NikonGear'23
Gear Talk => What the Nerds Do => Topic started by: Vilhelm on March 06, 2016, 21:49:07
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Well this might require some background, otherwise I may appear as a total idiot who should not touch cameras ;D ;D ;D
Full-time photographer since 2006 (part-time prior to that). Body history D2x D70 D200 D3 D700 D7000 D5000 D800 D800E D4 Df D4S and very shortly I look forward to breaking (in!!!) my D5. I also run a studio of 4 Nikon photographers as well as a camera rental service so the amount of lens copies that have ran through my fingers (and is available atm) is likely in the hundreds, though not (yet) exceeding 1,000. Which means that statistically speaking, the local Nikon service likes me a lot.
D2x
After four days in the rainforest, with lots of lens swapping the electronics started acting randomly, soon making it impossible to achieve anything with the camera. 32 hours later a courier from El Defe brought in a replacement unit, this being my first experience with NPS global service network. Covered by warranty.
D70
My dislike for CF cards springs from two swapped card bays, user error ie. small dust/sand particle in the card bending one of the pins resulting in somewhat costly replacement. Canon to Nikon swappers may experience this more, as the cards are inserted differently. Not covered by warranty.
Any body
Rubbers. I really appreciate that Japanese legislation requires recyclability, but the biologically degradable glues used to fix the rubbers to the bodies is so bad that every single digital SLR Nikon body that I have used has at some point seen the body rubbers replaced. Likely this is due to mileage, as confessions over beers have brought to my attention that this is a pest shared also by Canon users ;D (Sometimes, but mostly not covered by warranty as the glue degrades after about 18-24 months of active use)
D800/D800E/D810
Mirror box misalignment. One resulted from Norwegian Airlines luggage crew's handling techniques, the other from a camera renter who had used a light stand spigot as tripod for the body. DON'T USE SPIGOTS for that tripod attachment! They are longer than the screws on the quick release plates and once they enter the body they will push things inside upwards until they put pressure on the mirror box, resulting in misalignment. 36mpix is very demanding and even slight box misalignments will show in your photos. Not covered by warranty.
Df shutter
My 11 month old Df shutter decided to give up during a series of long exposures, verdict was "covered by warranty" which made me sigh and smile loudly. Only Nikon shutter that has breaken down on me, and the back-up body (D4) is past 450,000
200/2G Nikkor AF-S breakdown
To any of you using your AF-S lenses in saltwater environments, I'd like to point out that the idea of covering your lens from saltwater spray is a very good idea. While it is covered from dust and spray, salt evidently can enter through any protection and while slow, the process will reach its goal after a few years (in my case five), resulting in a 500 EUR replacement of the AF-S motor and electronics.
17-35/2.8D AF-S breakdown
Started squeaking at age 5, squeaked more at age 7, broke down at age 9. Replacement cost I think was 380 EUR. Lens saw almost daily use for 9 years so that's understandable IMO.
58/1.4G AF-S repairs
Don't put the lens in your back pocket, kneel and listen to the sound of it dropping to the floor. It hurt me about 250 EUR
24-70/2.8G (earlier, non VR version)
While I really really really liked this lens because of its image quality, it was clear that the mechanical construction had a lifespan, which in very active use meant about 3-4 years before the mechanical tolerances started loosening, resulting in erratical and not up to factory standard performance. More importantly, given the very complex construction of the lens repairs always meant an 800-900 EUR trip which saw the whole lens assembly removed, a new inserted and the serial number updated. Now, repeat this process 6 times and you really understand better why the old one cost 1600 EUR (plus 800 EUR replacement repair) and the new one costs 2600 EUR. I would really really investigate in the history of any used 24-70/2.8G that I was buying (if I were, which I'm not since the 24-70/2.8E VR seems to have rid those issues given the all new mechanical construction). This is not just my experience, ask any press photographer house and they'll verify. The Canon version suffered from the same issues (first 24-70/2.8), so no joy for the other side in this case either :-D
D810 USB 3.0 port
FFS this must be the crappiest engineer solution ever for data transfer. Why can't all Nikon DSLR bodies use ethernet/RC45???
