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i know this will shock many - but its true !

i recently had a little acident with my 50/1.4 that i thought had a BF problem. i took it to ecs to drop it off to nikon and the rep was there at the time. i tested another 50/1.4 at the store and lo and behold that one was out aswell. we tested my lens on another d300 and it was spot on...so to cut a long story short the problem was with the AF system on the camera.

so i had to send it in but said to him i couldnt that day cos i had a session the following weekend. he said he'd make sure he had it back to me before then. he bundled it up then and there, took it in and said he would deliver it to service that day. in the meantime, id arranged to borrow another camera for the weekend thinking "no way in hell will i get mine back by then". 6 working days later, ECS ring me and say the camera is ready for pickup. incredible ! picked it up, worked a treat and they cleaned it up, including the sensor. it cost me $61. i expected to pay double to be honest.

when i got into the car i checked the camera and my battry wasnt in it, (i had left it in for some stupid reason), i rang him up and told him and he said they'd post one out. 2 days later...bingo...new battery.

now i wont make any sweeping statements and say nikon service have undergone a revolution or something but i will say the the service i just recieved was exceptional so big ups to nikon for a job well done !

It's great to hear a good news story about them for a change. Let's hope it's a turning point for NikonOz Service

Chris,

It's always good to hear a story like this.

A couple of questions spring to mind, however ... in dealing with the initial problem, it sounds to me as if perhaps the fine tuning function on the camera might have been useful for you to perhaps have addressed the problem when you first encountered it. Is my reading of this correct?

If my first question is true, and if you sent them the lens with the body, then perhaps that's what Nikon service did? What does the service ticket say? What does your LCD say when you go the fine tuning for this lens? Of course, if you didn't send them the lens with the body, then this latter section is moot.

I may have mentioned in a previous post, but I had my MB-D200 break in two spots - the two white clips holding the batteries in place, and the clip holding the battery door closed - at least a year out of warranty. After emailing and speaking to Nikon, they agreed to fix it for free. My only cost was the initial postage there. I received the fixed item back quickly.

gstark wrote:Chris,

It's always good to hear a story like this.

A couple of questions spring to mind, however ... in dealing with the initial problem, it sounds to me as if perhaps the fine tuning function on the camera might have been useful for you to perhaps have addressed the problem when you first encountered it. Is my reading of this correct?

If my first question is true, and if you sent them the lens with the body, then perhaps that's what Nikon service did? What does the service ticket say? What does your LCD say when you go the fine tuning for this lens? Of course, if you didn't send them the lens with the body, then this latter section is moot.

gary,

if you remember, i dropped the lens down a set of stairs so did a focus test to see if i had done any damage. AF was way out from my focus chart test so i tried to fine tune it at home and was at +20 and it still want quite there. i didnt even bother testing my other glass cos i when i saw how far out it was after the "incident", i just automatically thought that the lens was the issue and id done some damage. when did the AF start playing up on the body ? who knows, could have been sheer coincidence or maybe stuff that i thought i "missed" the shot was actually spot on but the AF was screwed. (another excuse to add to my book when i miss a shot !)

when i went to ecs i had the lens with me and tested it on another d300 body and it was spot on. then we tested another brand new 50/1.4 and a 24-70/2.8 on my body which were both way out aswell....so body became the route cause.

repair docket says AF realignnment and adjust + body clean + seal check + sensor clean.

all my AF fine tuning went back to 0. in fact it wiped everything from my cameras memory, (memory banks etc), which was a little annoying but i suppose to be expected when they pulled the whole thing apart.

i cant speak highly enuf for the nikon rep and actually rang him afterwards to say how appreciative i was.

communication spot on.
he knew his shit. (he actually pretty much diagnosed the problem while i was there)
but most importantly, he made a commitment and stuck to it.

Chris,

Rooz wrote:if you remember, i dropped the lens down a set of stairs so did a focus test to see if i had done any damage.

Was the body dropped too? If not, then it must have already been out of whack.

when i went to ecs i had the lens with me and tested it on another d300 body and it was spot on. then we tested another brand new 50/1.4 and a 24-70/2.8 on my body which were both way out aswell....so body became the route cause.

Fair enough.

i cant speak highly enuf for the nikon rep and actually rang him afterwards to say how appreciative i was.

communication spot on.
he knew his shit. (he actually pretty much diagnosed the problem while i was there)
but most importantly, he made a commitment and stuck to it.

That is great, and thanx for making such a posting, reflecting your positive experiences.

gstark wrote:Was the body dropped too? If not, then it must have already been out of whack..

nope.
so yeah, you;re right, it must have been out already but dont know when that occurred.