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Nikon Quality

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AAK

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Warning: rant

I'm not a troll. I'm a professional photographer who's been using Nikon since the late 1960's, early 1970s. A Nikkormat was my first 'serious' camera as a teenager. And through all those years, I've come to associate quality with the Nikon brand.

No more.

When I switched to DSLR, of course, I went Nikon. And all went well until my D200s. The first one went back for 6 major system replacements (circuit boards, AF assembly, even a new shutter assembly). The second one went back with a defective lens mount that had to be replaced, and which apparently damaged my 70-200 f/2.8 VR which also had to be rebuilt (new mount, new motor).

My 18-200 VR, which I like for assignments like today's, was repaired two months ago because the creep had gotten so bad that the lens was no longer usable. Nikon agreed and replaced many parts.

It took five weeks.

Today, I'm shooting an outdoor assignment: a Latin Festival with four rotating bands and thousands of attendees.The 18-200 is perfect for gigs like that. I can shoot a closeup of a performer and then spin around, zoom to wide-angle and shoot the dancers behind me.

That is, until the damned lens fell apart. Won't zoom all the way to tele. Falls back about 1 1/2" in an uncontrolledslide when you go wide and lands with a bad clunk. No autofocus. In fact, no manual focus.

The lens is hosed. It's obviously gone off the rails.

And ruined my shoot. Try shooting several thousand people in an audience with a 70mm lens! So I'm using my backup camera for the wide and absolutely steaming about the obviously very badly deteriorated quality of Nikon equipment.

I'd switch to Canon tommorrow, because reliability is an absolute requirement in order for me to earn my living, but it seems like Canon is having more than its share of quality issues!

So, does ANYONE make a reliable camera any more? Or has Q/C just gone down the tubes across the entire industry?

Sorry to be so vehement, but my patience with Nikon is just about gone.

--
=~ AAK - http://www.aakatz.com
=~ Author of The White Paper
=~ http://www.aakatz.com/whitepaper
 
You are trying to earn your living as you say, abusing a consumer grade lens. I wouldn't do it for those issues although yours seems like an isolated case.

If you swith to Canon to use consumer lenses, what's the deal. Also, Canon doen't offer a 18-200VR so far.
 
Electronics in general seem to be on the short end of the stick in regards to over-all quality/reliability/dependability.

I remember that old TV I grew up with. You all know the one. The 250lb goliath of a beast in a solid wood box and a "huge" 19 inch screen. These things worked forever and if they did break it was usually just a matter of replacing a vacuum tube or two that would cost you $20-30 bucks.

I had bought a nice new $900 32" tv a couple years back. After 1 year it suddenly decided that it no longer wanted to turn on anymore. The warranty had since expired and would have cost well over $200 to fix.

Well in this day and age it's all plastics and micro-circuitry. Yeah I love my tiny $200 plastic cell phone that has an expected life-span of 1.5 years on a 2 year service contract. Go make sense of that one.

Or how about that tremendous X-box 360 that costs ~$500 with the non-existent heat-sink on the video card so the machine will burn out after 6 months of ownership.

Cars made of plastic/fiberglass with uni-body construction to cut costs and engines that are so complicated that a basic tune-up cost $750 (personal experience on the tune-up).

I'd love to buy one of those beautiful $2000 flat screen TV's. But, to be perfectly honest I'm very worried about the longevity of the electronics/screen.

About camera's and lenses. I actually expect the problems with the camera bodies considering the level of electronics contained within. This even extends to the mirror/shutter assembly due to the # of accuations compaired to that of film.

However I really wish the lenses would revert to the old metal barrel design or extremely high quality synthetics like used in the "pro" lenses. Just look at the Zeiss lenses. They are machined perfection. Lenses like that are a joy to use.

I empathize with your situation and complaints. I just look at it as a sign of the time and compulsive consumersism (which I'm also quilty of).
--
http://www.ianz28.smugmug.com

 
I think QC has gone down across the board, remeber those gold oval "passed" stickers? It is a fact that is is many times more expensive to acheive 100% quality than it is to get 99%, I think they all cut some corners and let the customer deal with "final QC" which is bad.

That said, I work my nikon stuff hard and apart from snapping a flash shoe and other stuff I have broken by accidental abuse, My nikons have been extremely reliable. I think you have had some bad luck there. I did have a soso copy of an 24-85 afs, so I know the frustration of poor qc. FWIW looking around in the real world I hear a lot more problems with canons, to the point that regular lockups are expected, and everyone (except for a guy with a 350d) I know with canons have had to send them in at least once.