In one week, I broke two D810 USB ports (420 EUR repair cost each) and why? Because that damn male connector is VERY prone to developing ONE single VERY SMALL pin misaligned, resulting in breaking the camera connecting port. The damn thing won't hold when you shoot tethered free-hand either, and the factory provided plastic strengthener is designed for MICRO USB3 connectors, when EVERY SINGLE ONE of the tethering cables use a connector housing too large for it. USB3 must be the shittiest connector ever, and while the design is not Nikon to blame I really really really don't understand why they chose it as the connector for their DSLRs, when a very reliable RJ45 (ethernet) connector is faster, sturdier and more reliable.
50/1.2 Ai-S
I have (had) a total of five, and they all were very different (some bought new, most used). With lenses focusing by moving the whole lens assembly, it really is recommended that you have their infinity adjusted. After a 90 EUR CLA they all performed identically: very well.
Any body and the diopter rubber
FFS why doesn't Nikon sell that spare part ie only the rubber ring? I have lost count on how many bodies I've handled with strap on my shoulder and that diopter ring rubber tearing off.
Interestingly, the plastic focusing switch ring AF/M on many pro-series D lenses seems to be very prone to breaking. I have never experienced that (knockknock), though I have many of the lenses equipped with that unpractical AF/M switch.
Anything else... hmmm. Oh yeah: If you happen to be a member of the about 2,000 persons globally that own an 800mm f/5.6E FL VR lens, DON'T MISPLACE THE DEDICATED TELECONVERTER. I haven't, but a colleague of mine did. You have to send the lens back to Japan, wait about 2 months for them to assemble and adjust a TC dedicated for your lens copy, and see your lens returned with a new teleconverter. Total cost? While pressed when I asked him he did not admit it but I got the perceptions that it was in the range of 2000-3000 Euros :o ;D :D
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Should I commence this kind of report, I'd be writing until the morning breaks ....
Suffice it to say that I've been through all of these - and more.
It is not an issue of the digital era either. I had plenty of mishaps of my younger (film) days too. The difference was if you dropped say your Nikon F into a river, you could repair it on the spot if some basic tools were present. I still vividly remember a bad day in the early '70s when this happened to me twice in a single day. The camera is with me even today, and it works :D
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The Wartime Carl Zeiss Jena 5cm F1.5 Sonnar "T"s have a Set Screw hidden under the aperture ring to hold the namering in place. UNLIKE the pre-war Sonnars up to ~the 268xxxx block and those AFTER the 286xxxx block: you must take the optics barrel out of the focus mount, remove the variable stand-off ring, remove the coupling between aperture ring and mechanism, take off the aperture ring, remove the set-screw, and THEN use a spanner to take off the namering.... Ask me how I know...
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Should I commence this kind of report, I'd be writing until the morning breaks ....
We're all ears here! ;D ;D ;D
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A tidbit of information: do not mount the 2.1 cm Nikkor-O f/4 lens on any other camera than an F, F2, or late Nikkormat. On all other Nikons, you will crash and break the mirror. How do I know? (hint: tried with my F4).
I recalled that incident earleir today when I came over an eBay listing from some ignorant seller trying to peddle this lens for USD 9999 (!) with a reference to Ken Rockwell (! sic !) for a list of compatible cameras? My thought went to the gullible buyer who first would pay 10 times at least what the lens is worth, then just to experience it damages his camera and there will be a costly repair bill as well to be paid.
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Should I commence this kind of report, I'd be writing until the morning breaks ....
That would be a breaking news! :D
Joke aside, I bought a brand new AF-S 17-55/2.8 zoom whose optics are not properly assembled. It is misaligned and cannot AF properly. I sent it to Nikon who "repaired" it, of course, under warranty, which took about two weeks. And I found the problem was still there. I returned it and never bothered to try another sample again.
