I'm switching to Canon!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jeez,

I wish you wouldhave posted your Nikon Service complaint BEFORE I bought my D100!!

Seriously. This is my first SLR, so I'm not pro Canon or Nikon. I checked both of them out and ultimately decided on the Nikon because I live 10 minutes from the Torrance service center. I do recall they were pains in the a$$ when the lens mount on my old CoolPix 950 became loose after spinning on the tele adapter too many times. They quoted me a 14 day turn around if I dropped it off and picked it up! I took the camera apart and tightened everything up (with a drop of loc-tite) in 10 minutes.

So why did I go with Nikon?

Simple. It's easier for me to drive to Torrance and yell at Nikon than drive to Orange County to yell at Canon! (I'm dead serious.)

Maybe all future glass could be non-nikon. Ie Sigma, etc. Eventually, if your Nikon camera goes, then you can make the switch, or even go fuji..., or give Nikon repair a second chance. Just a thought.
Eric

I am sorry to tell you this but do you really expect Canon to be any better with service. Every company has its bad employees and its good ones. You should call back and talk to someone else at Nikon, like go above heads to upper management. It is sad how companies can get away with poor business practices in this day and age but it is us the consumers that are allowing it. It is not a solution to just run away but stuff the issues in their faces and make them do what you want..

Jonathan F. said:

I am so pi$$ed off at Nikon right now. Last week I went to get my
(still under warranty) lens to Nikon Torrance, because the focusing
ring started to jam and would not zoom. Anyways, I've kept that
lens in proper order and always took good care of it. They said
they would fix it no problem.

This week I get a re-estimate saying that there was impact damage
causing the ring to crack, and they would not repair it under
warranty, because they implied the lens was most likely damaged by
me. I called the repair facility and they were extremely rude and
did not try to help me at all, and did not want to resolve anything
with me, leaving me furious.

I am a very supportive user of Nikon, but this kind of treatment
and accusation seriously pi$$es the $hit out of me, and I do not
want to support a company as arrogant as this.

If I do not get the lens repaired as it should be under warranty, I
plan to switch over to Canon and vote with my money. As much as I
prefer Nikon equipment, I will not support these kind of business
tactics.

----------------------------------------------



ganja is your friend...i love canada!

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http://www.inhousephoto.com

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--
D100/CP4500

Thanks Terry. NPS (US) has been quite good the few times I've had to use them. They also set me up to borrow a couple of lenses last year, but as it turned out I didn't need them. You do have to give them a credit card number if you borrow stuff,(a no-brainer) but asking for bank statements and the like doesn't happen.

And yes, I've watched his posts for years so I know his style pretty well by now!

Frantz

Terry Cioni said:

Cheers. Terry.

Frantz Dantzler said:

NPS service has been outstanding.

Ger Bee said:

........... take NPS registration for instance, I had to jump
through hoops, own a zillion pieces of gear and prove it with
client lists and bank statements; for what, in my fight with Nikon
it ended the same way.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
I may be slow, but I do poor work.

For me, I won't give up, insist and convinced them that's not user's fault in using and managing the lens.

My story of repairing the AF 35mm f2D lens, it has oil leaked to it's aperture diaphram and cause over exposure, I sent it to Nikon under warranty period and they fixed it. After about 4 months later, the oil leaked again, and I then searched the internet anf found that this was often happened in this lens and likely to be a design flaw, I then sent the lens to nikon and they said they need to charged me because the warranty for last repair was 3 months only, I then talked to their manager and provide my evidence from internet info and my experience with other nikon lens never happened like that, in the conversation the manager noted my pro knowledge in Nikon gear and agreed to repair it for free, they replaced the oil of a different kind (as he told me). I finally sold the lens after the fix to avoid the same problem happened again. I heard that later lens version was improved.

Jonathan F. said:

Since I'm done venting, I'll start posting pictures from my
wonderful camera again.

Jonathan F. said:

I am so pi$$ed off at Nikon right now. Last week I went to get my
(still under warranty) lens to Nikon Torrance, because the focusing
ring started to jam and would not zoom. Anyways, I've kept that
lens in proper order and always took good care of it. They said
they would fix it no problem.

This week I get a re-estimate saying that there was impact damage
causing the ring to crack, and they would not repair it under
warranty, because they implied the lens was most likely damaged by
me. I called the repair facility and they were extremely rude and
did not try to help me at all, and did not want to resolve anything
with me, leaving me furious.

I am a very supportive user of Nikon, but this kind of treatment
and accusation seriously pi$$es the $hit out of me, and I do not
want to support a company as arrogant as this.

