D3 Failed during assignment

[Lomographer]

You must also understand that they don't make things like they used to.. ;p

somehow true, but we can still count on a little bit of nikon's rep for the quality.

i haven't heard anyone's D3 failing for them up till now,

and let's hope they don't.

TS's case was just rather unfortunate,

hope he can get it fixed!

 

[bluecomfort]

Get a 2nd hand D700 lo...

 

[NodhereNodthere]

sorry to OT .. can anyone d3 user tell me how to check the D3's shutter count? i am both windows and mac user, thank :embrass:

 

[Xavier]

a camera, pro or not, and whatever brand, can fail at the 1st shutter click, or can continue clicking long after the supposed shutter-life is up. a simple search, if u must, will also reveal a thousand and one (mebbe two) problems with all the other brands too.

so, wats there to stop your next camera, whatever the brand, from failing? that means the other brands will also lose you the customer?

however, if u wish to do so, that's your prerogative. have fun!

I guess i am just not as forgiving as you are. If I spent a few thousands dollars on something, i would expect it to have the quality and reliability worth that amount of money. This expectation goes the same with most of people (except those who don't know how hard to make a buck).

For any expensive item (could be camera, handphone, car, etc), I expect the vendor (goes for any vendor) to have a quality system to ensure the failure rate to be in the ppm (part per million) level, because part of premium we pay goes to maintain such quality system. That's why people buy Iphone, not lphone with the same features from some unknown factory.

To answer your question "so, wats there to stop your next camera, whatever the brand, from failing? ", there are many quality systems such 6-sigma program, black belt, FMEA etc to ensure that. It is just a matter of whether the management is willing to pay for such system and maintain such system.

I re-read my previous post, i believe what i put is quite neutral. If any of it somehow offends you, my apology.

btw, my only digital camera is D100, which i spent close to S$3K 7 years ago. It has been with me in all kinds of weathers and conditions (hot and cold, sea front and snow mountain), and it is still live and kicking. That's the quality I expect from a S$3k item.

 

[JW73]

We can debate everything here. But if one ****-up the assignment, u think the customer cares what brand and what model u using or whatever blackbelt quality.Move on and have a backup yourself.

 

[nightwolf75]

I guess i am just not as forgiving as you are. If I spent a few thousands dollars on something, i would expect it to have the quality and reliability worth that amount of money. This expectation goes the same with most of people (except those who don't know how hard to make a buck).

For any expensive item (could be camera, handphone, car, etc), I expect the vendor (goes for any vendor) to have a quality system to ensure the failure rate to be in the ppm (part per million) level, because part of premium we pay goes to maintain such quality system. That's why people buy Iphone, not lphone with the same features from some unknown factory.

To answer your question "so, wats there to stop your next camera, whatever the brand, from failing? ", there are many quality systems such 6-sigma program, black belt, FMEA etc to ensure that. It is just a matter of whether the management is willing to pay for such system and maintain such system.

I re-read my previous post, i believe what i put is quite neutral. If any of it somehow offends you, my apology.

btw, my only digital camera is D100, which i spent close to S$3K 7 years ago. It has been with me in all kinds of weathers and conditions (hot and cold, sea front and snow mountain), and it is still live and kicking. That's the quality I expect from a S$3k item.

offend? there are better things to do in life. wats funny tho is seeing such threads popping up every now and then of users calling fire and brimstones down on camera makers for "sub-standard" manufacturing of their thousands of dollars toys.

i'm not condoning that manufacturers play fast and loose with their processes. wat i am saying is (as PE said earlier) - stuff happens. even if you have all those fancy-named processes.

toyota just recalled abt 78,000 cars in north america for problems with their brakes. and i'm pretty sure dat toyota has all those processes in place too to ensure quality. and IMO, when it comes to quality of manufacturing for jap-brand cars, toyota is the gold-plated standard for me. yet it happens.

hence, if it pleases anyone to switch ard to watever brands everytime something goes haywire, it's ur right.

just remember - stuff happens.

have fun!

 

[XsteelWolf]

um...I just collected the D3 from Nikon just now, didn't get it fixed, I can't wait. I have to shoot it like a film SLR.

But there is something really interesting after I got back the cam. I have noticed some rubber didn't sink very well into the camera body, i force to lift the rubber, noticing there are some screws underneath it. I guess Nikon has to lift up the rubber in order to examine / change the PCB, but it's glued with something like double side tape

As for the peeling paint, I don't think it's the kind of peeling you guys talking about. The peeling just leaves a smooth black colour surface(original nikon paint has a slightly rougher surface), not the metallic silvery colour.

I will be in HK next month, I will try to fix the D3 there if possible and let you guys know how much it will cost

 

[XsteelWolf]

offend? there are better things to do in life. wats funny tho is seeing such threads popping up every now and then of users calling fire and brimstones down on camera makers for "sub-standard" manufacturing of their thousands of dollars toys.

i'm not condoning that manufacturers play fast and loose with their processes. wat i am saying is (as PE said earlier) - stuff happens. even if you have all those fancy-named processes.

toyota just recalled abt 78,000 cars in north america for problems with their brakes. and i'm pretty sure dat toyota has all those processes in place too to ensure quality. and IMO, when it comes to quality of manufacturing for jap-brand cars, toyota is the gold-plated standard for me. yet it happens.

hence, if it pleases anyone to switch ard to watever brands everytime something goes haywire, it's ur right.

just remember - stuff happens.

have fun!

u r so right bro, maybe i just got too lucky this few days by spoiling a D3, battery of a Macbook and battery of BenQ Joybook.