I bought two samples of AF-S DX micro 40/2.8 in different times which was about one year apart. Both samples are misaligned: about 1/5 of the right part of the frame tended to smear when shot even at f5.6. The 1/5 of the left part of the frame was tack sharp. I brought both (separately) to Nikon service and their answers were the same: both lenses were withing the tolerance. I tested them on different samples of D7000. The 40/2.8 is a nice all-rounder. The moving part of the lens is well protected by its dedicated hood. But after these incidents, I stopped looking at this lens.
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Akira that sounds more like a misaligned mirror/mirror box than faulty lens...
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Akira, I have the 40/2.8 DX micro and it works just fine on my D300.
In fact it's a marvelous lens considering its cost. If I am to own a D500 in the future, it will be its kit lens :)
Back to topic :)
I must admit that my repair history is mostly not my fault. I repaired the AF of two lenses the 17-35/2.8 AF-S and the 85/1.4 AF-D.
The one that I did manage to break was the 24-70/2.8 AF-S. It was absolutely my wrong doing. It was mounted on a D4 and standing on a tripod. The tripod legs slid on a slippery surface and the lens landed nose down. The sunshade was on and did break off absorbing some of the impact but not enough unfortunately...
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Over the years, I found out by depressing practice that cameras and lenses are tougher than my ribs and rib cage ... On last count, I have fractured at least 11 ribs over the years. Once I did 4 at a time. That incident occurred on the bird island of Runde, Western Norway on a shoot for puffins, when I fell down a sea-facing cliff and landed on top of my F5. The camera itself hit a sharp rock with the viewfinder and the impact made a deep indentation, however, the prism itself did not shatter. What did break was my rib cage as I crashed into the camera at speed. Four broken or fractured ribs - the climb back to base camp that day was not pleasant. Not pleasant at all.
I have broken ribs in fall incidents with F2 Titan (camera was hardly scratched, darned it, titanium is really robust), F5 (already narrated), and with 24-70/2.8 G, and 24/3.5 PC-Nikkor, in the latter cases also broke the lens mounts. And of course slipping on ice when you search for the perfect vantage position can cost you dearly as well.
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Ouch Bjørn, ouch. Cameras and lenses are replaceable, but not people.
My personal best was stepping aside on a footpath to let two women pass by and I fell heavily due to the curb being rounded and the area not being well lit either. I was carrying a D700 camera with a 28-300mm lens on it. The cost to repair the lens was almost that of a new copy, so I simply replaced the lens. The camera checked out OK with no misalignment or focussing issues post the fall. I suspect the sacrifice of a plastic lens helped save the camera body. As for the women - well they saw me fall and just kept walking and my shoulder still niggles at me. Life......
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Fantastic thread ;) Thanks!
I'm also holding my breath - It would take a long time to write all these 'issues' down,,,
Most resent was yesterday, adjusting a new 'used' Leica M lens that just needed a tiny bit of adjusting to get linear focus travel and optimize it for my Leica M9 that is adjusted for the rest of my lenses, and I made a mistake of measuring on a 'hill' at some point and continued to file off material without noticing the 'hill' - 4-5 hours later I was finished mending the mistake,,,
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Hugh, you're a good guy!
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Another 'classic' .....
When you shoot with a Nikonos under water and feels it's becoming more and more difficult to advance the film: DO NOT continue shooting, but surface immediately.
In this case, the O-ring of a Nikonos V had a small leak making water able to trickle into the camera. The camera was loaded with Kodachrome 25 and the film started slowly to swell from the moisture. Concomitantly, the emulsion commenced to dissolve into the the growing pool of liquid inside the camera. At the point where the camera advance lever locked up completely, the camera *and* lens, the expensive UW-Nikkor N 15 mm f/2.8, were filled to the brim with a yellow-brown soup of dissolved gelatine and film base chemicals.
We dried out the camera as far as possible and emptied the lens of some of the gooey stuff inside. However, at that time the stuff had entered all air-spaces inside the lens so we couldn't get it emptied.
