Dad is returning his second Nikon....

This isn't meant to be a Nikon bashing thread. I grew up using Nikon's and Nikormat cameras myself. Moved to Canon when I got into more modern SLRs because that's what my uncle uses and my dad was in the dark ages of fully manual still. :P

Well my dad decided he wanted to get a new SLR, he finally wore out my Canon EOS 3000, and doesn't like carrying the lead framed Nikon FE any more. He got a Nikon D80. First impressions of the camera were good, but after 2 or 3 days a pixel burnt out on LCD. Not a big deal, but I told him to take it back and let them know of the problem and see what they'd do. He did, and they exchanged it.

So he used the second camera for a few weeks and then headed off to Cuba for a vacation. My mom came back a week ealier than my dad, and she told me he was having AF issues with the camera. I figured at the time that the would be "user error" issues, and figured I'd need to give him some lessons when he got back.

Well he's back now and I asked him what his problem was, figuring he got the camera into some AF mode he didn't understand. He just hands it to me and says you try it. I put the camera to my eye, push the shutter halfway down, and I hear this high pitch squeeking and grinding. The lens can't get a focus lock and focuses back and forth trying to focus. Basically it's binding and can't hit that sweet spot for focus..... I checked with my dad and he said nothing happened to the camera, it wasn't dropped, bumped, smacked, or anything. It was in his posession during the flight and in a camera bag.

Well the camera is going back tonight again. Hopefully things will be sorted out for him soon. I'm not sure if the store will be doing an exchange this time as it's been well over a month. They might be sending it off for warranty work with Nikon.

A pretty frustrating situation.

maybe time to exchange for Canon?.. two times would be my limit.. I personally don't have the patience for a third..

saravrose wrote in post #2400862
maybe time to exchange for Canon?.. two times would be my limit.. I personally don't have the patience for a third..

Well that wouldn't be an easy sell. My dad is a diehard Nikon guy. He already considers me a traitor with all my investment in Canon stuff.

The nicest part of the Nikon is they haven't changed their lens mount since the introduced Nikon AI mounts in the late 70's. Most of his lenses work on the digital camera. Yeah they have to be manully focused, but it's nice to be able to put some of his Macro or Telephoto lenses on to the digital body.

Well just got off the phone with my dad. The store he bought it from did another straight exchange just on the lens. Pretty good of them to do that considering the situation and the fact that he had it for over a month now. This is one good example of why to buy locally instead of online.

Heh, I still always get lured by the better pricing online though.

Hope it works out ... very good camera. If I hadn't got a 30D I would have one as first choice. Best bang per buck for me. Good handling.

I had this kind of bother with Pentax in my film days...

My 1st Pentax Super A - press the DOF preview lever and there's a click and I can't take a photo. I wind on and press the DOF preview lever - click - can't take a photo. Wind on, take a photo and wind on, take a photo but each time the DOF preview lever is pressed there's a click. Obviously faulty as the developed film was a completely blank frame each time the DOF preview lever was pressed. Returned it for an exchange.
My 2nd Pentax Super A - A brand new DL1/3N battery (expensive) goes flat every 2 weeks. Obviously faulty. Shop sends it to Pentax and it comes back marked as "short circuit removed".
My repaired Pentax Super A. It worked pretty well BUT I was not happy with the battery life. I thought it was pretty poor that I got only 3-6 months from the battery when friends with ME Supers were getting 12 months+ and taking far more photos.

So... This sounds like the same kind of story happening with that Nikon.

condyk wrote in post #2400931
Hope it works out ... very good camera. If I hadn't got a 30D I would have one as first choice. Best bang per buck for me. Good handling.

Yeah I tried it out quite a bit and was impressed. Keep in mind I use an original Digital Rebel, so the D80 is light years ahead in functionality.

rhys wrote in post #2400933
I had this kind of bother with Pentax in my film days...

My 1st Pentax Super A - press the DOF preview lever and there's a click and I can't take a photo. I wind on and press the DOF preview lever - click - can't take a photo. Wind on, take a photo and wind on, take a photo but each time the DOF preview lever is pressed there's a click. Obviously faulty as the developed film was a completely blank frame each time the DOF preview lever was pressed. Returned it for an exchange.
My 2nd Pentax Super A - A brand new DL1/3N battery (expensive) goes flat every 2 weeks. Obviously faulty. Shop sends it to Pentax and it comes back marked as "short circuit removed".
My repaired Pentax Super A. It worked pretty well BUT I was not happy with the battery life. I thought it was pretty poor that I got only 3-6 months from the battery when friends with ME Supers were getting 12 months+ and taking far more photos.

