D800 basket case

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Phillydog1958

Senior Member
Silver said:
Dude you're right, man! I've gone from totally throwing in the towel to getting another one and not looking back, because my whole life has been PHOTOGRAPHY. And I'm not making a living at it. Sure I've made some money with it, but my particular unique situation has not allowed me to to be a "pro". But another facet of this is that I bought an Epson Stylus Pro 3880 and have been making prints, FINALLY, after wanting to for about 40 years now, of photos I took in the last 45 tears, and am ecstatic at the results I'm getting. I've scanned old slides with a Plustek and worked them in Silverfast, and recently have been making 17x22" prints of them, and am just AMAZED at the prints I'm getting! Better than Ilfochromes I had sent out for in the '90's. And the 127x22's I'm making from the D800 no words can describe!!!
​Yo, I see you're a Philly guy. I'm South Jersey, my parents born and raised in Kensington!
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Cool. I'm born and raised in the City of Brotherly Love. I was recently back there for a few days. I had a great time. I got to eat Philly Cheese Steaks, Soft pretzels and a hoagie. I miss the city. I'm glad that you're doing OK with your mishap. Bro, you're gonna be OK. The sooner you get back to shooting, the sooner you will feel better. I'm glad it's working out for you. Hang in there. I just sent you a friend request. Please accept.
 
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HotHits

Senior Member
Silver said:
Hi i'm new. Have a need to speak of my shocking disappointment with Nikon Service. About a month ago my D800 with a Sigma 150-500 attached took a dive off of my tripod. The Sigma broke off between the main barrel and the bayonet mount. It has since been fixed. The D800, though, with a pushed in-at-an-angle (if you will) bayonet mount, of about a mm, was returned to me from the Melville, NY, Nikon Service facility with a "Beyond Repair" invoice. The camera actually still works, except that the bayonet and I assume the frame holding it, is pushed in, sort of a permanent tilt-to-the-left situation. I'm assuming that the reason it's "beyond repair" is because the mag frame is broke(?).
The point is that the invoice from Nikon doesn't say why it's beyond repair. It just sent it back and that's that. I called their 800-645-6687 number and the person answering, after I told of the situation, basically said, we're sorry, there's nothing we can do. Period.
So here I am, with a 6 month old $3,000 D800 totaled (even if I repair it myself, IF I can, the dust and moisture proofing is compromised). By repair, I mean take a gear-puller and try to straighten it out, and hope it stays(?). I saved up for this, I'm not wealthy, I have a blue-collar job.
Also, to add to my disappointment with Nikon, this (D800) body had oil spots on the sensor from day one. Sent it in and they cleaned it up (and you have to pay for the shipping when you send it, they don't give you return shipping labels).
It had since, between the time it was cleaned, and before it was damaged, developed oil spots again. And I've noticed on B&H's camera reviews that this is also a big-time problem with the D600 now too. And it was a problem with the D7000. Apparently the oil used in the mirror mechanisms works itself out after use and comes down onto to sensors (?). So if this to be a fact of life, where we have to get our sensors cleaned regularly (?), it can get expensive real quick, with a camera out of warranty and having to pay shipping everytime (in my case the shipping--with INSURANCE--is about $38 a pop.
To get back to the repair problem: my feeling--besides extreme shock---about my situation is: Why couldn't Nikon at least give me SOME alternative? It just basically said to me "TUFF BEANS!" Any suggestions from anyone?
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If you used a credit card, some company's offer extended service against thief & damage.:cool:
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I feel for you, I really do. I have a D800 and have carried it around with a 150-500mm and it's not light. A fall from 5 feet onto the lens like that is bound to do some damage, and it obviously did. I hear you about Nikon service personnel (see my thread under the D600 forum), but I would contact them again, or go through the corporate number and ask for Customer Relations and find out just how much "Cost Prohibitive" is. Then compare that to the price new.
 
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Phillydog1958

Senior Member
Yea, I hear that you "Joisey" guys refer to them as "Subs." I knew you were in PA, jdeg. What part of PA? I grew up in South Philly and actually graduated from South Philly High, at Broad and Snyder.
 
