Paul_K
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| p.1 #1 · They just keep working ... | |
Just some thoughts on how much abuse Nikon appear to be able to take
I recently got a 1.4/85mm AFD and discovered the AF on one of my D3 was off when shooting close ups. Being a NPS member in the Netherlands I'm entitled for one free clean and check a year for all my registered Nikon gear, so yesterday I decided to make a trip to my Nikon Service Point.
As just making the trip for one body was kind of a waste I decided to take my other D3 and my long retired D2X along for a free sensor cleaning as well, just for the fun of it.
While I was waiting, one of the service people came from the back, looking quite distressed. He explained the the lens mount of my D2X was considerably bent. The wobble was several millimeters in the horizontal plane, while the verical axis seemed unaffected. It was bent to such an extent that the ring with the aperture tab could only by force be turned to the fully closed position (as when using a AF lens with the aperture set from the dial on the body). With e.g. a manual lens it would probably be even next to impossible.
I was quite amazed, as I had never noticed any problems.With the aperture ring it was understandable as I've used AFD, AFS and AFI lenses (where the aperture ring was manually set on the f22 position). But I never had any problems with the AF either.
I tried to remember when such a catastrophic event had occured that I bent the body/lensmount in such a way. And remembered that five and a half years ago, shortly after I bought the body, I was shooting surf with two bodies, one of which the D2X with a TC and a long zoom lens.
I had just for a moment laid the D2x on the ground, when some blonde girl came trippling around, over my camera and of course slipped and stepped on it. At that time the only damage I could find (afterwards) was a bent TC, but being a cheapy Kenko one I didn't think much of it.
Two years and some tens of thousands pictures later I bought my first D3 and the D2X went into semi retirement. Mind you, I had had no complains with unusually or excessively much OOF pictures despite shooting with lenses like the 200-400 and 4/600 fully or nearly full opened of surfers and other high speed subjects.
Kind of remembered me of the time back in the eighties when I took my FE for a check to Nikon and they discovered the metal housing of the prism was bent to such and extent that the ring with the aperture tab on the body was bent (yes, then too).
I was told what the official repair would cost, but realising I was at that time a poor student, the service mechanic told me to look te other way. He then simply took a screwdriver and twisted the mental housing up a bit so that the ring could turn again and I used that body for years and at full satisfaction till I switched over to AF.
And thinking of it, of the time when I dropped my 2/28mm AiS on the floor with such force the aperture fork on the lens (the one the old lenses had for use with the F1 Photomic and the Nikkormat) completely bent and broke of. Still use that lens..
Mind you, I do take care of my equipment and take no pride of abusing it in any way, but in the over 30 years I'm using Nikon, some mishaps are bound to happen.
So I guess Nikon still lives up to its reputation of being able to take a hit and keep on working.
OK, maybe not as extreme as Don McCullin's Nikon F
but still...
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