If I do not get the lens repaired as it should be under warranty, I
plan to switch over to Canon and vote with my money. As much as I
prefer Nikon equipment, I will not support these kind of business
tactics.

----------------------------------------------



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inhousephoto inc. digital ? photography ? media
http://www.inhousephoto.com

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--
----------------------------------------------



ganja is your friend...i love canada!

inhousephoto inc. digital ? photography ? media
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--
My favorite Cameras -
Nikon F100, Nikon FM3A, Canon EOS 1V, Fuji S2 pro
Amateur Radio call sign VR2XEE
Favorite handhekd ham transceiver - Yaesu VX-5

Jonathan F. said:

I am so pi$$ed off at Nikon right now. Last week I went to get my
(still under warranty) lens to Nikon Torrance, because the focusing
ring started to jam and would not zoom. Anyways, I've kept that
lens in proper order and always took good care of it. They said
they would fix it no problem.

This week I get a re-estimate saying that there was impact damage
causing the ring to crack, and they would not repair it under
warranty, because they implied the lens was most likely damaged by
me. I called the repair facility and they were extremely rude and
did not try to help me at all, and did not want to resolve anything
with me, leaving me furious.

I am a very supportive user of Nikon, but this kind of treatment
and accusation seriously pi$$es the $hit out of me, and I do not
want to support a company as arrogant as this.

If I do not get the lens repaired as it should be under warranty, I
plan to switch over to Canon and vote with my money. As much as I
prefer Nikon equipment, I will not support these kind of business
tactics.

----------------------------------------------



ganja is your friend...i love canada!

inhousephoto inc. digital ? photography ? media
http://www.inhousephoto.com

Click to expand...

Jonathan !: Yes I am also aware of Nikons approach to "customer satisfaction". I had a Nikon SLR film camara years ago that sort of "came apart" while i was "shooting a wedding". I was way beyond any warranty consideration but simply approached Nikon to repair my "pride and joy"as I was certainlywilling to pay for the repair. Their reply was to "Buy a new Nikon 'cause to repair mine would cost as much"! Now that's from "the mouths of Nikon". (camera was 4 years old and I only put about 10 rolls of 36 through her every year. Don't blame you for leaving Nikon at all! Safe journey into Canonville! pje

Paul

What camera was that?

Regards
Raul

Ron (and others),

Your comments ring so true! The lenses you mentioned (for example) are definitely some of the most capable and superbly performing lenses available for use on Nikon SLR's. It's interesting how how this upper echilon of lenses is not the sole domain of just currently manufactured optics. Even restricting my comments to lenses that fit and work on Nikon Digital SLR's, a few select early "original" Series One (Vivitars) had the highest resloving power of any 35mm lenses ever tested..truly astonishing. There is a lot of folklore regarding these but it was most definitely true of a select few. Of course manufacturing tolerances were different then and sample to sample variation was so mediocre, that obtaining one that performed at this highest level was like finding the preverbial needle in a haystack, but when found, one was in no doubt of a remarkable optic. Of course "CA" and other factors that might play a more obvious role in their (these select original Series One's) use on todays Digital SLR may lesses their desirability. Knowing ones own lenses and taking advantage of it's strengths (and avoiding it's weak areas) can go a long way to getting the most performance from a lens and as Ron so aptly mentioned, it need not always cost an arm or leg nor always say on it's barrel, silent wave, L-Lens or other designations that ussually result in the highest costs.

Dave

Ron Reznick said:

There are plenty of professional-quality tools out there, Gerald.
Some extremely-fine shots have been yielded by the $100 50mm f/1.8.
The Nikkor 24mm f/2.8D or 35mm f/2D also. None of those have the
coveted "L" or "AFS" inscribed on them either.

Use good quality tools, certainly. Know what those are though. The
"L" or "AFS" does not ensure top quality every time, you know.
Think about it.

Ron

Ger Bee said:

........................ If professional then only L glass or AFS
is recommended Sigma just does not stand up, I've a new DX 24~70
Sigma (to save money???) but it's so horrible compared to the L
glass that I bought I'm not using it.

I should have kept my €950 and put it towards the €3,000 L lens and
be finished with it for ever.

Click to expand...

--
Ron Reznick
http://digital-images.net
http://trapagon.com

Click to expand...

Teski said:

Do you not remember the soft focus debacle on the D100 last August,
September, and October? THat should have made you question Nikon
based on your post. The 10D AF non-issue is exactly the same
thing...Over-hyped by people that need to learn their camera.

Click to expand...

