D600 cracked body

Symphotic

The old film Nikon bodies did not need to absorb so much of the shock of impact of dropping a body since their components were mostly mechanical and were most likely able to absorb the most of the shock without breaking. Electronics, OTOH, are more delicate and can't absorb shocks like mechanical components without breaking or malfunctioning..

Could be, but I have dropped and broken a Minolta and an Olympus, but even repeated drops haven't done more than dent my F2. I think it is just more rugged.

spraynpray

You gave the answer as to why the F2 survived in what you said above Symphotic:

The Nikon got dented when it fell therefore the G-force it experienced was reduced buy a huge order of magnitude - probably from hundreds of G to single figures. If you drop a watch on concrete it can see 1000G easily and be broken - if that same watch fell onto the same piece of concrete from the same height but had a small protective layer in it (speed tape for example), the G-force is reduced to below 1/10th of the unprotected fall. If your Nikon F2 had fallen in a way so as to not be dented, there is a much higher likelyhood of it breaking.

There is no magic to this. I have seen an Olympus OM1 in hideous condition having met the ground in the middle of a riot and been kicked and kicked along the ground in the melee and it still worked fine.

ben_v3

It was me that had the entire lens mount tear off my D600. I sent it to Nikon and they performed the following work:

Replace Front Body
Replace Mirror Box
Replace Reflex Mirror
Adjust Mirror Angle
Adjust Body Flange Back
Adjust Auto Focus Operation
Checked Meter Accuracy
General Check & Clean

for a total of $243.26

Yours will probably come in under that. I'd send it in.

Chuckv

Don't even mess with the camera or the lens, box both of them up and send to Nikon repair for a full check and repair. Yes you might spend $300 or $400, but all will be right with the world when you get it back. Even though the lens seems to be ok, it very well could be a little off (but hard to tell). If you don't, you will always be asking the question?

donaldejose

ben_V3: That's a great price for the work! Maybe the low cost of replacement is one of the benefits of that front plastic panel. I would have thought it would cost more.

[Deleted User]

I sometimes feel I live on another planet. Referring to the original post, I have to say I'm a little lost...your camera is BROKEN, not scratched or slightly off-colour - it needs to be repaired.

I quite understand that this is a frightening experience, dealing with Nikon etc. after just having had to pay 520€ for the repair of my 24-70 which I inadvertently (would I have done this deliberately?) let drop onto a tiled floor.

However in such cases there aren't really many questions to ask aside from "Where is my nearest/most reliable repair shop?" and "Where's my house insurance policy?"

On the other hand it would be very interesting to know how you get on, and how Nikon react.

Msmoto

If ben_v3 was able to have his repair for the low amount of $250.00 it seems a good idea to have Nikon repair the cracked D600. You might want to check and confirm the specific repair location so you can send your's to this one.

liono

I've sent the D600 to Nikon in Surrey. They received it today so I should get a call soon letting me know what the deal is. With regards to the lens; I ran some tests and everything was fine, therefore Nikon said not to send there was no point in sending it to them. Incidentally, when I was testing the lens, I noticed dust/oil/whatever it is on the sensor. As this is a known issue with new D600's I'm hoping Nikon will sort that out under warranty. Obviously I'll pixel peeping all of my images (even more than usual!) to see if I can pick up anything but I think it's fine. The lens hood took most of the impact.

I'll let you know what happens, although not sure how long it will take for Nikon to get back to me.

ben_v3

Mine took 6 weeks I believe. I had to wait for parts for 3-4 weeks and the repair seemed to take them only a day.

mark_4

My guess is that it landed hard on the strap eyelet, cracking and deforming the metal top case, and putting pressure on the plastic front panel, cracking it. You can see that the eyelet is no longer straight, and the top case crack is next to it.

spraynpray

ben_V3: That's a great price for the work! Maybe the low cost of replacement is one of the benefits of that front plastic panel. I would have thought it would cost more.

Understatement of the year! I just got a price - from the same Repair Centre in Surrey that liono sent his body to - for them to replace a couple of metal rings in a common cheap prime lens and my bill was £267 (circa $400) so I am thinking either your bill will be bigger liono, or the Americans get better prices for repairs than we do.

Why is it that we Brits are constantly reamed on prices ~X( Prime market my @$$!

liono

Hi guys - A little update;

I've just received this quote:



Pretty happy with the cost, thought it might have been around the £400 mark. I sent the camera in on 16th January so it's taken around a week and a half to get the quote. Apparently I should have my camera back in 7-10 days.

spraynpray

Wow - how do they make a couple of rings (no lenses) on a 60mm micro come to £267 and your repair £251?

