How's Nikon's Repair & Service?

My 6-month-old D5100 popped up with a "Error. Please press shutter release button again." message that won't go away. I called Nikon support and they said to mail the camera in for evaluation and repairs.

Anyone have experience with sending their camera in for this (or similar) repair? How long did it take? Was it a good experience?

Anything to watch out for? Did you get the same camera back?

Thanks, all. I'm a bit nervous about separating from my baby. But as my D5100 is currently non-functional, I don't have much of a choice.

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Nikon D5100 | Samsung TL500 (EX1) | Sony NEX-5N

i sent my d90 in for repair because the main LCD screen wouldnt turn on. It was relatively painless, took about 3 weeks from what I remember. When i got it back it was all in great working order

I use a lot of film cameras and so use various third-party repair services. It seems that most have horror stories associated with them, including Nikon. It's best to keep in mind that usually it's only disgruntled consumers who take the time to write disparaging reviews. I have never had a bad experience with any of repair facilities I've used. My guess is that the vast majority of customers of most repair facilities are satisfied, or they would not be in business.

My only experience with Nikon repair was many years ago, before digital, but was probably the best repair experience. My several year old FM2 was dropped onto some rocks. The top plate dented, the rewind knob popped off into multiple small parts and springs. It was completely non-functional. I took it into my local camera shop who thought it was toast, but said they would return it to Nikon for me to be evaluated. A couple of weeks later, they called to tell me that Nikon had declared my FM2 to be "Uneconomical To Repair", and would be returning it to me. A few days later, I picked up the camera from the shop. Nikon had re-assembled the camera. It still had the dent, and the secondary lock on the door release did not, in fact, lock the door closed (primary lock still worked), but the camera functioned flawlessly for many more years until it was stolen. Nikon even picked up the shipping charges, absolutely no cost to me.

Guess I can't say that the same would happen today, but I would have no hesitation sending a camera in to them for service again if necessary.

I just had the same error message on the same camera. 3 weeks and the camera was back in my hands. They even left their battery in the camera after the repair.

Took three weeks. I sent my D5100 in for a major back focus issue, but they decided to simply recalibrate instead of replace parts as they initially diagnosed. The camera came back to me with the backfocus issue fixed but now the autofocus is broken using longer lenses.

I have to send the camera back in, losing time and money shipping in the process. So from my experience, no, they are not very good.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/exds/

In my many years as Nikon equipment user (cameras, lenses, flashes, etc.) I had to use their repair service only once and it worked great. A few weeks ago my fairly new D7000 showed an AF malfunction when older AFD lenses where mounted and I sent it to Nikon for warranty repair. I got my camera back in less than 3 weeks, they replaced a couple of parts, checked and adjusted everything to specs, cleaned it thoroughly (including the sensor) and the camera works flawlessly and looks brand new, the process was simple and easy and all was done free of charge.

This was a very positive customer support experience to me and I would definitely recommend you to send your camera to Nikon to get serviced, you'll be happy you did.

I hand carried my D7000 to the El Segundo, CA facility when the exposure system went wonky (3 stops hot about two months after purchasing it.). They fixed that, and also did some major focus system stuff to the body which they may have had to do if they replaced any circuitry stuff too on dismantling the body.

Later, a brand new 14-24mm f/2.8 lens I bought went in for a -30 correction of the AF which the camera could not handle in the menu. It went in the next day from the purchase and hand-delivered too.

Both came back within 8-10 days via UPS and both work fine. Body exposure is fine and the lens needs 0 for AF tuning and is the best lens I have now too.

Mack

Slow, but good. I sent my D70 for shutter replacement (died at about 42,000 actuations). It took about four weeks but the shutter has performed great and exceeded the actuations of the first shutter.

The repair was about $200.

Four weeks seems like a really long time to me, what are they doing with it all that time? It's probably sitting on a shelf waiting...

I sent in a Macbook and Apple had it back to me in four days. It obviously wasn't sitting on a shelf waiting. They also gave me a flat repair quote, no guessing and that was really nice.

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photos: http://www.jamesfryer.com/photography/
blog: http://www.jamesfryer.com/blog/

Thanks, everybody for responding and sharing your experience.

It sounds like the net of the net is that Nikon will do a good job, albeit I'll have to wait 3-4 weeks to get it back. I'll be bummed about that... it does sound like it'll be waiting patiently on a shelf for all that time. I'd love to have the camera back right away, as per @James7000 with his MacBook, but even more importantly that they do a good job and that it works.

Although this is a Nikon forum, I did want to share that I had good experiences with Panasonic and Olympus repair respectively. I had a Panasonic L10 SLR (essentially the same camera as the D5100 I have now -- flippy screen and everything, just with an aged sensor and AF system) that took a slow tumble to the ground after my toddler knocked over its tripod. Needless to say, the flippy screen didn't make it, nor did the foot on the Olympus external flash. Both Panasonic and Olympus took care of me then, and I will be forever grateful for their customer service.

Since nothing of that sort happened with my D5100 -- it's only 6 months old, free of tumbles, and in mint condition aside from the above-mentioned screen error -- I'm counting on Nikon taking care of it under warranty.

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Nikon D5100 | Samsung TL500 (EX1) | Sony NEX-5N

ducky124 said:

I just had the same error message on the same camera. 3 weeks and the camera was back in my hands. They even left their battery in the camera after the repair.

Click to expand...

Did they repair it under warranty? Did they ever explain what caused that error? Thanks!

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Nikon D5100 | Samsung TL500 (EX1) | Sony NEX-5N

I've had poor experience with my service centre in western Canada. My D90 had front focus issues which were never resolved after several visits in almost 2 months. That entire summer had gone by without any photos to remember it by. Even after getting the camera back I found 7 stuck pixels where I never had any before. Yet, another trip.

Later on, I wanted to get my 35mm 1.8 DX lens checked before selling it off to someone. It had been returned to me with what looked like a chipped lens on the inside but it turned out to be a fragment of glass that had to be cleaned.

The lesson I learned is that my particular service centre is run by sloppy idiots. Don't use them if you don't have to, and if you do then expect the worst.

There is a big difference in repair of a camera and computer. There are no individual components that are stocked, only major assemblies in a computer, and disassemble is minutes.

A camera is much more complex with smaller assemblies and individual parts and requires a a lot of adjustments after repair. The calibration procedure after disassembly can take hours.
Camera repair requires a higher level of technical skill and training.

There is a greater chance that a part needed would not be on hand because there are so many individual parts that could be at fault. Four weeks is not bad if parts needed to be ordered.
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Stan
St Petersburg Russia

Hi all,

Just wanted to happily report out that Nikon returned my camera within 2 weeks, handled the repair for free under warranty, and it's working good now.

I wish the D5100 had never locked up. But considering that it did, I'm happy with the Nikon repair experience.

Thanks all!

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Nikon D5100 | Samsung TL500 (EX1) | Sony NEX-5N

Good to hear. Thanks for updating us.

In any case, it is always good to have some sort of a backup camera for the times (if any) that your primary camera is in the shop. I started out with a D40, then several years later, upgraded to a D90. Haven't had any issues with the D90, but I kept the D40 as a backup anyway. Always better to be prepared.