Traveling near L.A. and thinking of dropping off D800 before warranty expires...advice?

birdman

Before I go any further, I know there's plenty of old forums with questions about a) the Nikon repair facilities, b) the left focus issue, and c) the D800 in general. This question, I hope, is different and has no relation to previous topics.

Now -- I will be very close to LA (Buena Park) from Tuesday (5/21) through Thurs (5/23) of this week for company training. My warranty expires on July 3rd, I believe. Since I live in San Diego, and it's about 2 hrs from LA, I thought since I'll be about 20-25 miles away I should "drop off" my D800 to get it factory serviced.

My camera was manufactured in the batch that had the left focus issue. That being said, I haven't particularly noticed the issue since I DO NOT shoot an ABUNDANCE of birds in flight or moving subjects. However, I will certainly run across scenarios when I WILL be shooting subjects such as these and would like to have a camera that has correctly calibrated focus.

So, would you guys suggest I drop off the camera and get it tested out while I'm so close? Any feedback appreciated as usual. Thanks

Golf007sd

Well I just got back from LA less than 3 hours ago from the Nikon Repair Center located @ 6420 Wilshire Blvd. I took all my goodies there for them to fine tune and make sure all my lenses, including my TC, are properly configured for both my D4 & D7000. So if I was you birdman, I would say: yes stop by and have them take care of it.

Ironheart

How long before you get it all back? Are you using a CoolPix in the meantime? ;-)

Golf007sd

The Nikon rep told me about 7-10 days. Which is fine by me....time is on my side. I just made sure he knew how important my gear was and he said, "given what you have brought in, I can clearly see that. We will make sure everything is properly configured." I asked him for his personal information, and he said he will email it to me. Nikon does not give out their Service Center phone number...all they provide is their 800 number which basically looks at computer screen and reads back to you what the tech's have typed in and such. ..very unpleasing to me. Lets see how this all goes...will keep you all posted.

As for a CoolPix...no. For now the only camera I have is on my iPhone 5 :P

Killerbob

@Golf007sd; when you say "fine tune", what would that include?

Golf007sd

@Killerbob: I'm having all my lenses fine tuned per body in making sure they are not front or back focusing. In addition to making sure all AF points are operating as they should....though I have not had any of the issues some have had with their D800 AF points being off. They are also going to make sure that each lens is functioning as it should...focus rings, lens elements inside, lens cleaning..and such. By the time I left they gave me 4 sheets of 8.5X11" work order >-

Msmoto

@Golf007sd

Let us know the cost to you of all this work. I think if I were near a repair center I would do this as well. It makes more sense the more gear one has. I think Nikon responds better when they see one has purchased a lot of stuff.

Golf007sd

Will do...so here is what I took to them and what I told them I wanted done: configure and calibrate every lens to make sure they are within specs (focusing and operational wise). Have them calibrate all lens to both bodies for front & back focusing; and that each body is working to specification.

Lenses:
10.5 Fisheye
24 1.4G
35 1.8G
50 1.4G
85 1.8G
105 2.8 Micr
14-24 2.8
24-70 2.8
70-200 2.8
1.7 TC -- to be calibarated to work properly with the 105 & 70-200

Bodies:
D7000
D4


So far the cost is at at $237. The D7000 is out of warranty, thus they charged me $143 and so is the TC 1.7 to be calibrated with the 105 & 70-200...cost $94. Most of the other work so far is under warranty

studio460

I also just dropped off my D800E at Nikon on Wilshire Blvd. today for a near-end-of-warranty check and cleaning (lots of spots on the sensor soon after I bought it). I asked if they would do the "individual AF-point calibration--the one that takes a couple of hours," and the guy said, "sure," and made a handwritten note on the online form I had printed, and brought along with the camera (not really sure if he knew what I meant or not).

Didn't think to bring any lenses--that sounds like a lot of gear-checking for a very reasonable price, Golf! I parked on the street at a meter which accepts credit cards ($1.00/hour), about 1/2-block west of the building on Wilshire, since there was either no available metered parking, or no legal parking at all, directly in front of the building. Note, if valet parking, Nikon doesn't validate (there's only valet parking at the 6420 building).

studio460

Interestingly, he said it would be done in only about four to five days.

Golf007sd

@studio460: I'm very happy with price. In fact, I would have payed more...had estimated about $500-600 for the work. I will let you know when my stuff is ready....maybe we can meet there and have a drink or lunch

I called them the other day and informed them that my DK 19 rubber eye piece also had a tear in it. They send me an email today that read "Thank you for calling Nikon today. The service department replace the DK 19 rubber eye piece for you. If there is any other questions or concern please give us a call back." \:D/

Was the person who helped you asian looking? If so, his name is Tony. Very nice Nikon rep. I liked the way he addressed my needs.

As for parking, I used the valet. It only cost me $3.00 for the duration of time I was there.

Killerbob

Too bad this service is unique to the American consumers. Here in Greenland/Denmark I don't even think they offer such a service, and as Nikon has outsourced all repairs/service, the company would certainly charge an arm and a leg for it:(

I wonder if the warranty/service I have on my gear would cover in the US, so I could get it done whilst going on vacation to the US? That would be a good argument for me to the wife to go on vacation, as it would most likely cover the ticket price...