[Deleted User]

Erm...inventive accounting?

You didn't say "Please" ?

They follow closely all posts on NRF ?

PB_PM

Availability of parts more likely. The 60mm F2.8D has likely been out of production for some time now, so a limited number of parts, that must be ordered from Japan would cause a price hike.

spraynpray

No, they had the parts, and apparently the 60mm f2.8D micro is used widely in industrial applications so they should be in stock. I think it was obvious I had bought it as an ex-rental with a view to getting it repaired - but I may be being paranoid. :-S

Anyways, that lens went back for refund and got replaced with a peach for less than the repair would have cost so what the hey.

NSXTypeR

It is correct to state that D40, D80, D90, D3100, D5100, D3200 and D5200 are all plastic body construction? And that the D3, D700, D3s, D800, D300, D300s are all magnesium body construction? And the D7000 and the D600 are hybrid plastic/metal body construction?

By plastic body do you mean exterior only or the entire thing?

I'm pretty sure that all Nikon bodies have a metal chassis. Whether the exterior is all metal or not depends on the price you pay.

PB_PM

That's not the case. The high end bodies have a plastic case (exterior) over a metal frame. The lower end bodies are 95% plastic. The only thing not plastic on entry level bodies are the F mount, tripod socket, a few brackets, gears and strap attachments.

See D5100 tear down... http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nikon-D5100-Teardown/5271/1

DenverShooter

I put my gear on my homeowners policy and it runs 1% of cost per year.

Anything over $3K and they need to see the receipt.

Covers all loss including dropping with no deductible

Cheap.

Denver Shooter

liono

Update for you all...

I received my D600 back on 12th Feb, so it took just about a month to get fixed. Overall I'm pretty happy with the service I received. I called the repair centre a few times to check up on the progress and each of the people I spoke to were very helpful, and went to ask for an update from the technician which I thought was nice to them.

Thanks for all your help guys, I'm very happy to have my D600 back.. Now to go and get some photos! Pass me the bubble wrap...

Sobolll92

Just for your Information:

I have crack in the front element of my d600 below the bayonett the second time now,
without dropping it of anything.
My d7000 was dropped by me several times and never had a problem.
I will Not even pay anything the repair and i suggest everyone to Pay just a bit more for a d800.

bwana

I recently fell on my ass while hiking. The D800 with a 70-200 vr2 was in my backpack. The bayonet ring cracked. There was no impact damage to the camera itself.

I sent the camera to Melville and got it back with a note-not economical to repair. How can this be?
I had to call Nikon and after a couple of days received this:
The rear (main) casting of the camera is cracked and this is not a replaceable or repairable part.

Looking at the back of the camera no cracks are visible.
If the camera is this fragile, then it does Nikon has totally ruined their reputation for durable machines. And their service dept. is poor. Do I have any alternatives to Melville? Or am I their hostage?

NSXTypeR

Update for you all...

I received my D600 back on 12th Feb, so it took just about a month to get fixed. Overall I'm pretty happy with the service I received. I called the repair centre a few times to check up on the progress and each of the people I spoke to were very helpful, and went to ask for an update from the technician which I thought was nice to them.

Thanks for all your help guys, I'm very happy to have my D600 back.. Now to go and get some photos! Pass me the bubble wrap...

Good to hear! Enjoy shooting with your repaired camera and post in the Picture a Day thread!

You may have posted about it previously, but how much did it end up costing?

Just for your Information:

I have crack in the front element of my d600 below the bayonett the second time now,
without dropping it of anything.
My d7000 was dropped by me several times and never had a problem.
I will Not even pay anything the repair and i suggest everyone to Pay just a bit more for a d800.

You're not guaranteed anything when you drop things, whether it be a D4 or a D3200. I guess you lucked out with your D7000 several times.

I recently fell on my ass while hiking. The D800 with a 70-200 vr2 was in my backpack. The bayonet ring cracked. There was no impact damage to the camera itself.

I sent the camera to Melville and got it back with a note-not economical to repair. How can this be?
I had to call Nikon and after a couple of days received this:
The rear (main) casting of the camera is cracked and this is not a replaceable or repairable part.

Looking at the back of the camera no cracks are visible.
If the camera is this fragile, then it does Nikon has totally ruined their reputation for durable machines. And their service dept. is poor. Do I have any alternatives to Melville? Or am I their hostage?

Perhaps you cracked something on the inside or damaged the elements too?

Hard to say, none of us really repair cameras. You could try bringing it to an independent repair shop, although that might be hard to do too as they stopped providing repair shops with parts.