My 2 year struggle with Nikon & the Nikon D4 assymetrical AF problem

surrephoto

Some of you might have read my posts on dpreview.com... links;

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/53013247
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/53021732

In brief, I purchased a D4 from Malaysia back in May 2012. Discovered the left AF a.k.a assymetrical AF problem on the camera. Singapore, Japan, Malaysia & Hong Kong tried to resolve problem to no avail. Sent countless of e-mails to Mr Kimura Makoto. Visited Nikon Japan HQ 3 times. Was slandered by at least 1 now ex-employee of Nikon Singapore. Received an informal cease and desist/statement of legal action intention from Nikon Singapore.

Various communities have asked me to sell the camera. I refused as that is asking me to bite the bullet and harm the next individual knowingly. I have now launched a campaign at fundanything.com;

https://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/protest-against-nikon-d4-autofocus-problem

I believe I have done sufficient test (as much as I have been questioned about my testing mechanisms) & see no reason to give up at this point of time. Mentally I am strained, and I am prepared to be further strained either by condescending opinions from unbelieving members of the public (I am of course, open to criticsm), and also by the nonchalant attitude of Nikon Corporation (NC) themselves. However, I wish the matter to conclude as soon as possible, since the purpose of buying a camera is to produce images for my wedding couples, but I simply cannot see Nikon behaving in this manner. If it takes many more trips to Japan, or even protesting in Japan (in accordance to any local laws which apply), I am prepared to do it.

Please be the judge guys.

paulr

It looks like your initial problem with your Nikon D4 has become secondary to your campaign against Nikon..
It seems quite strange that in view of your relationship with Nikon you still intend to buy another Nikon product, the D4S.
Through personal experience, I have found that trying to force the hand of any manufacture rarely ends in a successful outcome. In any dispute, both parties, need to show that they have won,it would seem that you have closed the door for Nikon in this instance, leaving them no way to compromise or save face.
Sometimes our own principles, are our own enemy.

TaoTeJared

Received an informal cease and desist/statement of legal action intention from Nikon Singapore.

This means you are obsessive and crazy.

Reading your whole story was painful. Not painful you got a lemon, or they gave you the run around, but your obsession. Seek help. There is nothing acceptable in the manner you are conducting yourself.

My vote goes to closing and dumping this thread. There should be no solicitation here anyway.

surrephoto

Hi Jared. I appreciate your comment and do not deny that i might be obsessed with the issue. It will be to the admin to judge whether my thread is considered solicitation. It takes 2 hands to clap, the issue would not have come to this point if Nikon was willing to resolve it behind close doors. They are lucky that the D4 is not as popular as the D800 or D600 for the matter to be blown to a large extent.

Msmoto

We all live in a world where sometimes a product has faults which for some of us are unacceptable. Cars are lemons, cameras have glitches, construction projects do meet meet expectations, etc., but in the final analysis, the question is: Do we want to be right or do we want to be happy?

Beating our heads against a wall (The Great Wall of Nikon) simply becomes too painful to continue.

And, for many of us (most likely me included) the deeper I get into the obsession, the more convinced I become that I am right and more certain I will carry it to the end and get my way. Rarely does this work out to the point we are satisfied. Sometimes the best idea is to accept what we cannot change, move on and let go of the thorn in our side. Maybe we need a group called NOA….. Nikon Owners Anonymous….LOL

Sorry for all your struggle, surrephoto…..hope you find peace…..

surrephoto

We all live in a world where sometimes a product has faults which for some of us are unacceptable. Cars are lemons, cameras have glitches, construction projects do meet meet expectations, etc., but in the final analysis, the question is: Do we want to be right or do we want to be happy?

Beating our heads against a wall (The Great Wall of Nikon) simply becomes too painful to continue.

And, for many of us (most likely me included) the deeper I get into the obsession, the more convinced I become that I am right and more certain I will carry it to the end and get my way. Rarely does this work out to the point we are satisfied. Sometimes the best idea is to accept what we cannot change, move on and let go of the thorn in our side. Maybe we need a group called NOA….. Nikon Owners Anonymous….LOL

Sorry for all your struggle, surrephoto…..hope you find peace…..

Thank you msmoto. I may be a demanding customer, but Nikon's corporate dodge-ball & responsibility evading tactics made it worse.

To be honest, I was ready to sign an NDA and swallow my pride if they did an exchange or assisted me to purchase a new copy of a D4 at a subsidized rate. Indeed very painful for this to go on. They expect the customer to take the toll of their mistakes, and in most cases made zero effort to mediate the situation. For my case, they were at least partial responsiveness on the CS officers' end, but somehow up the ladder, everything broke apart.

Lol at the NOA part! But could it be many of those who suffered have left the system and those that remain chose to support nikon or bear with the flaws? a pity if that is so, nikon won back many customers with the D3, D700 & D3S but the D800, D600 and to a smaller degree the D4 seems to have reversed the effects.

Pistnbroke

Stick it on AF-s and lock it in the centre,adjust your back focus then get on with your weddings ..I know I dont have time to fiddle about at my weddings moving focus points......

Ironheart

Along the lines of Msmoto, there is an old saying, "Do you want to be right, or do you want results?". Sometimes we have to swallow our pride in order to get the outcome we desire. Age and wisdom teach us this. Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak, sometimes it means you are strong enough to let go. Choose your battles wisely. I think my mom taught me most of these things when I was 5. Nothing is perfect, I can point to issues with every mechanical and physical object I own, every single one has flaws. I have a different name for this though, I call it character. I have flaws, both mental and physical, I think we all do or we live near that river in Egypt called de-nial :-) Follow Pistnbroke's advice and go put 100K clicks on your shutter. Besides its the out of focus parts of the photo, the flaws if you will, that give it character.

All this said, I'm not saying you should give up on this quest, you just need to decide if this is how you want to be defined or remember. Personally I try to stay off the quixotic poster child page. Life is too short.

shawnino

@ironheart: I'm like you: I'm almost always into results and not being a poster child for anything.

Speaking only for myself, I'm a little ashamed of that. I'm glad there are people around like @surrephoto who have the gonads to fight the good fight.

Suppose, for a minute, @Surrephoto is not only what @TTJ condescendingly classified as "obsessive and crazy", but 100% wrong. Well, so what? After Nikon's latest documented QC issues, I'm willing to force Nikon to carry the burden of proof here. If Nikon had come clean on D600 and their other issues I might think differently, but, well, if the Queen had testicles, she'd be King.

Nikon needs to have its feet held to the fire until it starts treating customers better overall. A first step: replace any and all cameras customers deem defective.

Aside: Please don't close this thread. It seems at least once a week threads are being closed entirely too soon for no valid reason. Let's have less of that.

Golf007sd

All that needs to be said and the action to address this issue has been taken by the OP. I hope this matter is concluded in a fashion that suits your needs.

Topic Closed.