If you\'re going to make statements like \"those very weak chassis might easily get broken during original shipment\", please, please provide some kind of engineering analysis which backs up your position. Don\'t drag this forum down to the level of other forums.
I think the incidence of cracked D800 frames has become common enough that we\'ve moved beyond the anecdotal evidence stage into the realm of a high probability of an engineering failure. Cracks occurring in numerous bodies, in the same location, typically with no (admission of) flagrant mishandling of the camera seems beyond coincidence. Whether merely shipping a body can damage it is unknown but to say (at least some of) the frames are weak seems to be no exaggeration.
Thom Hogan\'s thoughts:
I\'ve also gotten a number of reports of dropped D800\'s being determined by Nikon as \"beyond repair.\" This happens because a particular section on the back side of the metal frame breaks, and when it does, it would require complete teardown to parts and a complete rebuild from parts. Worse still, a broken frame can result in the sensor, lens mount, and AF system being misaligned, making the camera unusable as well as unfixable. This is the first time I\'ve heard of Nikon\'s metal framing ever breaking like this, and I know NikonUSA forwarded this information to corporate. Indeed, the D810 frame is thicker and takes less of a turn in this same area, so it seems clear to me that Nikon changed the design, and probably to avoid broken frames. Further, all of the D800 cracks are completely across the frame (separation), and all in a small area just adjacent to a tight bend on a thin portion. It’s unclear to me how “force” could produce such a break, and it seems also clear that it would take a huge amount of force. I would expect that cameras with broken frames would show other damage, but that has not been the case in four of the broken frame complaints I’ve examined. In two, there seems to be no other damage.
