Nikon and Sigma

[Swampy]

Well, I had to send my 50-500mm Canon mount in for repair. Seems it had a problem from day 1. It would lock on focus but still be blurry in the viewfinder and the image recorded would be blurry of course. It was an odd thing that took a while to figure out what was going on since I took a few pretty sharp images in Mexico with it, but most of them were blurry.

Seems that at minimum focus distance at any focal length, the focus was dead on and the further the subject was away, the blurrier it would get. Anyway, I called Sigma and they blamed the camera. I told them I tried it on 5 different cameras with the same result and they were still convinced that the lens wasn't issue since it locking focus and the lens wouldn't do that if the image weren't in focus. Finally he said I could just send it in for them to look at. Was kinda disappointed in thier over the phone troubleshooting.

Anyway, I sent it into thier Arizona authorized repair centers and without warranty question, they called me back and said the estimate was $280 to repair it. They asked when I purchased it and I told them March this year and they said they'd fix it under warranty. 4-6 weeks. Wow. Then they also said that this lens was a very complicated lens to work on and that they still might have to send it to Sigma in New York and I could be looking at 8-10 weeks before I'd see it again. Ouch. Anyway, I'll keep you posted on that when I get it back or an update on it.

Another one, my Nikon 70-200mm VR, the collar locking screw broke sorta. There's a holding screw on the back side of the actual locking screw to preven the locking screw from coming all the way off which came out inside the ring. Not hurting anything, just have to be careful about not losing the locking screw. The person who purchased it from me took it in for repair and they wouldn't fix it under warranty as he didn't have the warranty card. That sucks on Nikon's part, even though the warranty says 5 years to the original owner. That's two bad experiences with Nikon for me.

[Swampy]

Ok, so far so good. I got my 50-500mm back this evening. What a surprise. 2 1/2 weeks including ground shipping one of the ways. I can't say how surprised I was.

Anyway, it's dark now and I need a long area to test around with it, so it will have to wait until Monday. But indoors, so far, it looks good.

I have the Miramar Air Show this weekend and that's always been one of my main lenses. I was afraid I was going to have to shoot differently this year and now I don't! Whooo..

[Auminer]

...they wouldn't fix it under warranty as he didn't have the warranty card. That sucks on Nikon's part, even though the warranty says 5 years to the original owner. That's two bad experiences with Nikon for me :confused:Why, isn't that what the warranty says? Have they been repairing second party warrantys in the past? (I hope so :) ) Whats the first bad experience Swampy? I'm just curious as I haven't had nor heard of problems with Nikon repair before. :confused:

Dave

[Melody]

I "think" it's because the warranty is to the original owner and the guy who took it in was NOT the original owner and didn't have the warranty card.

The first one was something about the quality of the hood on his 400 2.8 and the company he purchased it from wanted to send the entire lens back for it to be warranty repair and when he ordered a replacement instead from B & H it took forever to be in stock arrive or something.

I've had excellent service from Nikon who even replaced my D2x for me since I was past the return policy of the store and were in constant contact and have done all repairs in a very timely manner typically 2 days tops.

Melody

Melody

[Swampy]

Yeah, I'm not saying Nikon warranty is a bad experience for everyone. Just me.

I bought my Nikon 400mm f2.8 from Samy's Camera. There are two pieces to the hood and the front piece fell off. Looking at the edges, it was clearly a manufacturing defect as you could see that there was hardly any glue used to hold it on. Anyway, I took it back to Samy's who has a 14 day return policy and all they said was that they would call Nikon and get back to me that afternoon. 2 days later, I called THEM back and they said "Nikon said to ship the whole lens and everything to them for warranty repair". Samy's is a big place, Nikon should take Samy's word for it. However, I guess I can't blame Nikon as I don't know what happened on Samy's side. For all I know, they didn't do anything at all and just decided to tell me on the spot to ship the whole thing back. Samy's didn't do one damn thing to help me out even though that was an $8000 dollar walk in sale from a new customer. I also bought a Bogen Carbon Fiber Tripod from them. A nut came off during the first 2 weeks as well, inside one of the legs! The tripod seemed ok even with that happening, but I brought that up with the lens and they didn't do anything or say anything and I was too pissed to bring it up again with them. I used the tripod for what, 8 months now? Dealing with a nut rolling around inside the leg everytime I tilted the tripod up or down (loading and unloading from the car). Well, the night I shot the lightning shots recently, That leg fell off from the top of the tripod, the whole leg.