Teski

You have to understand that forums for high end video camera have a very small fraction of the people that you find in a digital photo forum, people that spend a small fortune for 3CCD video camera, steadycam, 16:9 anamorphic lenses etc is a small percentage of the population and mostly pro.

When we run the poll we got 35% of the people with not remappable hot pixel from Canon. I got te problem too in my first camera, out of two cameras it represent the 50% to me.

I also think that I didn't have the problem in the second camera only because I don't have too much time left for video anymore.

So, I may be generic on this photo forum but please don't be generic yourself, there are many, many photos posted by expert people showing the AF problem of the 10D they can't be all idiots.

Also, all these cameras have technical problems that although not terrible at all (I still prefer ANY of these cameras to a film camera) they bother like sharpness in jpeg for the D100 and white balance for the S2. THe best thing should be to have all of them . I bet that although quite good now, these cameras need another 2/3 years before being really perfect.

--
Regards
Gabriele Sartori

2 out of 3 cameras I was given to test had the front#back focus problem ... The 3rd one gave me 50#50 perfect focus shots ...

This is not something very encourraging ..

I had the 10D to test for 4 weeks, by then I guess I was able to conclude about a focus Issue ...

Teski said:

Teski

Gabriele Sartori said:

Jonathan F. said:

I am so pi$$ed off at Nikon right now.

Click to expand...

I have Canon video equipment, they don't have remappable hot pixel.
We run a poll, 35% of the owners got a hot pixel. Hot pixels in
video camera are terrible since there aren't too many pixels. My
camera has 3CCD each with only 270000 pixel, if you get a hot one,
it will be a spot with a diameter of 5mm on a 53" TV.

I was lucky I got it the first week so I switched camera. Many of
us got it late or just after the warranty. Canon even in front of
35% of us refused to consider this endemic and charged to many of
us $800 to repair it.
This is for the good customer service. Not only you suffer with the
trouble, you even have to pay for it although you did nothing wrong.

The AF in the 10D is something that also make me thing about Canon.

--
Regards
Gabriele Sartori

Click to expand...

--
Teski

'Remember that DSLR bodies come and go, but the lenses stay forever.'

Click to expand...

--
Yves P.

If you believe that the problem is caused by a defect in the lens, perhaps due to its inability to accept routine jostling or truly minor shocks in the normal course of photography, then Nikon (or any other manufacturer) is responsible for fixing it, especially if it is under warranty.

In small claims court, you would have the right to demonstrate the above facts, and Nikon would have the right to show instead that you abused the lens in some way so as to have voided the warranty. Winner take all.

This lens story for some reason reminds me of the story of a highly rated college football player who was drafted some years ago by the San Francisco 49ers with their No. 1 pick. As soon as he arrived as a rookie on the practice field he became injured as a result of minor contact. One injury followed another, despite no apparent physical contact that should have caused such injuries, and soon because of all the injuries, he was out of football, having hardly ever actually played in a real game. But this was not before he acquired a nickname in local sports lore. Today his name is never spoken without use of the nickname that as homage to his fragility became his unofficial middle name, "Crystal."

Let's hope that the few Nikkor lenses that behave like "Crystal" will be graciously repaired by Nikon without insult to the unfortunate customer who bought the lens. Who said photography is not a contact sport?

But there is no need to punch out the Nikon technician. There's a courthouse right in Torrance, and there is little doubt that venue would be proper there, given Nikon's local presence.

David Barkin said:

Interesting post. But you realise that this makes the case even
more outrageous.

Essentially you are saying that this lens in question is
INHERENTLY defective.

Nikon should be doing a recall, not voiding the warrenty.

Dave

f8&bethere said:

Jonathan F. said:

Øyvind Kaurstad said:

Jonathan F. said:

I am so pi$$ed off at Nikon right now. Last week I went to get my
(still under warranty) lens to Nikon Torrance, because the focusing
ring started to jam and would not zoom. Anyways, I've kept that
lens in proper order and always took good care of it. They said
they would fix it no problem.

This week I get a re-estimate saying that there was impact damage
causing the ring to crack, and they would not repair it under
warranty, because they implied the lens was most likely damaged by
me. I called the repair facility and they were extremely rude and
did not try to help me at all, and did not want to resolve anything
with me, leaving me furious.

I am a very supportive user of Nikon, but this kind of treatment
and accusation seriously pi$$es the $hit out of me, and I do not
want to support a company as arrogant as this.

If I do not get the lens repaired as it should be under warranty, I
plan to switch over to Canon and vote with my money. As much as I
prefer Nikon equipment, I will not support these kind of business
tactics.