Nikon repair cleaned the camera and changed a few minor components, before declaring the camera fit for fight again. However, they would not take on any repair of the lens as this required a complete disassembly of the optics. So it was a complete write-off. While I was at the repair shop and filled out the insurance paperwork, I asked my tech what they would do with the lens after making their appraisal of the damage. "Why - it will end in the waste basket" was the answer. I then asked if they would mind if I lifted the discarded lens out of the basket and and there were no objections.
At home, I opened up the lens as much as possible then put it in an exsiccator to get more moisture out of it. After a few days, I put the lens into the oven at 70C, with the door ajar, and baked it for >14 days turning the lens over twice a day. The rationale was that the film emulsion basically was gelatine and if I could evaporate the most of it, or at the very least make it cover the internal surfaces with an evenly deposited thin film, this should have little impact on the final optical properties.
After a few weeks, I removed the lens from the oven, put everything back and mounted the lens on another Nikonos. Perfect. Just a trace of more lens flare that's all. I had basically got an expensive lens for free ... I still have it, by the way.
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Akira that sounds more like a misaligned mirror/mirror box than faulty lens...
Vilhelm, I used other lenses as well, and I had no problem with them on the same bodies. In the case of 17-55 zoom, Nikon service acknowledged the problem.
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Great Reading!
Either I don't shot a lot, or I'm too careful to shot what I should...
No big disasters or broken things over here. Just more than 4 hours looking for a tiny diaphragm blade (Nikkor 55m micro) that thing flying away and landing on a very hairy carpet was the deal... thanks to a magnet, I succeeded to find it!
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Fun thread, keep it going!!!
I remember I made a hole in the floor of a press room letting drop my F4s with 1.8/85D on the first Day I had her. All I needed to do was replace the Aluminium hood HN-23 of the lens that took all the damage...
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Re Aperture blades; I was modifying a 20mm Ais, extending close focus down to 18cm - that requires extending the aperture guide to take up the extra amount of focus travel so everything was finished, cleaning the lens helicoil and aperture etc,,, all I needed was a drop of superglue onto the guide pin and the tiny tube I had prepared - Then the glue spurted into the lens as I squished the bottle directly into the closed aperture dispersing in-between all aperture blades - disassembly of the aperture unit and separation of the blades and soaking them in Acetone took some very frantic seconds - after that I had to clean every square mm of the each aperture blade and guide pin and housing parts,,, ouch,,,
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While roaming the beach in the last remaining days of 2008 it was a bit colder than anticipated, while waiting for the bus to take me to my warm home the Tokina 11-16/2.8 slipped from my frozen hands and fell on the concrete floor of the bus stop :-\ The hood took the fall but broke the mount for the hood, luckily the camera shop was very helpful by sending the lens back to Tokina and it was in my hands a few days later, insurance covered the involved costs.
The light was very nice however that evening so it was worth all the trouble ;D
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3253/3145289004_7743b41f16_o.jpg)
D300 with 24-70/2.8, Holland 2008
Many moons later I locked a lens up while doing maintenance, the last time I did maintenance on other peoples lenses ;D ;D
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I got, very cheap, a Zoom-Nikkor 360-1200 mm f/11 ED that had been sitting in a damp Japanese basement for 30+ years. The lens apparently never had been used. Now, this is a true rarity amongst the Nikkors, this version ("K") together with the following AI variant totalled less than 100 samples. Normally the price would be sky high, but this particular lens had been heavily fungus-contaminated and was sold as junk (seller's own description). I recall shipping this 9 kg behemoth in its original box to Norway costed more than the lens itself :D
When I received the lens, it appeared immaculate except for a "white" front element of the focusing group inside. I took it apart and removed all the fungus growth, which only afflicted this single lens element, and assembled all the pieces again. Then I decided to get rid of any future fungal issue by letting the lens be exposed to UV for a good while. This was early summer and the weather was outstanding, clear blue skies and for our latitude, really 'hot' (ie. 25C or so). I made an improvised cradle for the lens on my back porch so it would point towards the sun, and let the lens tan itself for some days.