My friend got a Sony ENG camcorder, he has been using it heavily for more than 10 years, nothing much happens, just regular replacement of the head:think:

 

[eosandy]

um...I just collected the D3 from Nikon just now, didn't get it fixed, I can't wait. I have to shoot it like a film SLR.

But there is something really interesting after I got back the cam. I have noticed some rubber didn't sink very well into the camera body, i force to lift the rubber, noticing there are some screws underneath it. I guess Nikon has to lift up the rubber in order to examine / change the PCB, but it's glued with something like double side tape

As for the peeling paint, I don't think it's the kind of peeling you guys talking about. The peeling just leaves a smooth black colour surface(original nikon paint has a slightly rougher surface), not the metallic silvery colour.

I will be in HK next month, I will try to fix the D3 there if possible and let you guys know how much it will cost

Sounds more like wear/tear than coating malfunction... :think:

Be careful of yr set as the dust/moisture protection sounds like it has been compromised.

 

[Zohan]

Can I check with you guys how much second hand D3 worths now and a 24-70 with 5 months warranty left.

Bad day for me...

Hello,

Friend of mine who's a pro had his D3 fail after 1.5 years. PCB issue, cost him $700+.

Looks like it's not an isolated case.

Stick with Nikon if you can, switching to the Canon camp with the 24-70 will give you a different set of problems.

Z

 

[chngpe01]

um...I just collected the D3 from Nikon just now, didn't get it fixed, I can't wait. I have to shoot it like a film SLR.

But there is something really interesting after I got back the cam. I have noticed some rubber didn't sink very well into the camera body, i force to lift the rubber, noticing there are some screws underneath it. I guess Nikon has to lift up the rubber in order to examine / change the PCB, but it's glued with something like double side tape

As for the peeling paint, I don't think it's the kind of peeling you guys talking about. The peeling just leaves a smooth black colour surface(original nikon paint has a slightly rougher surface), not the metallic silvery colour.

I will be in HK next month, I will try to fix the D3 there if possible and let you guys know how much it will cost

I am sure you get better service and repair price in HK

 

[ZeroDivine]

that peeling is just normal wear and tear..
infact if you put your nail and try scratch you can see the 'coating' come off leaving shiny black surface underneath.
My S5pro(D200 body) has alot of these 'paints' dropping off at the back especially from wear and tear.

 

[Lomographer]

I am sure you get better service and repair price in HK

somehow nikon singapore's attitude is not very good,

esp if you ask them alot of questions.

 

[huggable]

The slightly rough surface treatment is called powder coating. I agree that the powder coats on the pro bodies will wear off when rubbed against a hard surface, and there's no way to restore it. In comparison, this will not happen on the rough plastic finish of the consumer bodies. But then again, in event of a drop, the metal bodies are more robust.

that peeling is just normal wear and tear..
infact if you put your nail and try scratch you can see the 'coating' come off leaving shiny black surface underneath.
My S5pro(D200 body) has alot of these 'paints' dropping off at the back especially from wear and tear.

 

[AJ23]

45% humidity...

Too low, especially if u just leave it there for long periods of time unused.

 

[XsteelWolf]

Too low, especially if u just leave it there for long periods of time unused.

arr..I always put it as 45% humidity, could you advise on the correct setting. thx bro

 

[AJ23]

arr..I always put it as 45% humidity, could you advise on the correct setting. thx bro

My dry cab used to be @ 40% (the default when power resets) and it nearly killed one of my AF-S lenses. Since then, I've been using 60% for all my bodies and lenses, and it has been a happy family of stuff w/o any garden/problems/whatever.

Others might tell u other values, but so far in 3-4 years, 60% has served me well, but I do use my bodies and lenses once a week or so, so YMMV.

 

[ksong]

Not a D3 user, but my D80 was sent back 4 times within 3 mths of purchase (hope I got the numbers right as I sent in too many times already). And the second time was sent in within a week after I collected back from the very first time I sent in. A lot of parts was changed and in the end they replaced me a 'new' set. I don't know how they define the word 'new'.

 

[chngpe01]

Not a D3 user, but my D80 was sent back 4 times within 3 mths of purchase (hope I got the numbers right as I sent in too many times already). And the second time was sent in within a week after I collected back from the very first time I sent in. A lot of parts was changed and in the end they replaced me a 'new' set. I don't know how they define the word 'new'.

How about how would you define "new"?

 

[marios_pittas]

Not a D3 user, but my D80 was sent back 4 times within 3 mths of purchase (hope I got the numbers right as I sent in too many times already). And the second time was sent in within a week after I collected back from the very first time I sent in. A lot of parts was changed and in the end they replaced me a 'new' set. I don't know how they define the word 'new'.

How about how would you define "new"?

Dude

As much as I agree that:

1. crying away with every little thing and making noise in public is not the most useful thing in the world,
2. no production line is perfect for every piece to work as it should (especially with global OEM stuff)
3. All brands suffer from different failures from time to time and thus the reason why service centers exist in the first place,

I think it is important that you leave some unhappy users express their unhappiness with Nikon rather than jump in defense of Nikon every single time. I like Nikon and I do use some of their stuff, but it is also good to know people's experiences so that:

1. Nikon feels the external pressure to improve
2. Others become cautious with certain equipment when buying or using.

I have no doubt, that if I was a pro, I would not be using a single camera, and if a camera failed I would have left it with Nikon to be fixed before touching it again, and I would have extended the warantee as much as I could as this would be my bread and butter stuff. But surely there is a place where people can describe their experiences without feeling that your quick intervention was necessary.

Humbly my opinion..

-- Marios

p.s. ksong, if they gave you a new set then you should be happy, they are not obligated and many other manufacturers may not have bothered.