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about that. Under no circumstances should the repair
people act like this.

Good luck with the switch. You'll get less noise if you buy a 10D,
but you run the risk of the dreaded "focusing problem". Take a peek
at the Canon forum and see for yourself. At any given time there
are at least 10 threads on this issue, and they all grow "hot" in a
matter of hours.

--
-Øyvind

Click to expand...

--
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ganja is your friend...i love canada!

inhousephoto inc. digital • photography • media
http://www.inhousephoto.com

Click to expand...

If it was the 28-70S, a $1500.lens, the slightest bump can create
internal damage including your camera bag knocking into something.
Mine cost $470 to repair after being dropped a a few feet with no
external damage. A friend of mine has had his repaired three times
with very minor bumps causing major internal damage. On the other
hand I used to bounce a Sigma 28-70 lens (about a $300 lens) on
cement over and over again with some external marks but never any
functional damage. If you felt an internal breakage as you turned
the ring under use I would call that a warr. issue, but if it
wouldn't turn the next time you used it then somehow the lens was
hit and it is your cost. None the less Nikon's lens's do not hold
up as well as they used to.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Bill Adams
http://www.pbase.com/bill_adams

Yves P. said:

Ever thought you sold the picture because it was a better picture
and not because of the equipment issue ...

Click to expand...

................... you miss the point and I did not expect to have to elaborate further .... but it certainly was the gear, the Canon was shooting on a 16mm lens with a 1.3 crop factor giving approximately a 20.8mm view via 35mm equivalent. The Nikon was shooting on a 17mm with a crop factor of 1.5x yielding some 25.5mm via 35mm equivalent.

Now before you jump all over the place and scream other lenses, these are pretty standard issue lenses, the shot was taken from the far end of the bridge and wider view is exactly was this customer liked.

Simple, just that simple, as I ALWAYS say it’s the gear that gets the picture.

Yves P. said:

He he he ... I have a Sigma 70-200 HSM 2.8 with my D-100 and it is
as good and as sharp as the Nikon VR AF-S 70-200, I have proven it
many times.

Click to expand...

................. yes against Nikkor, yes I agree, but even my cheap 70~300 non IS but USM $200 lens beat the D100 mounted 70~200 AFS/VR === sad that one, but I can understand where you are coming from but it is actually easy to beat the Nikkor, sorry but it's been an eye opener in my time with Canon, not saying more than that, I know your Sigma will beat a Nikkor, I know that, I know that Tamron beats the Nikkor too.

.......... one needs a good sensor (that' now for me the 1D and the D1h (2h)) and then the application comes to the fore, I’m not generally capturing quality, or extreme quality, but my 1D has raised my standards over and above the two Nikons (I owned for lengthy periods, the D1x and D100) and whilst I found Sigma quite good on the Nikon, good in AF but slower obviously, good in build, (the newer ones) and optically on a par with the AF/VR but a little softer IMO.

Nonetheless, I am utterly changed with the USM/L, I can’t do anything about that but the Sigma is no longer good enough for me on the 1D’s sensor and it makes a fast sporty coupe slow, noisy (as in loud) and less accurate with hunting. If the lens actually possess good optical qualities thereafter it is not a lens I’d use daily unless I actually wanted the superior optical quality and could shoot accordingly – but IMO the Sigma/Canon I have does not anyway either.

Frantz Dantzler said:

You had to show Nikon your bank statements to become an NPS member?
That wasn't my experience at all. As expected, I had to show them
examples of my work that had been published and get a current
member of NPS to vouch for me.

Click to expand...

.................. had to send them newspaper clippings and magazines but I has no NPS member to vouch for me.

But the absolute minimum was two Nikon pro bodies and three pro lenses. They were also quite specific about what that meant too.

Canon have a similar equipment based acceptance requirements but Canon dropped that limitation for me with one camera.

I have BOTH written and email verification documents, so maybe we need to see each other in court, I hope you have money!

Terry Cioni said:

Cheers. Terry.

Frantz Dantzler said:

NPS service has been outstanding.

Ger Bee said:

........... take NPS registration for instance, I had to jump
through hoops, own a zillion pieces of gear and prove it with
client lists and bank statements; for what, in my fight with Nikon
it ended the same way.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Eos** means New Dawn, the fun continues ...

http://www.bonuspix.com

Member said:

Can't understand that GerBee, all I did was telephone Nikon and
Jakki sent me the NPS forms which I filled in and returned - and
the only Nikon equipment which I had at the time was the D1X, the
28-70 f2.8 AFS and an old Nikon film body. I didn't have any of
the other stuff they asked for (I've always been a full time
photographer working in the social market and owning my own
business). NPS membership arrived back a couple of days later - no
questions asked (unless they checked with my bank and the Inland
Revenue). Service through NPS has been fast and considerate.

