D800 top LCD badly damaged + AF doesnt work + shutter release doesnt function -

Creativepixelz

Hello Nikonians,

Probably one of the saddest days of my photography journey. Its the month a year back i got my D800 and a year later im weeping on it.

Unfortunate incident happened today early morning during the milkyway shoot, where a strong wind somehow managed to throw my D800 with Nikkor 14 24 and the tripod about 3 feet away onto concrete steps. This fall directly hit the top LCD panel area to the ground, thus smashing it completely. There is a major crack around the LCD panel aswell. All thats left of the LCD is just black cracked glass.

Also the camera isnt focusing, for a moment i thought 14 24 was damanged, but once i tested it on other cam, it worked fine. Mounted a 50mm on D800 to give another test, but autofocus seems to be dead.

Also the shutter release isnt working, when tried clicking, ERR msg flashes in the viewfinder. May be its obvious that without autofocus shutter wont click. Wanted to test on manual focus, but the disaster was too much to handle and dediced to box the whole sruff and leave it aside.

Will take it to Nikon pro service in Dubai in 2 days from now. Could anyone let me know if you had encounterd , if not all, any of such situations and what were the results. Do you think my D800 could survive ( though with a expensive service , which i really dont mind at this given point). Just hope and pray it gets back to its old glory.

Please leave your valuable comment, it would definately help and is much appreciated,

If any of you could help me in letting me know on how i could load the image of the camera here, it woud be helpful.

Thanks

spraynpray

Sorry to hear that. There is another thread at the moment concerning repair costs for a D600 and judging by that it seems you are likely to be staring at a $1000 repair charge. Even if you post a pics we will not be able to guess a price so you had better just take it to the repair centre and brace yourself.

Creativepixelz

Thanka for the response. A $1000 is fair enough but i just hope these bloody expensive cameras are repairable. Im only concerned of them asking me to discard it as a total loss. Yes, i got in touch with Nikon officials in Dubai, their response has been quiet positive so far looking at the pics i sent, hope story doesnt change once jt reaches their desk.

starralazn

I'd say if theres no physical damage to the outside frame.... it should be fixable (no guarantees)

Msmoto

Please give us an image showing the damage and possibly one of us has had the same experience.....Adam?

Rx4Photo

So sorry to read this. A huge lump would develop in my throat as well.

I would imagine they'd assess the damage much like that of a wrecked automobile. The LCD panel should be changeable and perhaps if something became off kilter with the AF mechanism it should be repairable as well. But if the hit was extreme and the mag-alloy chassis got distorted even by a touch then repair costs could go up if it can even be repaired at all.

BEST of luck to you. Hope the outcome is good.

Creativepixelz

A big loud thanks for all the wonderful feedback. Art this given moment im trying to boost myself and keep myself positive based on all these responses,

I would love to post a photograh of the damaged body for you all to see and may be access but i dont seem to figure out how to load one on this discussion.

Hitting the picture sign or attachment sign just seems to dump in some HTML codes in the chat a window and doesnt seem to help. Could someone break it down for me please.

Chers guys - You are all amazing.

Killerbob

Createpixelz; you can post a picture on Flickr, and paste the link into a message here. That is how most people do the PAD messages.

Golf007sd

@Creativepixelz: It is very unpleasing to hear your accident and troubles. Unless your body gets run over by a car, catches on fire, or goes for a good swim in the ocean..it is repairable. So long as you are willing to pay to get it fixed. The only question is: how close is the repair cost in relation to getting a brand new one. In your case, your camera will get fixed and you will be backup snapping picture's very soon.

To post picture have a look here and follow the instructions given.

Best of luck.....

Creativepixelz

A dropbox link has been updated to view the image. Please click on the ? Here and open in new tab to view the image in full. cheers guys. You guys are awesome.

Golf007sd

@Creativepixelz: Not like that...you cannot use Dropbox. I fixed it for you by hosting it on my Flickr account.

Creativepixelz

@golf007sd- thanks a lot for sorting it out. Truly appreciate it

Killerbob

Sorry about that! It doesn't look good, and you say the AF is damaged as well, so it is not "just" cosmetic. What about insurance? My home contents insurance would cover that, and if Nikon reported that the cost to repair was more than 60% of the new price, I would get a new camera. As the good is less than 2 years old, it would be without depreciation.