Then, one clear and bright morning, I got a call for an urgent assignation, and rushed off to do the job. Believing the nice sunny weather would last for weeks as usual for these summer spells, I had not checked the weather forecast that morning. Of course it started to rain hard soon thereafter. When I returned in the afternoon, I busied myself with processing all my files from the shooting until I suddenly remembered my 360-1200 still standing on the back porch.
Ouch. The sun shade, being an excellent fit, had retained about a litre of rain water that trickled into the optics and completely drowned the inside components. It was water everywhere. As the nice sunny weather period had lasted for many days, this first downpour washed out a lot of dirt from the air, thus the water percolating around inside my precious lens was - to put it mildly - dirty as well. The optics needed to be completely removed from the lens casing and all components and elements dissected, cleaned, and dried. My living room was filled with optical components in various state of cleaning. A true nightmare.
I had to call on the expertise at my Nikon repair shop to get the last bits and pieces together a week alter, when I felt it safe to reassemble the lens. They got hold of the repair manual yet spent almost a day, at my expense, to make the lens fit for fight again.
Now, I check the weather forecast every morning while I brush my teeth. This was a steep learning curve for sure.
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I got, very cheap, a Zoom-Nikkor 360-1200 mm f/11 ED
Ouch, what a story with such a great lens.
I only used it for blue sky shooting, and now with your story in mind will probably keep that approach :)
(https://nikongear.net/revival/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbase.com%2Fandrease%2Fimage%2F137332911%2Foriginal.jpg&hash=1a85e3bb0ba873b0dacaab42c26b94ea3dc25163)
My "story" is with a AiS 300mm/2.8, bought used over eBay:
The seller "forgot" to mention, that the lens was drowned in salt water for a while
(https://nikongear.net/revival/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbase.com%2Fandrease%2Fimage%2F141157265%2Foriginal.jpg&hash=9c5e77cd2acca09fe06164b76868d0606e6f045d)
and some sand from the latest beach party was still on some inner lens elements
(https://nikongear.net/revival/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbase.com%2Fandrease%2Fimage%2F141157279%2Foriginal.jpg&hash=5e40c64ecfa5b23940e2a877db288931e1964242)
First he disputed any wrong doing, but when I checked with Nikon, the lens with this s/n was known. The seller sent it for a repair cost proposal to Nikon the week before and got as response "non-repairable" - a total write off.
Then there was no issue to unroll the deal.
Another one: D1x. An expressive from of blooming
(https://nikongear.net/revival/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbase.com%2Fandrease%2Fimage%2F138493389%2Foriginal.jpg&hash=cf59a105392b001c7760e819d73444bec77e9c34)
(https://nikongear.net/revival/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbase.com%2Fandrease%2Fimage%2F138493403%2Foriginal.jpg&hash=b3997da3c78b22747069b2c4b91171c6742e685b)
rgds,
Andy
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So, you don't have it any more then? Sorry, I didn't see that this comment was to the 300/2.8.
Your photo shows this is the same tripod mounting issue as with my 360-1200. How one should expect a 9 kg lens be kept in a secure position by a tiny 1/4" screw far in front of the tripod foot is beyond my wildest imagination. I'll make a photo of the modification if it cannot be found elsewhere. Also note the need for the (four) focusing pegs otherwise just the exercise of turning the focusing collar is exhausting.
Andy: that blooming is a trifle compared to say the D70 !!
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I alluded to the inadequate tripod mount on the early 360-1200 Nikkor. A bit surprising as the tripod mounting foot itself is very robustly designed. However, they put a tiny platform for mounting at the very end with an even tinier 1/4" screw to keep that 9 kg monster lens under control. Common sense dictates this will not do and the first attempt of mounting the lens on a tripod will just confirm the hunch.
When the fungus (and flooding) issues were sorted for my 360-1200, it was time to make the lens operation under real field conditions. A very solid block of industrial strength aluminium was milled to fit into the groove under the tripod foot. I made this ever so slightly oversized so had to hammer it into position in the groove. Then, ran double 5/8" bolts through the tripod foot into the metal bar to make it totally stable. Then, I drilled and tapped three holes for 3/8" retaining screws to fit the mating holes of an Arca-type Fluid Head plate.