--
Carol

Click to expand...

..................... maybe they just did not want me as a member so threw the book at me. But I do have all the documents in an envelope buried somewhere but they exist.

But this seems in line with other services recently, my application for a dot IE domain name was something similar.

But when I applied for the Canon CPS service they initially declined because I did not reach their minimum equipment requirements, they did not need “proof” as in samples of work or client lists or bank statements, (I think people are making too much of the bank statement, it’s one of a series of “proof” documents recommended) and then I emailed them back saying that I was NPS and switching so it would be some time before I actually had two “professional” bodies and three “professional” lenses they replied that they would look into it.

Two weeks ago a CPS membership number was emailed to me, no sweat. I did want NPS because of my “troubles” with my D1x. NPS did not prove that valuable as I was still not allowed to “pick up” my camera once Nikon was finished with it, for example, I could have my camera in London, 8.30AM from the evening before (4.30PM) and it was possible for me to have the camera couriered back to me at my expense the morning after even on a Saturday but Nikon insisted that they had to send it back, a trip of five days plus weekends and bank holidays, always, even if Nikon had had the camera only for a few hours.

Well, like most photographers, I suppose anyway, the weekends are just more working days and bank holiday just don’t exist for us.

When I actually spoke to Nikon about this they said that they did “NPS” express the camera, (should have had it back the next morning) and I believe them but there is still this silly delay and Nikon cannot allow my courier to pick up, except for London studio addresses.

Ed, I'm with you. I just sent in a D1 for the 2nd time for additional repairs (the first time Nikon DID NOT correct the problem). Nikon estimates it will cost ~$700 to fix the problem they should have corrected the first time. What really gets me P.O.'d is the fact that they never inspected the camera prior to giving me a quote - they based the quote only on the description of the problem that i gave them. For all I know, it could be a simple eprom or programing issue (the camera is in extremely good condition with minimal exposures). However, I most likely will never know, as i'm not commiting to a $700 repair on an (outdated) back-up body.

However, I am relieved that this is the LAST time I will ever have to deal with Nikon. After exclusively using and BUYING Nikon equipment for over 20 years, I am finially finished with Nikon and going with Canon!

Ed Boakes said:

I, too, have had some disappointments with Nikon Repair:

1) I sent in a 17-35mm lens which had received impact damage. I
happily paid for the repair, but when it was returned to me, they
had not completed the job! The zoom ring turns stiffly in the 22mm
region. It should turn smoothly over the entire zoom range.
Though they sent me a UPS sticker to send it back to them, I'm
really annoyed that I will be without the lens for another week or
two.

2) I sent in an SB-28 DX flash which had become intermittant. When
it was returned (today 6Aug2003) the repair was not complete. They
replaced the foot, which had nothing to do with the problem. The
flash was just as intermittant as it was when I sent it to them. I
would speculate that the technician who was assigned to work on the
flash did not get to see the cover letter which described the
problem. Once I got through to Nikon Service, their agents were
very polite and apologetic and did agree to send me a loaner while
I returned my un-repaired SB-28DX to them.

I am mostly saddened by this. Since I went pro, in 1999, I've
invested almost $16,000 in Nikon equipment. I'm giving serious
thought to sinking about $12,000 into a Canon 1Ds, a couple of
lenses and flashes

Ed B.

Jonathan F. said:

I am so pi$$ed off at Nikon right now. Last week I went to get my
(still under warranty) lens to Nikon Torrance, because the focusing
ring started to jam and would not zoom. Anyways, I've kept that
lens in proper order and always took good care of it. They said
they would fix it no problem.

This week I get a re-estimate saying that there was impact damage
causing the ring to crack, and they would not repair it under
warranty, because they implied the lens was most likely damaged by
me. I called the repair facility and they were extremely rude and
did not try to help me at all, and did not want to resolve anything
with me, leaving me furious.

I am a very supportive user of Nikon, but this kind of treatment
and accusation seriously pi$$es the $hit out of me, and I do not
want to support a company as arrogant as this.

If I do not get the lens repaired as it should be under warranty, I
plan to switch over to Canon and vote with my money. As much as I
prefer Nikon equipment, I will not support these kind of business
tactics.

----------------------------------------------



ganja is your friend...i love canada!

inhousephoto inc. digital ? photography ? media
http://www.inhousephoto.com

Click to expand...

Click to expand...