P&S of both for what it matters). But from an outsider, I'd buy Nikon hands down from a build quality. Just hold Canons verses Nikons in your hands, Canon stuff doesn't come close.

Every brand has issues. And new stuff is very complicated. Your old nikons were tanks because they were simply a simpler machine. An 18-200 VR lens is an exercise in making something extremely complicated.

I don't think you will find one brand better than the others. Just look around in these forums. Some brands like Sony are looking pretty good from reliability, but they have only had one body out so far and it's a gen II of an already pretty solid KM body. Give them some time to make some lemons.
 
Nice shot, Mesh. And quite different from what you normally shoot!

You're right of course, things have gone downhill. Last weekend I shot Spiedie Fest, the huge balloon rally and expo, and also had a booth there to sell the posters and mugs I was commissioned for for the event.

Because I would be busy shooting, I bought an electronic cash register so that my assistants wouldn't have to calculate prices, tax, etc. and so I'd have an audit trail. It's by Sharp and only $99 at Staples.

What a wonderful purchase. It programmed in less than 1/2 hour and worked flawlessly from start to finish despite being outdoors in dust and a brief thunderstorm for three days. One of the best bargains I've bought recently.

When I realized that, I got depressed. I was sooooo impressed by one single well-priced, well-designed item. The more I thought about it, the more upset I got as I realized that I shouldn't be so impressed with this purchase - this is what I should (and used to) expect from ALL my purchases. But it had been so long since anything I've ordered or bought ended up working right out of the box and continued working.

As you know, I've returned three new Sony P&S cameras for replacement over the last year-and-a-half, and recently returned two (2!!) Canon Pixma 9000 printers, both of which died within hours of receipt. I gave up on those completely [sigh].

Not a good omen, and not a good predictor of the future!
--
=~ AAK - http://www.aakatz.com
=~ Author of The White Paper
=~ http://www.aakatz.com/whitepaper
 
Leonard, as I've posted several times in this thread, I did have a backup and I completed the shoot successfully.

I'd never let a client down.

But that still doesn't give me a great comfort and confidence level in Nikon.

I know stuff happens. But I can honestly say, that I've never had a lens repair, over more than 40 years, before these two from Nikon (the 18-200 and the 70-200 f/2.8 VR). Perhaps I've just been lucky.

But I can honestly say that my D200 bodies and lenses have spent an inordinate amount of time in Melville (took five weeks in May, the body and both lenses).

My point is that that may be OK for Sony or even Canon. It's just not what I expected from Nikon, a name which has meant nothing, if not quality and dependability, to me for 44 years.
Leonard Shepherd said:
Leonard Shepherd said:
I'm not a troll.
I'm a professional photographer
It took five weeks.
Click to expand...
Good pros are registered for Nikon pro service - and get a weeks
turn round or faster on pro items and priority turn round on other
items - this lens is not a pro item for pro service.
Good pros have back up equipment or use a pro supplier (can cost a
bit more) with a good loan service for the occasional emergency
situation.
--
Leonard Shepherd
Whilst the camera and lens can be important the photographers skill
and imagination are much more important in achieving good pictures.
Click to expand...
--
=~ AAK - http://www.aakatz.com
=~ Author of The White Paper
=~ http://www.aakatz.com/whitepaper
 
It tells us a lot about Nikon. 5 People use a Nikon, that is 2 more then Lieca M users. 60 something used Canon, so it is logical that Canon has more failures. I bet you will easiyl find 5 Canon shooters who had no problems at all.

--
hobby aviation photographer
 
I guess you must have extraordinary bad luck.The 18-200 is still my favourite lens,it suffered from lens creep but I managed to "repair" that with simple duct tape.And up until now,it still performs,vibration reduction and all.And mine has been treated rather roughly with occasional bumps during a trip to Barcelona last month.

But I sure do agree with the quality issue,my 4 year 600€ old Canon i 9100 now suffers from severe banding,won't be able to repair that with duct tape.

All our electrical and electronical devices are now being manufactured in low cost South east Asia countries.If they would have been assembled in Western Europe,they'd cost a fortune.That's just what's happening IMHO,ppl over there are now living in their early sixties,working very hard but with lower quality standards and within a few decades,they are going to be on top of the world.

Walter
--
http://www.leonhardsgallery.com

 
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