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Archive 2012 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?

  
 
patricksmith04
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


I rarely ever post on these boards minus the classifieds, but I am very curious about the Nikon D4. I was ready to unload my Nikon D3S for one, but kept reading and hearing about some nightmares of the D4, including:

- Green tint on LCD
- Lenses getting stuck on the D4 body
- Focus jumping in and out head on (sports)
- High ISO being equivalent as D3S
- QXD card being pointless

So I was wondering how many owners have had these issues or know of someone that has? For me, the LCD and lenses getting stuck terrifies me for a $6,000 camera. Focus jumping can be user error, so I guess I wouldn't know until getting my hands on one, not to mention, I haven't heard that from many users.

I appreciate any feedback.



Sep 19, 2012 at 11:07 AM
MikeW
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


maybe early ones suffered, but with the updated firmware I see no issues. Never had a lens stuck & as you said the AF is user opinion. I don't use the XQD at this stage. I didn't go from a D3S so the ISO improvement is HUGE


Sep 19, 2012 at 11:27 AM
Steve Perry
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


Hmm, no problems with mine at all. In fact, I'm thrilled with the AF and overall speed. I'm sure I'm well over 6000 shots at this point.


Sep 19, 2012 at 11:42 AM
patricksmith04
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


No notice of a green tint on the rear LCD?


Sep 19, 2012 at 11:44 AM
Baywing
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


One of the firmware upgrades supposedly fixed that. I've had no complaints at all with mine. I don't use the LCD to judge color anyway, so that was a non-issue.


Sep 19, 2012 at 12:20 PM
Matt OHarver
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


The only issue I've had was that my keeper rate has been too high when shooting sports assignments and it makes culling a whole lot harder


Matt



Sep 19, 2012 at 12:30 PM
Red G8R
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


I got mine the first shipment and no problems to report.


Sep 19, 2012 at 01:12 PM
gugs
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


patricksmith04 wrote:
- Green tint on LCD
- Lenses getting stuck on the D4 body
- Focus jumping in and out head on (sports)
- High ISO being equivalent as D3S
- QXD card being pointless

I appreciate any feedback.

Green tint on LCD: never noticed any problem
Lenses getting stuck: never had a problem
Focus issues: I am not sure about the 'improvement', I already had that problem with the D3, the algorithms are less intuitive than in the previous generations (I cannot exactly predict what I will get, sometimes when shooting sports, focus goes to the public in the background) On bodies like the D2x or D200, I found the 'dynamic group' and 'closest subject' MUCH better from a practical point of view (predictibility of the results) but that's just me.
High ISO is a serious improvement but my previous body was a D3, I assume the difference is not that significant if you use a D3S. Don't forget that resolution is improved as well.
QXD is the most ridiculous useless technology I have ever seen in a camera body. The speed is not needed at all (recent CF cards >90MB/s are more than fast enough), the system is completely incompatible, not completely reliable as far as I am concerned (see my recent post), the cards are ridiculously expensive and basically a lost investment, you need to carry other cards, another reader... If there had been a D4s without an XQD reader, I would have bought it immediately EVEN if it would have been MORE expensive than the D4.

And something you don't mention, the battery problem, making the camera way more expensive than the list price. The second most ridiculous move in history (in a camera body). Because of a stupid law, the batteries are incompatible with anything else, you can throw away your old very expensive batteries and buy a few very expensive new ones which give you a much lower autonomy than the previous generation. A dream when you shoot with two bodies like the D3 and D4, double the batteries and two huge chargers in the bag.

A positive conclusion: the D4 is an excellent camera, it already seriously dropped in price (at least where I live), but for my usage, a step backward compared with the D3s if I forget the higher resolution. The conclusion is of course completely different if video is important to you. My personal conclusion: I really like using the D4, it delivers excellent pictures and does the job, but the camera falls in the category recommended with reservations, definitely not highly recommended. Nikon did a much better job when they introduced the D3 or the D3s.

Guy



Sep 19, 2012 at 02:42 PM
Jonathan
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


Matt OHarver wrote:
The only issue I've had was that my keeper rate has been too high when shooting sports assignments and it makes culling a whole lot harder

Matt


I'm having the very same issues as you Matt.



Sep 19, 2012 at 09:51 PM
Alex Phan
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


You have links to those issues? I have none of those rumors issues that you list above.

As for qxd, it comes with it. I didn't bother buying another one.



Sep 19, 2012 at 11:54 PM
DavidM5
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


No issues with my 2 D4 cameras.
I also went from a D3 to D3s to the D4.
The battery change to the newer grey ones peeved me a little as I had to buy new ones.

Other than the freezing up issues which have been cured by the firmware updates, the camera have been flawless.

I keep the supplied XQD cards in the camera to dual write to just in case the Sandisk Extreme Pro cards fail and I can pull the XQD to upload the files but this has yet to happen. (knock on wood!)