The lens is always used on a heavy-duty Sachtler ENG 2 CF HD tripod with Video20 Fluid Head. Atop this platform it is a pleasure to explore the world through the 36+-1200. No problem shooting 1/2 sec exposures here ... My only problem is Natural Selection making humans losing their predecessor's long arms. The 360-1200 lens is not only heavy, it is *very* long as well. Having the four focusing pegs helps, possessing gorilla arms would be even better.
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My favorite disaster was when I knocked my converted, full spectrum D200 + UV-Nikkor 105/4.5 + BaaderU filter + RRS Ground Pod into a vernal frog pond. It was probably the frogs' doings because they resented the photographic intrusion. Frogs can be tricksters. 8)
The D200 went in backside first, so I thankfully managed to grab the UV-Nikkor just before it was going to submerge. The camera came up soaking wet of course and covered in duck weed. I immediately removed the lens & card and opened up all doors and windows to shake the water out and off. Later I did the oven thing to try to dry out the D200, but to no avail. The D200 no longer worked.
When I sent the D200 in for analysis and possible repair, Nikon Melville insisted on replacing the sensor to "repair" the conversion - which I did not want them to do. At that time they wouldn't budge on this issue, so I "refused" the repair, and Nikon sent the D200 back to me. However the cam now worked! I don't know why it worked, but we don't look Gift Horses in the mouth, right? I still have that cam.
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My other worst disaster was seeing my D3S + 24-70/2.8G AFS (old version) + RRS Ground Pod fly over the edge of a spillway wall and land on granite rocks about 7 feet below. Miraculously the D3S still turned on when I retrieved it, but the lens front was bent and the helicoid stuck. There were also scuffs and minor dings on everything.
I'm still surprised at how little damage there was overall from this big fall. Everything must have to land just right for such an escape from major breakage? I sent D3S & lens to Nikon for full checkover and repair. And RRS gave the little tripod a checkover, adjustment & cleaning.
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Dropped the D300 body onto my brick patio and watched it bounce. A scuff mark on the bottom corner, no damage.
Saw the same D300 + lens roll out of the back of an SUV and hit the deep sand/dust of the Mohave Desert floor. Thankfully it missed the gravel and rocks.
Stepped on a $345 BaaderU filter (in the same desert) when I lost my balance in some gravel. The fracture shards were interesting and very sharp. Cut my hand a bit. I couldn't leave the shards there because of all the little critters.
Recently heard the D600 and rather expensive Coastal Optics 60/4.0 lens hit the same desert floor with a big thump when the cam managed to un-engage itself from the quick release lock on the tripod. I'm not sure how that happened, but it was scarey. No damage thankfully. Lots of dust.
Killed two D7000 in a row trying to convert them myself. This after several successful conversions. :-[ Have not tried this since. Enough do-it-yourselfies for me. Now I let the conversion shops earn their pay.
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That joint trip through Southwestern US Deserts with Andrea provided tons of photos and a lot of "field tales" as well.
Andrea had rented an underpowered Ford trying to masquerade as a SUV. It had the doors so everything could, and eventually would, fall out out of them, but little success otherwise in particular on the Interstate. The poor car would be hard pressed even to break the lame Norwegian speed limits ...
Oh well. Besides Andrea stepping on her expensive filters to generate interesting motifs, dealing with gear rolling out of the Ford's doors was a constant challenge. My D40X survived several drops well, but the Panasonic GH-2 rapidly applied for a visit to Dr. Lens later. It could no longer focus to infinity and the lens was stuck on it standing out at an angle. Very entertaining. I got some video footage from it, though. The Noct-Nikkor had its focusing action stuck in a 'near range' position for the chief of the trip. My 200/2 AFS made gritting noises from sand ensconced somewhere in its innards. And so on. It was a funny and enjoyable journey.
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Bjørn and Andy,
Hope you would cherish your 360-1200 zooms. The sample I saw a couple of days ago her in Tokyo was sold at 1,000,000 JPY.
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1 Million Yen - that sounds seriously expensive in my book ...