Probably something I should have done myself a long time ago, but I fixed the leg myself the next night with about an hours work. I had to take the WHOLE tripod apart (with the exception of the actual leg sections). I mean the whole head and everything up there. Put that nut back on which was the securing point for holding the leg on the head from the inside, then put it all back together. Fine tuned the release clips on all the legs and I have a new tripod again. Sheesh. Not something a customer should have to worry about. All Samy's fault there. They should have swapped tripods out with me on the spot according to thier little in-store policy. So, when I dropped 30 some odd grand buying Canon? I went to B&H. No troubles there...

BTW - Like Melody said (I'm saying this for Paul who bought my 400mm), I didn't glue the hood back together myself (couldn't anyway, the front hood splashed down in the ocean up in Alaska!). I bought a brand new hood set, which did take months to get like Melody said.

And yes, Nikon wouldn't repair my 70-200 cause the new owner took it in. That's wrong, especially for simple problem that it is. I could see, ooops, a lens element fell out in the middle of the lens, "sorry pal, you're not the original owner". But an external screw? Bah. My luck I suppose.

Like Melody said, she had nothing but a good experience with Nikon warranty stuff. Except maybe the neighborhoods she had to drive through to get there! :lol:

[Melody]

Did you have to remind me of that! OMG it was when they were having those random freeway shootings down there in the area and I had to go on that EXACT freeway as it's right next to Nikon and I went I don't recall what 4 times, I was rather paranoid to say the least. I couldnt decide take the suv cause it's bigger and I can blend in better or take my car which rather sticks out in that area but corners and is much faster and I just wanted in and out without any trouble :eek: I made darn sure I was on the phone with someone the whole time (yes I have an earpiece Rich ;) not that it would stop anyone but it made me feel better :)

I'll agree with Bryan regarding Samy's I've made major purchases the same store same salesman and was not thrilled with the customer service. I had to point out the fine print in their own receipt and go to the general manager to get the refund I was due. I went back to B&H never had a problem there.

Melody

[Swampy]

Ok, now that it's light out. They didn't fix the lens. Man. What a let down. You'd figure they know what they're doing and they would have used it on a camera to look at quality or something? Guess not.

So, it's much, much better now, but still off slightly. Focus on something 300 yards away at 500mm, the camera locks saying it's in focus, but I have to turn the manual focus backwards about 3 hairs to get it sharp. :(

Looks like I might be stuck with the 70-200+2xTC instead. Less range though, but easier on the wrist for zooming all day.

I'm going to take it apart tonight and see if this other "underground" home repair fix might fix it though. It was too far out of adjustment before, but maybe it will work now...

[Auminer]

Yeah, I'm not saying Nikon warranty is a bad experience for everyone. Just me.Sounds more like Samy's than Nikon here, except with the 2nd owner issue. I agree, they should honor the lens and not the owner for the term. Guess that wouldn't make good business sense... :rolleyes:

Man Swamp, I'm sorry about your 50-500!! What has happened to customer service?? Let us know how "this other "underground" home repair fix" works out, ok? ;)

Dave

[Swampy]

Sounds more like Samy's than Nikon here, except with the 2nd owner issue. I agree, they should honor the lens and not the owner for the term. Guess that wouldn't make good business sense... :rolleyes:

Man Swamp, I'm sorry about your 50-500!! What has happened to customer service?? Let us know how "this other "underground" home repair fix" works out, ok? ;)

Dave

Tried it yesterday, no good too. It was a long shot as the "Fix" is more for people who have good 50-500's and want to try fine tuning the sharpness. I have seen it work numerous times for other people, but again, they were happy with thier lenses that were working to begin with. hehe Guess it'll just have to go back again.

For those interested in the "fix" I was mentioning, on the 50-500, on the rear side, there's a cover that is held on by 3 screws. Take the 3 screws out (actually, two came out the other one stayed on the cover) and remove the cover. With the lens at 50mm, you can get to the rear element with two fingers and unscrew it 1/4 turn at a time. It's kind of a pain, but if you have a lens that is slightly off in the focus towards the front, this can sharpen things up a bit.

Anyway, set up on a tripod, take a sample pic, then turn the rear element a 1/4 turn. Take another sample image and keep going. Remember where you're at and when and use your PC to check the sample images for sharpness at 100%.

The worst you can do perhaps is drop one of the screws from the back cover in thick carpet and lose it. There's not much to this if you have the time and want to play.