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

studio460

Good idea, Golf!

studio460

I just picked up my D800E from Nikon for its second, consecutive service visit (e.g., extreme AF fine-tune values required, inaccurate focusing at distances greater than 15 feet, and erroneous focus distance indicated in EXIF files). Again, initial tests look good. I also just happened to receive my new Sigma 12-24mm FX ultra-wide from UPS yesterday, and unlike my Sigma 35mm f/1.4, the Sigma ultra-wide appears to focus spot-on with the D800E (Sigma's 35mm appears to have a firmware incompatibility with my D800E).

Originally, NIkon wanted $460 to test my D800E with my AF-S Nikkor 24mm f1/4G lens. Though I had the receipt for the D800E, I didn't for the lens. When I later found a B+H receipt for the lens, and mailed that in, they proceded with the "repair." However, the resulting work order stated, "could not reproduce problem," so the lens itself was left untouched.

For the body itself, all indications on the work order simply said "CHK," implying that the camera was merely "checked," but not actually indicating that anything was actually done. However, on Nikon's internal paperwork (which I happened to see from across the counter), there was a handwritten note on the bottom of one sheet which read, "Camera is within specifications (custom focus adjustments)." When asked, the Nikon person said that meant that although my D800E was "within factory specifications," my camera's AF did in fact have some custom adjustments made to it. He said it was an all-electronic adjustment, and that no mechanical adjustments, nor any shimming of the F-mount were performed. Recall that I had initially brought my D800E in because it required a +15 to +20 AF fine-tune adjustment on virtually all of my AF-S lenses (I still have yet to check these, but again, initial tests with the 24mm look good).

studio460

I also walked in an AF-S Micro-Nikkor 60mm for intermittent AF--AF would intermittently "work" then, totally "not work," requiring a re-mount to make it work again. When the Nikon guy handed me back my "repaired" lens, I mounted it on a D3s I brought with me, and it immediately reproduced the problem. I had paid $147 to "fix" this out-of-warranty lens. Thankfully, when they took the lens in the back, it happened to them as well. They ended up keeping the lens for further repair analysis.

Golf007sd

Great job in taking your D3s and testing out your gear on-ste. I'm sure they will fix the lens and all will be good.