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jdeg

^ broke something
Staff member
[ hijack ]

Phillydog1958 said:
Yea, I hear that you "Joisey" guys refer to them as "Subs." I knew you were in PA, jdeg. What part of PA? I grew up in South Philly and actually graduated from South Philly High, at Broad and Snyder.
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Yeah, it's weird - that's one of the few words that are different between s. Jersey and Philly. If you're from the redneck part of S. Jersey though, you say weird stuff like 'down cellar', crick (creek), and kat-sup (katchup). haha

Ardmore to be specific.

Phillydog1958 said:
When Silver used a "Yo," i actually laughed out loud. That's definitely Philly lingo.
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hahaha - I never knew I had a bit of a Philly accent until my wife pointed it out to me. I try to refrain from saying 'baaf-room' (bathroom), 'wood-er' (water), and 'Phil-wee' around her. Also, I think it's really funny that this page exists: Philadelphia dialect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[ /hijack ]
 
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JDFlood

Senior Member
Sorry to hear about your loss, but what Nikon said was, "it would cost more to fix than to buy a new one". Like the cost to fix would be $4,000. Obviously anything above the cost of the camera is uneconomical, and once you know that, it is a waste of time to come up with an estimate which could be substantial. Nikon did absolutely nothing wrong, other than perhaps not phrasing their response more sympathetically. JD
 
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Silver

Senior Member
They didn't do anything wrong. They didn't do anything. They could've at least given me SOME figure--- $1,000... $2,000...$3000.... $10,000.... Some kind of BETTER ANSWER than a invoice with a red "BEYOND REPAIR" stamp on it---- I got a friendlier letter from the draft board back in '69.... The girl I got on the phone, and who also answered my email, keeps apologizing to me yet won't give me the phone number of the tech who looked at my camera. Not her fault I know, but....
With this I'm ending the subject because obviously nothing is going to happen. I'll just yank the bayonet straight with a gear puller or C-clamp or something and keep shooting with it until it croaks totally. I wonder if they'll clean the sensor still for the future oil droplets that I guess I can count on. And maybe it's time for me to switch to Canon. Can't be much less reliable than Nikon in my mind now....
 
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jwstl

Senior Member
Silver said:
And maybe it's time for me to switch to Canon. Can't be much less reliable than Nikon in my mind now....
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If you are talking about service then I have to say, yes they can. My best friend is a pro portrait photographer/studio manager and his company is heavily invested in Canon gear. We recently discussed some photo issues and he had nothing but negative feedback on Canon's service. His studio has mostly switched to pro level Sigma and other third party lenses because they are very good lenses but also so they don't have to deal with Canon.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
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Ruidoso Bill

Senior Member
sorry about your situation, didn't see a response to check your homeowners insurance, my equipment was covered but when it began to reach a high investment I did a special insurance rider, was a pain since they required all the serial numbers etc but once done I sleep better.
 
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STM

Senior Member
Sorry to hear this. This is why it is always a good idea to insure your camera equipment. All of my stuff, new and old, is insured. The beyond repair condition may have meant that it would need an entirely new frame, not just a lens mount, which may have not been economically feasible in their opinion.
 
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WhiteLight

Senior Member
Have a word with Nikon Canada ;)
Sambr has been extremely happy with their support...

It really is a heartbreaking story...
but remember, at the end of the day, it's just about money more than anything else.

So i don't think it's worth your happiness... forget what happened & get yourself a new one

and live happily ever after........ :)
 
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Silver

Senior Member
I do have some $ left to get a new one, although it was supposed to go to something else. But, you know, maybe this incident is showing me a path that I was considering slightly. Besides my nature photography, I've had about six years experience in wedding photography. and when I ordered the D800,& the 1st couple lenses, the 24-70/f2.8 & the 105micro, which would get started again in wedding photography in the digital realm, I knew I would have to have a backup camera body before I even considered shooting first wedding. well, this broken D 800, which I said previously still works in spite of its injuries, could serve as the backup. returning to weddings may enable me to retire from my job earlier than expected. maybe.
​I'm ready to bite the bullet and try to fix it myself, saw let everybody know how it goes.
thanks to everyone for your commentary, suggestions, etc., and sympathy too!
 
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Silver

Senior Member
Hey, All! I just went for a cruise through all of my D800 shots since I bought it. That settles it. I'm getting another one. I'll see if B&H has an even better price after June 1. I'd like to post some shots. When you upload them, are they automatically reduced in file size? Cause these babies are upwards to almost 70MB each.
 
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