With the shipping and service costs (flooding incident) included, I think my 360-1200 runs around USD 1.000,- or so.
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OTOH, that funky Ford Escape got us all the way through Titus Canyon !! ;D
By 'Escape' it was meant that gear could easily escape the car. :P :P :P
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Holy :o ;D wow thank you everyone for the intriguing stories - you made my 1200 EUR disaster week feel like Christmas :-D
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We have hardly scratched the surface ....
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1 Million Yen - that sounds seriously expensive in my book ...
With the shipping and service costs (flooding incident) included, I think my 360-1200 runs around USD 1.000,- or so.
Well, the sample I saw was in a mint condition (and that in the picky Japanese sense of evaluation) and came with the original aluminum case. Also, it came with a 122mm L37c filter which originally cost 16,000 JPY, if I remember correctly.
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What a great stories.
The one that I did manage to break was the 24-70/2.8 AF-S. It was absolutely my wrong doing. It was mounted on a D4 and standing on a tripod. The tripod legs slid on a slippery surface and the lens landed nose down. The sunshade was on and did break off absorbing some of the impact but not enough unfortunately...
That happened with my 17-35/2.8 AF-S but the cats were to blame ;) At first the only damage seemed a broken (small) sunhood and a twist in an effects-filter. But later I noticed the aperture was stuck when overexposure happened when stopping down. Estimated damage more than 700 euro...
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Talking about cats. Never leave your camera strap hanging outside the table with a kitten in the house... The same goes with leaving candy in an open camerabag inside a horse pen. There is absolutely nothing funny about chasing an icelandic horse with a 70-200 mm in his mouth. I lost a perfectly good chain saw the same way and a backpack full of food and thermoses. So I seem quite immune to learning...
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On my Panasonic GX-1, the battery catch tab broke (no idea what caused it). To fix that battery tab, I had to take the whole camera apart and I messed something up when I put it back together. Maybe unfair, but that incident really sealed the micro four thirds coffin for me.
Recently, I was using my 70-300VR. Changed lenses and put the lens in my vest pocket. I went from a crouch to stand up, and the lens rolled out of my pocket onto the concrete. Maybe a 1-2' drop. The lens still functioned, but I heard a rattle so I sent it off to the Nikon repair center.
Other than that, I have been lucky!
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The stories are so funny!
Børge, I would have loved to see the scene where you were running after the Icelandic horse :D
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Well, the sample I saw was in a mint condition (and that in the picky Japanese sense of evaluation) and came with the original aluminum case. Also, it came with a 122mm L37c filter which originally cost 16,000 JPY, if I remember correctly.
My sample had fresh untouched pristine fungus - does that count? Otherwise immaculate condition, never used and with its original box with all the paperwork. The L37C and the four focusing pegs were included.
Perhaps I had some luck then...
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My sample had fresh untouched pristine fungus - does that count? Otherwise immaculate condition, never used and with its original box with all the paperwork. The L37C and the four focusing pegs were included.
Perhaps I had some luck then...
Apparently the L37c was part of the kit.
By the way, the second element that was covered with the fungus seems to be the ED glass. According to an interview to the Nikon engineer, the ED glass is more soluble in water than the normal glasses. So the glass got fungus because it held the moisture more than the other elements...
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Another not so funny story about an F4 and its encounter with death: Early in the '90s I jumped out of a taxi down town Oslo with the F4 and a brand new 35-70 mm f/2.8 AF Nikkor attached. I was in a real hurry being late for an appointment and as I departed the taxi, one of the eyelets on the camera strap gave way and the camera and lens were hurled off my shoulder just like a discus thrower in Olympic action. The package gained a lot of momentum and its trajectory reached perhaps a height of over 3 m before gravity finally won. This occurred so quickly I had no time to react at all before hearing that sickening sound of the camera and lens hitting the tarmac at maximum velocity. The camera was smashed to pieces and the lens neatly split itself into two parts. No more photography that day.
The repair estimate for the camera actually exceeded its value, so I discarded the idea of having it fixed. A complete write-off. This was in the early days before I actively modified stuff so didn't keep the parts, just threw them away.
