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Nikon need to come clean

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jetstream said:
Collecting the info is one thing, and this banding issue is
discussed in many other forums in various languages, this is why I
believe that the problem is real for a number of D200 users. Now,
how long is it going to take before Nikon issues an official
statement? Are they still in the collecting phase?
Click to expand...
1. You don't need to BELIEVE that the problem is real for a number of D200 users. It IS real.

2. At issue is how many. All? Most? Many? Some? Few?

3. Also at issue is fixability. Fully fixable? Mostly fixable? Partially fixable?

4. If Nikon were following the crisis management drill originally mastered by Tylenol, they would have already issued a PR statement. But it probably wouldn't say much more than "We've been made aware of a problem. We don't have a full answer to it yet. We're fixing cameras with clear problems that are presented to us. We'll have more to say when we're 99% comfortable that we've got all the issues under control." However, I've never known Nikon to be that kind of company (even though every one of those statements I just made on their behalf is likely true). Their structure makes them relatively slow to come up with formal statements, especially when there's translation going on in both directions.

--
Thom Hogan
author, Nikon Field Guide & Nikon Flash Guide
editor, Nikon DSLR Report
author, Complete Guides: D50, D70, D100, D1 series, D2h, D2x, S2 Pro
http://www.bythom.com
 
--Thanks for your very balanced and informative contribution to the debate Thom.Its reassuring to hear that you know of only one of your friends having experianced banding and also I can accept that with your considerable knowledge and experiance of Nikon that you are obviously well disposed towards them as a quality manufacturer of photo equipment.

However we must also take cogniscence of what we see reported here on Dpreview and even though we know it does not reflect the views and opinions of the entire Nikon D200 buying public it does never the less give a good cross section of opinion.
seany
 
Thom Hogan said:
2. At issue is how many. All? Most? Many? Some? Few?

3. Also at issue is fixability. Fully fixable? Mostly fixable?
Partially fixable?
Click to expand...
This means you aknowledge we do NOT have the answers to these?

I fully agree with everything you say about Nikon making statements.
 
Yes I do have one that started producing casual, unpredictable type III Striping at ISO 100.
 
In an article entitled "Kissing Cousins" which compares the D200 to the 5D. I haven't actually read the article yet (as I'm not particularly interested in buying either camera) but I noticed that banding is clearly visible in the magazine's 150% 1600 and 3200 ISO tests which they refer to as "Moire" not "banding".

I'm sure that phil will have something on this in his review as well (as with the 20D).
seany said:
--Having waited eagerly for the D200 like most forum members I've
read with encreasing disappointment the steady stream of posts on
the subject of banding.One can only feel sorry for the growing
numbers of people who have bought this cam only to find they have a
problem D200.
While not everyone has experianced banding I think most reasonable
people will accept at this stage that there is obviously a problem
with too many for it not to be worrying.

It seems to me that Nikon are taking advantage of the goodwill and
loyalty of their customers by the manner in which they are handling
the problem.
While they appear to be trying to fix the problem with varying
degrees of success,they are not informing the customers of the
cause of the problem? this is far from satisfactory both to the
people who have had the problem fixed and to those who may not have
the problem or who are not sure if they have it.

Is it a permanent fix and if so has it impaired the performance of
the camera in any way?

If it is not a permanent fix why not? and more importantly are
banding free cameras likely to be affected at some later date?

Come on Nikon play fair with your loyal customers and enlighten
them on this banding problem.

In case some members should feel I'm being unfair to Nikon ask
yourself the question if this was a motorcar or some other consumer
item would you accept this type of treatment from a major
manufacturer with a worldwide reputation for excellance?
seany
Click to expand...
 
"I noticed that banding is clearly visible in the magazine's 150% 1600 and 3200 ISO tests"

Sounds like a measurbater's wet dream.
 
koni12 said:
"I noticed that banding is clearly visible in the magazine's 150%
1600 and 3200 ISO tests"

Sounds like a measurbater's wet dream.
Click to expand...
and dpreview isn't?
 
nik1024 said:
Sounds quite like mine, it's there at ISO 200 in shots with high
contrast (no lightbulbs, I hate this word already),
Click to expand...
Light bulbs are beautiful, beautiful things. How can you hate them?