Golf007sd

Well ladies and gents, just got a call from Tony from Nikon and he told me my stuff is all done and ready for pickup. \:D/

My hats off to Nikon service center in LA. That is what I call service!!

Looking forward in picking my babies up on Tuesday.

birdman

Hey there GOLF (Ali) I didn't have time to drop my goodies off to the service center, BUT I did manage to get drunk with my boss and coworkers. Haha. I ran out of time actually, as our damn classes lasted from 7:30 - 3:00 everyday. I did meet the KnottsBerryFarm golf pro, who gave me a card and shared his "book of treasures"....which included a personalized signed photo from both Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer.

This guy, Jim Caspio III, became friends with Earl Woods and subsequently instructed Tiger from ages 7-12. His grandfather, Jim Caspio (the first), is in the Ohio Golf HOF and Arnold Palmer was his CADDIE at a young age in the '40's I believe. Amazing story...

Golf007sd

@birdman: Thank you for sharing that information with me (us)...would have enjoyed meeting Mr. Caspio and having a few drinks (like yourself) and hear his stories. Did you take any pictures? :P

The hours for the service center are a bit odd and thus do make it a bit difficult to schedule a personal visit. Hopefully you will make it there at a later date in the future.

See you soon....as always, we will have a little fun drinking, eating and snapping some shots.

Cheers

Golf007sd

Got all my goodies back today. Total cost $187.00. From some of the sample shot I took, the focus point are now even more accurate. Thank you Nikon for a job well done.

studio460

Good to hear, Golf! Sorry I missed you for lunch! I hope my D800E is getting the "full treatment" as well!

studio460

Just picked up my D800E from Nikon's Los Angeles repair depot on Wilshire Blvd. Initial extreme-left AF, and extreme-right AF points look spot-on, with zero AF fine-tune required! Quick tests performed at 3' and 15' using my AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G look accurate--so far, so good! Will do further tests to confirm. At least my dirty sensor is now clean!

studio460

Well, the AS-F 24mm f/1.4G focuses correctly, but the Sigma f/1.4 is even worse now. Go figure.

studio460

Just checked the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 on a D3s. Focuses fine. Now what?

studio460

Clearly, without a doubt, the D800E is having problems focusing with the Sigma lens, but apparently not with the Nikon lens. Could it be a firmware incompatibility between Sigma and Nikon, with the 800E's slightly different focus module, since the Sigma focuses fine with the D3s?

Golf007sd

@studio460: I believe that is exactly what is happening with your Sigma. It needs a firmware update which should I believe they have at their service center in NY. Even if you had the firmware on your computer their USB interface is not out yet. I would call Sigma, when I talked to their rep here in San Diego, they said their turnaround time is like 2 days.

One of the reasons I have not purchased the Sigma 35 1.4 is to make sure this issue has been addressed by them.

Pierre

I am having lots of focus trouble with my D800, my N 24-70 2.8 is at -20 fine tune and still front-focus on all the focus-points, my 70-200 is definitely way off and my 105 keep hunting and cannot decide what to focus on. I just bought a D5200 + Tamron 17-50 to my wife and I am jealous of her focusing to the point where I might just drop my whole setup. I am planning a driving trip to Europe for July and I am afraid servicing right now and not having my system back in time.

So far I am having mixed feeling about my D800 + holy 3, I find I have a lot more misses than hits.

The only issue I have with the D5200 is the low light & dynamic range performance and missing settings and ease of access.

Golf007sd

@Pierre: How far is the service center from you? If close enough, do as I did and drive it over there and have them calibrate all your lenses to the body. If this is not an option, then while on vacation, shot at smaller apertures there by allowing you to have more of your subject matter in focus.

studio460

Interesting, Golf. Yeah, it's definitely focusing inaccurately with the Sigma 35mm, though it appears to focus fine on a Nikon D3s. Still, I wasn't happy with my D800E's performance with my AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G either, after I got it back last Friday, so I just dropped off both at Nikon this morning (Nikon repairs come with an additional 180-day warranty on the repair).

My original Nikon D800E repair order said "B2 adjusted AF." I don't think this indicates that they performed the lengthy individual focus-point calibration reported here and elsewhere. It still appears to severely front-focus by several feet with my AF-S 24mm f/1.4G mounted. Close-focus is spot-on; anything further than about 15 feet, and it's front-focusing. I bought a second D3s body, and its focus is spot-on. Now I use my D3s bodies exclusively. I just don't trust my D800E anymore, and no longer shoot with it, so I'll just keep taking it back to Nikon until they either fix it or replace it. I wrote on the repair order this time: "Incorrect AF at distances greater than ten feet. Erroneous focus-distance data reported in EXIF. Second repair--request replacement body."

Golf007sd

Good job in writing down what needs to be done. When you pick it up, I would test it on-site and then inspect the image with them present...hence, take your laptop or iPad with you.