My impression is that nikon is the best for reliability, but qQC has slipped across the board, or maybe we just have more access to the information now.
 
The Nikon D200 is still only a prosumer grade digital camera and you know this.

I just got a brand new Nikon D1H for $730.
Then I searched and got a new Nikon MH-16 Battery charger for $169.

Next I located the Nikon EN-4 battery eqivalent for $25 2100 ma. and (2) for $89 2400ma. CTA batteries.

I'm using my old Nikon/Nikkor AIS lenses - 24mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4, 105mm f/2.5 and 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5 zoom.

Just recieved my 100-400mm f/5.6-7.1 a SamYang AIS lens. Stopped down it's sharp enough for my use. Cost $39.

Tuesday I will be recieving my used tele prime set up AIS lenses -135mm f/3.5, 200mm f/3.5 and 300mm f/4.

This stuff will never break. The lenses are much smaller and lighter than any of my new stuff.

Yes I have 4 Canon DSLR's including the 1Ds Mark II and 25 EOS mount lenses, 10 of which are Proffesional "L" lenses and another 2 are professional Grade Sigma long prime lenses. Also have the indestructable 35mm film EOS 1-V and 2 ELan 7N film cameras. All the flashes, brackets & chords and Quantum batteries I'll ever need.

Have the Pentax K100D and 10 manual focus lenses.

Have a Leica M5 and 50mm Summilux.

My brand new (old because they stopped making them @ 2003) Nikon 1DH should outlast all of them and so should all my AIS manual focus lenses. I have found that my MF technique is every bit as fast and accurate as any camera I own. But that's because I started with mf lenses and film cameras years ago.

Get rid of your D200 and get the D1H 2.7mp or the 4mp D2H. The D2H will print any size you need. The D1H will print just fine up to 13" x 19", and excellent at 14" x 17" and 8" x 10".

I work for myself and I do admit I treat my equipment very carefully. I use my camera every day of the year.

--
Artist Eyes
 
FM2n + 50mm f/1.4 (1.2 if your a big spender) + cheapo black and white film will fix your problems right up.

betcha it'll cost less than the repairs too.
--
chris

rock and roll is cool, but respecting our elders is a tune we can all dance to.
 
I have to agree about the 18-200. I have one myself and it's a very versatile piece of glass. However, it's not pro grade, especially in terms of build quality. If I were making my living behind the lens, I wouldn't rely on consumer grade glass, period. If it's that critical to you, and you expect the best build quality, you need to spend the extra to get a better lens. That's not specific to Nikon. You get what you pay for...
 
Sorry to hear about your bad luck and frustrations. In terms of QC, even the best brands have failure rates, all in the nature of manufacturing gear.
 
A guy I know and respect as a professional motor-sport photographer fell in love with the 18-200 at the 2006 Indy 500. He had hurt his hand and the 18-200 was light and versatile, but he also just found that he liked it. This year when I talked to him he told me he had brought 3 copies of the lens to Indy. I asked him why and he said that although he loved it, it was a cheapo lens and he thought he would go through 3 of them in the month of May.

I don't know why you had so many problems with the D200s. Sounds like you may just have gotten a bad copy. But, the 18-200 is just an expensive cheapo consumer lens. If you need to make a living with it buy a couple of them...or buy a 17-55 and a 70-200 and a couple of bodies like most people do.

And, remember, Nikon may not make perfect equipment, but, as you said, Canon makes their share of problems too.

--
John Cote
http://www.johncotephotography.com

'Cameras are just cr@p we have to lug around because there is no direct brain to printer connection...yet!'
 
First off, sounds like you have had more than your share of bad luck. But secondly, if I were a professional making my living with my camera equipment, I would for sure be using the best they have to offer and be carrying spares of everything. I have seen the difference. I know several news photographers that bang their stuff around something terrible, but they use D1H, D2H or D2Hs exclusively. And even then they wouldn't think of going on an assignment with only one body. They most usually carry three bodies and quite a few lenses. I know the expensive wedding photographer that did my sons wedding last year using Canon had 4 top line bodies and I won't even guess how many lenses and flash units he had with him. And he did have to put one body up and get out it's replacement at one point. I do agree that digital equipment doesn't seem as reliable as film equipment was, but it is more complex also and back when I did do some weddings and portrait work with film, I still would not go on any job without at least 2 bodies and most likely 3 even then.