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Greetings from lightbulb world.

--
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Thirty six, thirteen, and five. Watch your back, Dallas!

Detroit Pistons - Number 1 in the NBA!
Thirty nine and nine, we're gonna stomp some Texan!

Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com
 
"and dpreview isn't?"

Officially, DPreview only shows 100% crops, not 150%...LOL. Perhaps the measurebaters here on DPreview will now demand 150% crops.
 
Thom Hogan said:
But we have another clue: there are over 50,000 D200s in
user's hands already. NikonUSA is repairing cameras with banding (I
can't speak for all the other countries because I don't have enough
information). If there were an overwhelming number that banded,
Nikon's repair time on the D200 would be immense at this point,
especially because we have a part replacement in most of these
cameras.
Click to expand...
Thom,

I disagree with you on this one point. I don't think you are taking into account the thousands of D200 purchasers who never read on-line forums and don't know the banding problem exists. Since banding only shows up once in a while in limited circumstances, they would tend to ignore an isolated case of banding, even if it ruined a picture. So there may be thousands of D200 owners that have a bad camera but don't realize it is an abnormal fixable problem and haven't sent them in to Nikon.

Including myself, I know three people who have bought D200's. The other two don't read forums and had no idea there was a banding issue with any D200s and may have never known unless I told them.

I took a few hundred pictures with my D200 before I saw a clear case of Type 2 banding (at ISO 400 in a high contrast exposure). If I didn't know about the banding issue from reading the forum and Bjorn's review, there is a strong liklihood that I would have ignored the problem since it only affects such a small percentage of photos. I would have probably chalked it up to some kind of pilot error.

And yes, I sent my D200 into Torrance for repair, I got it back in 10 days and I haven't seen any evidence of banding since I got it back. To me, it wasn't a big deal - I love the camera.

--
Jeff Kott
 
Thom, you write of "part replacement" a number of times in your response, from what I gather most repair reports I have heard of are "image adjustment", I did hear of a very early post of a hardware replacement but it seems as if the "adjustment" accounts for the rest.
 
Kerry Pierce said:
Philip_F said:
In my case the beef is that severe banding seems to show up
randomly on cams that did not exhibit it before. I can't reshoot in
most cases so I want to know after hitting the shutter release
whether I have a useable pic or not. At this stage the D200 is
clearly not that reliable so I wouldn't use it if I had one.
Click to expand...
That is simply not true. I've seen absolutely no evidence that the
banding will simply appear randomly, out of thin air. There are a
number of people making unsubstantiated claims and making a big
deal out of very poor photography, blaming the camera for
inappropriate exposures and/or unreasonable expectations. You're
making assumptions based on an internet FUD campaign, not fact.
Kerry Pierce said:
I have one on order but I don't think I will buy it unless Nikon
makes some very clear statements. Just keep on using my D100 and
shooting the odd 'high res' pics with my Hassy.
Click to expand...
Nikon isn't going to make any clear statements that will satisfy
the doom & gloom banding crowd.
Click to expand...
You're partly wrong:

http://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nikoneurope_en.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=16474&p_created=1138980204&p_sid=q7Q8tO_h&p_accessibility=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD01NDUmcF9wcm9kcz0mcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PSZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXBlPWFuc3dlcnMuc2VhcmNoX25sJnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=&p_topview=1
Kerry Pierce said:
The average d200 works just fine,
so long as you do your part. I suspect that it's not much
different with your d100 and hassy.

--
my gallery of so-so photos
http://www.pbase.com/kerrypierce/root
Click to expand...
 
--If this is the sort of advice being given by Nikon Europe support centre,i.e.do not use ISO above 100? or print A3 or larger then I THINK PEOPLE ARE RIGHT TO BE DISATISFIED,also they are not promising a complete fix only that the problem will be less obvious.

This is far from satisfactory from Nikon and will certainly deter potential buyers.
seany
 
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