The lens, however, could be put more easily together and they restored it for me to its former glory.
To this day I never quite understand how the mishap could happen. Only that it did.
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Bjørn, I also remember the tragedy of your just-bought Ais 35/1.4. You dropped it, the protection filter smashed and left scratches on the front element of the 35/1.4: the day you decided you would never use filters for protection...
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Glad you reminded me of that incident. Happened the day after I got the lens. It fell to frozen ground, the filter shattered and shards of deadly sharp glass punctured the front element like it was longing to become a hedgehog.
As this is back in time, not 100% sure what happened to the lens. I think they replaced the front element and I sold the lens as it was covered by insurance anyway. Bought another a year later and this sample of the AIS 35/1.4 is still with me. Now CPU-modified of course.
The lesson to be learned was never use a filter unless you absolutely must for some reason. "Protective filter" is a bad joke.
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I spent a lovely vacation with my girl friend Ruth in Ireland in July, 2015. This was a double celebration occasion as we had been together for 21 years and it was 21 years since I last visited Ireland.
However, the return flight caused a bad incident. This is what happens when a fellow passenger on a crowded airliner pushes his way through just as you are about to put your gear into the overhead locker - he jolted me so I lost my grip .... Exit Df, exit 300 PF. To use the Nordic phrase, "they went out of the Saga".
To complete the misery, another traveller tripped and spilled his cup of coffee into the lens later during the flight. Back home, we lost our connecting train so had to ride a bus for hours, then to find Ruth's car had its rear-wheel drums seized up during its 2-week outdoor parking due to the moisture caused by torrential rains. Oh well, a car-mechanic nerd came to assistance and we managed to get the wheels rolling again.
1. This is how the lens and camera looked like after the incident.
2. Erik got the camera in a bag as a 3D puzzle because my Nikon repair shop declared it was a complete write-off and they could not restore it in any cost-efficient way.
3. Trust Erik to be able to assemble all the bits and pieces together. But not even Erik's magical powers could convince the camera to work again. So we decided to make it into a nice exhibition model instead.
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I once lost a brand new D90 to the Baltic Sea when taking a few long exposures after dusk. The camera was mounted to a tripod and in a short inattentive moment a wave gushed over the rock the tripod was standing on, knocking it over. The camera was submerged in seawater for 1 second before I pulled it out. Enough to cause an epileptic seizure, it was firing away at an insane rate before I could remove the battery. Of course the camera was too severely damaged to be repaired.
I had the lens cleaned and it still worked decently.
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... an epileptic seizure, it was firing away at an insane rate before I could remove the battery...
what a description! I bet it was a bad moment for you, but sure made me laugh when I read it
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While I have broken a few cameras and lenses, I have never broken any photographic gear to the extent where it could be repaired. As a former news photog from the film only days ... it has been my personal experience that the old Nikon F series cameras were so well built ... that the energy/force required to inflict serious damage ... ended up destroying the camera. Consequently, when my cameras were damaged they were damaged beyond repair ... and, as they were company cameras, I didn't give a rats about the equipment, my only concern was getting some new stuff and getting back into the game.
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Is this like a testimony meeting where you confess your sins, e.g. sister Sarah Brown's gathering of gamblers in Guys and Dolls?
OK, I torqued of the head of a rear bayonet screw on my 105/2.5 Nikkor P-C. I took a pin vise and a tiny numbered drill and drilled a hole through it. Then I went out looking for a tiny screw extracter. I got some really strange looks. "You want a screw extracter for what size drill?
So I gave up on the screw extracter and took a larger drill bit to drill out the screw. The drill bit heated the high temp Loctite. The bit jamed. The broken screw went through the back side. The threads in the lens barrel were about 90% intact. The home AI job was a success!
That was my first lens "repair." I've been in a half dozen manual focus lenses since. I've yet to butcher a Len but that first one was close. I have butchered a focus screen for an F5 installing the fruit from an F3 focus screen. I slipped and scratched the screen proper. I think I've been more luck than being skilled.
Dave