I feel sorry for you with the bad luck you seem to be having, but think if you are using your equipment to make your living, you should step up your equipment a bit and consider more backup for security.
 
Jim Fenton said:
I shot my Nikon gear HARD and while I've had my share of issues, I
certainly have never experienced anything like this.

I think you just have horrible luck my friend?
Click to expand...
You're probably right. But aside from running over the camera accidentally with my car, I'm not sure it can get worse! :-)

Tonight I noticed that there are parts rattling around inside the lens [sigh].
Jim Fenton said:
--
Jim Fenton
http://www.pbase.com/soonipi1957
Click to expand...
--
=~ AAK - http://www.aakatz.com
=~ Author of The White Paper
=~ http://www.aakatz.com/whitepaper
 
Unfortunately 95% of consumers will buy what is cheapest, so companies have gone that route with their products. Canon and nikon can sell more dSLRs at $1000 than they can at $3500. How do they get the price down? Quality consessions. Cheaper parts that aren't durable, and out-sourcing manufacturing to countries that have cheap labor and obviously lack of oversight of the parent company.

I for one would rather pay for one good product than get a bunch of cheaply made producuts.

Digital P&S cameras? Don't expect most bought today to be operational in 5 years. most are so light and cheap feeling that unless you handle it with kid gloves, it'll fall and stop working.

Within the last 2 months 2 people at work brought me their digital cameras that stopped taking pictures. One said it was a real good camera that looked 4 years old. It was a canon that had a fixed lens. The sensor wasn't getting any light from the lens. It was probably $400 new.

The other person had about a 2 or 3 year old SLR light P&S camera that only strange lines would show up when you took a picture. The LCD would show previously taken picture fine, but it was probably dropped or something.

One of my cameras is a 20 year old Pentax K1000 film SLR. I've only had it for a year and it wasn't used all that much but it is all manual and works so well. Just like the old cars that were made with very thick steel bodies instead of today's cars that are designed to crumple when you get in the smallest fender bender - crumpling for safety. Safety - sure. More like more repairs and replacement cars!
 
Ravashaak said:
I have to agree about the 18-200. I have one myself and it's a very
versatile piece of glass. However, it's not pro grade, especially in
terms of build quality. If I were making my living behind the lens,
I wouldn't rely on consumer grade glass, period. If it's that
critical to you, and you expect the best build quality, you need to
spend the extra to get a better lens. That's not specific to Nikon.
You get what you pay for...
Click to expand...
I do agree with you, I wouldn't expect the reliability I would from my 70-200 f/2.8 VR. But I would expect to get more than two months' worth of use two days a week. And, contrary to what another poster indicated, that lens has never been abused. It's been carried with great care in a highly-padded Kata bag and it has never been banged or dinged or dropped.

It's not my all-the-time lens, it's just for events like the one I was shooting today. For which it is the perfect match.

I don't expect it to take abuse. But I do expect it to last more than 5000 shutter actuations. After all, this is an almost-$900 lens these days! :-)

--
=~ AAK - http://www.aakatz.com
=~ Author of The White Paper
=~ http://www.aakatz.com/whitepaper
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

I do carry more than one camera.
But I don't have backups on my lenses.

Had I thought the 18-200 would have been so useful for the kind of event-shooting I do, I probably would have bought a backup for it.

I'll be wiser next time.

I did finish the shoot with the backup. I'm just losing my patience with Nikon equipment - having believed in Nikon quality for more than 40 years.

--
=~ AAK - http://www.aakatz.com
=~ Author of The White Paper
=~ http://www.aakatz.com/whitepaper
 
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.
--
-Steve
===================

Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships. Ansel Adams
 
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?
 
Jason Chan59347 said:
Question: Do you think switching to pro-grade Nikon gear will restore
your confidence in the brand?
Click to expand...
My suggestion exactly. I am only a lowly stringer, but I would not think of shooting a lens like the 18-200. Maybe if I go on vacation with only one piece of luggage (because my bike is in the other bag), I would consider such a lens. But if I am shooting travel for money, I will bring 45 pounds of camera equipment with me.

In your place, if I shot with those focal lengths, I would have one D2H body with my 12-24 and another D2H with an 80-200 AFS. If I thought I needed it, I would have a third body with the 28-70, just to cover every focal length.

I agree it's disappointing to have any peice of equipment fail. I just will not allow it to slow me down, much less keep me from getting the money shot.
--
Chris, Broussard, LA
 
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