Creativepixelz

Sorry about that! It doesn't look good, and you say the AF is damaged as well, so it is not "just" cosmetic. What about insurance? My home contents insurance would cover that, and if Nikon reported that the cost to repair was more than 60% of the new price, I would get a new camera. As the good is less than 2 years old, it would be without depreciation.

In Dubai, unfortunately there isnt much of insurance cultures for electronics, so yes, i dont have any cover. I will be submitting it to nikon on sunday and just hope for best. AF not working is the main point of concern. Do you think AF issue is repairable.

spraynpray

It's all repairable, it is 'only' the cost that limits whether it is worth it or not.

Good luck and keep us posted on progress.

Parke1953

Creativepixelz: So sorry to see this. I would cry if this happened to me. I did notice something at the point of damage that the strap connection point sticks up and when hit caves in. If you look at the photo that Golf007sd posted a few weeks ago when in Colorado of Adamz camera it has the same damage. Those that have a D800 may need to pad this up some how. Just a thought.

Creativepixelz

Creativepixelz: So sorry to see this. I would cry if this happened to me. I did notice something at the point of damage that the strap connection point sticks up and when hit caves in. If you look at the photo that Golf007sd posted a few weeks ago when in Colorado of Adamz camera it has the same damage. Those that have a D800 may need to pad this up some how. Just a thought.

Thanks for the info Parke, could you please pass on the link to the thread where Golf007sd D800 was discussed so that i could know how it went about. Cheers

Creativepixelz

It's all repairable, it is 'only' the cost that limits whether it is worth it or not.

Good luck and keep us posted on progress.

I will keep you all posted about the progress

Cheers guys

Parke1953

Creativepixelz: Look at pages 5 & 6 http://forum.nikonrumors.com/discussion/20/should-we-start-organizing-real-meetings-of-forum-membersblog-readers-meeting-schedule-is-posted-#Item_137
Hope it gets fixed soon.

Benji2505

there seems to be a crack in the frame of the top. They have to exchange that with all attachments like the knobs, re-assemble all the interior parts, etc.. If they are smart they just exchange the whole sub-assembly "top".

If you decide to go for it, it might take some time, simply because they are ordering the parts from the mothership.

Parke1953

Adamz was like that and the crack went around where the strap pin is. His cost was 303.50euro. Have no idea what that is in $. Just a guess $400/500.

Creativepixelz

Creativepixelz: Look at pages 5 & 6 http://forum.nikonrumors.com/discussion/20/should-we-start-organizing-real-meetings-of-forum-membersblog-readers-meeting-schedule-is-posted-#Item_137
Hope it gets fixed soon.

Thanks a lot, did visit that thread. Looks like Adamz was a bit more lucky than me. Hope i have a happy story to tell you guys soon

Creativepixelz

Adamz was like that and the crack went around where the strap pin is. His cost was 303.50euro. Have no idea what that is in $. Just a guess $400/500.

$500 for the top lcd panel + few other parts around. My cam has more to deal with, given AF is dead n Shutter doesnt respond. I see abig bill waiting in line for me, good part - i know people in Nikon Middle East HO n they have now promised to help me out with this situation ( given I have influenced in selling more than 50+ nikons plus n number of Nikkor glasses for them through my photography group).

Will keep you guys posted on further details.

Cheers

Subodh Shetty

www.subodhshetty.com

Creativepixelz

there seems to be a crack in the frame of the top. They have to exchange that with all attachments like the knobs, re-assemble all the interior parts, etc.. If they are smart they just exchange the whole sub-assembly "top".

If you decide to go for it, it might take some time, simply because they are ordering the parts from the mothership.

Thanks Benji2505 for the inputs, will track the process with a close eye.

Parke1953

It may not be as bad as you think. Maybe just a wire strip got pulled off for the shutter and AF. Did you try the AF-ON button for focus. Dang I hate these stories. It's like one of your kids got hurt. When you get it back it will be better than new.

Creativepixelz

It may not be as bad as you think. Maybe just a wire strip got pulled off for the shutter and AF. Did you try the AF-ON button for focus. Dang I hate these stories. It's like one of your kids got hurt. When you get it back it will be better than new.

Thats a very valid point, i need to give AF-ON button a try. Will do it asap n let you know the result. Thanks a lot.