So... This sounds like the same kind of story happening with that Nikon.

Well they've replaced the body and lens once, and now just the lens. Hopefully the problems will just vanish. 3rd times the charm? let's hope so.

Canon is not without it's flaws either, Lots of members here have had there share of problems. It happens with all brands.

Dan

Oh definitely! That's why I said it's not a Nikon bashing thread. I've personally had problems with Canon myself. The flash tube in my EOS 3000 blew out on me after about 5-6 months of use. Started going black on one side, and then POOF it was done. The more complicated things like cameras get, the more likely stuff like this happens.

Look up Error 99 and you'll see a lot of unsatisfied Canon customers.

mrclark321 wrote in post #2402149
Canon is not without it's flaws either, Lots of members here have had there share of problems. It happens with all brands.

'Tis the truth. My 50 1.4 is back into Canon for my 3rd complaint in 10 months. First was a flaw on the rear element and the store did a straight exchange. Second and current complaint is the focusing gear is gone so it's a useless paperweight sitting on their desk until they either repair, or replace which the store has requested.

I hope the lens exchange works for your father. It's quite frustrating having good equipment malfunction.

I think Pentaxes best camera was the K1000. If the K1000 had a depth of field preview lever and took a motordrive I'd never have needed to move up to Nikon. Lenswise there's not much to choose between the major camera manufacturer's own lenses. The independents can be good too - sometimes they suck but in general they're good.

Having had the Super A as my first last and only Pentax and having encountered a geology lecturer whose experience of Pentax was that they were unwilling to perform a warranty repair on a failed camera and having listened to an acquaintance who runs a camera shop who stated that his biggest returns came from faulty Pentax gear, I'm a bit biassed against Pentax.

rhys wrote in post #2403173
I think Pentaxes best camera was the K1000. If the K1000 had a depth of field preview lever and took a motordrive I'd never have needed to move up to Nikon. Lenswise there's not much to choose between the major camera manufacturer's own lenses. The independents can be good too - sometimes they suck but in general they're good.

Having had the Super A as my first last and only Pentax and having encountered a geology lecturer whose experience of Pentax was that they were unwilling to perform a warranty repair on a failed camera and having listened to an acquaintance who runs a camera shop who stated that his biggest returns came from faulty Pentax gear, I'm a bit biassed against Pentax.

Yeah sometimes it doesn't take much for people to get a bad taste in mouth about a company due to one crappy product. I have a list of companies I'm biased against. Particularly in the computer world. With cameras I'm only biased against the companies that jumped on the digital bandwagon that never really made cameras previously. Like HP and Sony. My preference has always been to Canon or Nikon.

But sometimes when fanboys or zealots for a particular company spend all their time justifying how awesome the company is even when they've been let them with a crap product.

Oh well ever company releases lemons once in a while. On top of that even with products that aren't generally lemons, a few do slip through quality control.

Heh, the latest and greatest slip up in very recent times is the Leica M8 and the lack of a good IR filter on the sensor...... That was a big goof up.

aacmckay wrote in post #2403766
But sometimes when fanboys or zealots for a particular company spend all their time justifying how awesome the company is even when they've been let them with a crap product.

Sigma screwed up badly with their Foveon sensor because people don't count pixels in triplets. They count actual pixels. If the SD-10 had more pixels then people would have been more interested. The noise issue is a non-issue as they could have - with some clever marketting - sold that as being akin to the grain on fast film.

I do remember one fanboy posting all over the place that he was a professional photographer yet nobody could find one mention of his name anywhere. He claimed to use one and claimed to be on a world tour taking professional photos yet he never ever posted one.

Leica seems to have hit the market somewhat late. Epson has already released an M clone as the RD-1. I feel it's a shame that they didn't make a full-frame M clone and make it run off AA batteries.

The M series has its main benefit in that it's small and a favourite of travel photographers.

I bought a couple of FEDs at one point. Very nice, small cameras. The Fed 2 that lacks a meter is my favourite of the pair. Now with a lighter digital body and the same glass and full frame I'd be on that instantly if I was still travelling the way I used to.

Give me a digital M4P clone and 24, 50 and 90 lenses and I'd be as happy as Larry!

Those CANADIAN Nikkons are the problem, right?....LOL