Below is an excerpt of a letter sent to Nikon January 2005. This was not the
first letter, nor the last regarding this problem. To date, there is no resolution.
after many tries at fixing the problem, I am convinced they are unable to do
so. They have flatly refused any refund for an obviously faulty product.
To date, the only "resolution" is that they have "forced"
me to go elsewhere (to their #1 competition) for my professional photography
equipment.
Start of Excerpt
Thank you for your assistance regarding this repair. I appreciate what you
have done and are willing to do in order to
help fulfill Nikon's obligation to me as a customer.
Enclosed are the following 5 items::
1. Nikon D70 Body Serial Number *********
2. AF-S Nikkor 18-70mm Lens, Serial Number is US*********
3. SB-800 AF - TTL Speedlight - Serial Number *********
4. Nikon SC-29 TTL Cord for SB-800 Flash
5. A CD with a few sample photos.
The first 2 items have recently been to you for repair.
Lens Service Order Number = 41*********
Body Service Order Number = 41*********
The problems are:
FOCUS - back focus
EXPOSURE
The back focus problem seems to be better than it was prior the recent repair -- however, there is still a problem.
The enclosed disk has a few shots from a recent job.
Some images show the people/objects in the background to be much sharper than
the centered subjects.
This problem seems to be worse when the lens is at the wider angles.
As you can see there are some similar shots - same people, etc., with widely
varying exposure.
At times it seems like the problems "travel together" - that is, both the focus and exposure is to the back - over-exposing and throwing the centered subject out of focus.
(I noticed that the exif info says the images were shot about a year ago - this must be due to the fact that I pushed the reset button (on the advise of your phone tech support) and did not reset the time & date since then. However, the images were shot this past Saturday night - January 22, 2005).
Last week when I called about the status of the camera body repair - I was told that it was fixed and was going to quality control to be checked before sending it to me. I understood this to mean that a highly trained technician repaired it and brought the camera within Nikon specifications and that the camera was to be looked at by at least one other trained person to check to make certain that the camera was within the specs so that the result would be a camera that would be capable of producing images that would be a fair reflection of Nikon quality. Did I read too much in what I was told?
I trust that your techs are highly trained. I trust that they take their job seriously. I am therefore left to believe one of the following:
1. There is a problem with the flash or the flash cord or some communication
between the various items - camera, lens, flash, cord.
2. Minor handling (shipping, etc.) disturbs the camera and causes it to "go
out of spec."
3. Nikon specs are not what they should be. The adjustments - although made
accurately, will not result in a repaired item.
4. There is a serious design flaw that prevents any adjustment to correct the
problem.
What ever the problem . . . I need one the three R's: REPAIR, REPLACEMENT, REFUND.
I have paid over $2000 for this camera and accessories. There is in implied warranty of merchantability. An autofocus camera is to get things in the focus area in focus. So far, this camera has cost me hundreds of hours of computer time in making bad images deliverable. In at least one I case I have taken a major hit to my professional reputation as a result of being unable to deliver quality images to my clients. Other clients are having to wait much longer than promised while I do what I can to correct the images. I am extremely disappointed in this product as well as the time-consuming difficulty in having it repaired.
I paid for a new working quality autofocus product in late August 2004. I have yet to receive it.
End of Excerpt