Sep 20, 2012 at 12:04 AM
mshi
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


Still have the lockup issue even after having applied the firmware update. Nikon fixed the the AF inaccuracy issue.


Sep 20, 2012 at 12:41 AM
ct8282
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


patricksmith04 wrote:
- Green tint on LCD
- Lenses getting stuck on the D4 body
- Focus jumping in and out head on (sports)
- High ISO being equivalent as D3S
- QXD card being pointless



I had one of the very first D4's into the UK. My observations on the points you raise would be:

- no green tint that I have noticed on my LCD. Colours seem accurate and vivid.
- I've never even heard of a lens getting stuck let alone experienced this problem.
- have't done any sports shooting but plenty of kids charging about and focus is sickeningly quick and accurate, and I'm no pro!
- high ISO being equivalent to D3s! Is this a problem? The D3s was the king of high ISO so why would this be a problem if the D4 is as good?
- its 'XQD'. And whilst I agree that it is completely pointless having 2 different card slots (have either 2 XQD or CF in my opinion) I will say that the XQD card does read and write extremely fast plus you get 16gb plus reader for free. I have had no reliability issues with the XQD card or reader.

I hope this helps. I am not a pro but I absolutely love my D4. It's an incredible camera and I wouldn't be without it, but I never had a D3s so couldn't say if it is worth the upgrade, but I have seen lots of D3s users on here who say it is. :-)



Sep 20, 2012 at 02:39 AM
satybhat
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


My 2 cents. I have a D4. Mine does show the green tinge issue once in a while, not always. If there was a firmware update, I don;t think its worked.
Now,
I do BIF with the 500 f4 (now in repairs) or the 300 f4 + 1.4 TC/ see my photos on DPR with the D4
The centre AF is excellent even at F8, even for BIF.
However: here's my take on the D4 vs the 1Dx (my friend has it)
We did a direct comparison with the 300f4+ 1.4TC on D4 and 1Dx + 100-400 at 400 for BIF.
Note: Canon: no AF possible at F8 (at least until they release the firmware for this- I mean 1D4 has it.. how silly of them)
Cloudy day, shot distance anywhere between 30-200 yards, most shots needed cropping and sharpening on both cameras.

Nikon nailed shots about 8/10 times for BIF with very little hunting. 10/10 for stationary birds
Canon nailed shots about 5-6 / 10 times for BIF. 9/10 for stationary birds.

D4 was marginally better for low light
BUT.

The shots in focus from 1Dx were phenomenonally sharp. scale 10/10. Mindblowingly sharp.
The shots in focus from D4 were not pin sharp, , infact, they were always, consistently a bit off the mark, perhaps scale 9/10 but acceptable nonetheless.

The XQD is useless for all practical purposes. It has a higher burst speed, but then offer 2 XQDs if you are so convinced. that smells of indecision.
The D4 did lock up a few times and had to be restarted. happened to me thrice a week ago, never happened again. Not sure what to make of that. The lens on was 85 F1.4 all the time.
Feel free to draw your own conclusions, but I have gingerly shifted my backside onto the fence again. I'm also unsure of the fate of the 500f4, so dont mind shifting camps if thats what it takes. The pictures are more important than the gear.
(Note, I nowadays use the M9 almost exclusively for anything thats not wildlife or birds).
Saty




Sep 20, 2012 at 02:46 AM
satybhat
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


Must add, we did extensive focus tweaking where required prior to the comparison. All the shots are with my mate, and he;s off interstate, else would have posted them somewhere. Sorry.



Sep 20, 2012 at 02:48 AM
patricksmith04
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


No links to said issues, only word of mouth and direct talking to photographers.

I know three photojournalists who personally have had 400mm lenses get stuck on their D4 (and one member here who was trying to sell their D4 stuck on a 400).

As for the green tint, that's well documented online with the D800/D4, too,



Sep 20, 2012 at 07:46 AM
oobie
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


I shot a college football game with mine yesterday with no focus jumping. No stuck lenses yet. Jury is still out on QXD. Time will tell.


Sep 23, 2012 at 11:26 AM
El Kartman
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


My 400 got stuck on my D4 at a game yesterday. Anyone have a fix to get a stuck lens off? I have a friend it has happened to a few times as well.


Sep 24, 2012 at 12:55 PM
ShutteredMe
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


hmmm it seems like the 400mm and the D4 are the combo that gets the stuck complains. I have the 600mm VR and use it with a 1.4x and 1.7x without issue.


Sep 24, 2012 at 02:45 PM
Kittyk
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Nikon D4 owners...issues?


mine D4 had similar left AF points issue and yet to it was center focus different then the one on either left or right. so i returned it. i have anyway no real need for the camera. got another (even more buggy) D800 instead


Sep 24, 2012 at 03:16 PM
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