Bad news everyone

bantor · Jan 10, 2007

So i was at a chirstmas dinner with my family and i decided it would be fun to take a few photos of the goings on. All seemed well and fine as i removed my Nikon D50 from its bag and truned it on. As i proceeded to check my ISO settings quality and other settings, all still seemed well, and then it happened. I aimed the camera at my nephew who was making a rather comical face into my lens and when i tried to use the Auto Focus it DIDN'T WORK!!! yes you heard me correct, it didn't work!

So i brought it to the camera store, they checked it out and said "well now, it seems to be your auto focus on the camrea body itself has broke". As any person would have done in my situation and so as not to be rude by just looking blankly at the chap, i replied "well then, isn't that something, can it be fixed?" and he then said "hold on just a sec and i will check and see if your waranty is still valid" so he then proceeded to check his computer for my information, within a few seconds he looked and with a slanted smirck and said "your in luck, your waranty expires tommorow" so i clenched my fist, punched the air a bit and said "Yes!" so then he fills out some papers and boxes up my camera.

So thus far in my tale, all seems well, i mean the camera broke but it can be fixed, now here comes the pickle, it is 2 to 3 months before i get it back!!! What kind of show is Nikon running when i have to wait 2 to 3 months to get a camrea back that they built and that broke on its own valition!

Well anyways, that was my long winded story, i figured since i haved posted in months that should fill in some backlogged posting.

mysteryscribe · Jan 10, 2007

My son in law sent his nikon d200 in for its 3,000 oil change or whatever they call it and got it back in two weeks. Mostly i think it was cosmetic and cleaning for him though nothing too serious. Sorry I know that is a bummer.

Why not pick up a cheap film camera on ebay till yours is fixed. I know blasphemy.

Sw1tchFX · Jan 10, 2007

It took Nikon almost a month to fix my 35-70 when it broke.

bantor · Jan 10, 2007

I am lucky enough to have a Canon AE-1 and a dark room that i have not set up in months due to lack of space, but i just moved again to a bigger house so maybe it is a good thing and i can get back into film and darkroom stuff for a while.

ksmattfish · Jan 11, 2007

Hopefully they are just saying 2 to 3 months to be safe. Maybe it will come back sooner.

Of course, AF is an optional feature. I mean it's not absolutely necessary to take photos. I wouldn't know if the AF worked on my DSLRs or not; I turned it off.

mysteryscribe · Jan 11, 2007

ksmattfish said:
Hopefully they are just saying 2 to 3 months to be safe. Maybe it will come back sooner.

Of course, AF is an optional feature. I mean it's not absolutely necessary to take photos. I wouldn't know if the AF worked on my DSLRs or not; I turned it off.

I just had to try autofocus so I bought a auto focus slr. I sold it two weeks later when i couldn't get the sutter to trip as the bride and groom walked down the aisle.

ksmattfish · Jan 11, 2007

I had a Pentax ZX-5 35mm SLR which had great AF. But the more I used it, the more my manual focusing skills seemed to deteriorate. I use too many manual focus cameras to let that happen so I had to turn the AF off. Sometimes I would actually forget to manually focus! I am disgusted with the AF on my Canon 20D's. They cost 4 times as much as that Pentax, and are almost a decade newer, but the AF is lousy.

bantor · Jan 11, 2007

I to hate Auto Focus, but the lens i have (the kit lens with the D50) sucks for manual focus, you can do it, but it is not that easy or quick to do. I indeed could have bought another lens, but i have been putting it off becasue i don't want to invest to much money in this camera, i plan on buying a new one sometime this year and it is most likly to be a Canon.

I really hope they are just saying 2 to 3 months and it is actually going to be sooner, that would be nice.

castrol · Jan 11, 2007

How in the WORLD can you even tell if something is in focus with a DSLR
when you are using is manually? I can't seem to grasp that. Looks in focus
in the view finder. Looks in focus on the LCD. Once they get to the computer
they are WAAAAAAAY off. Not even close.

I do miss the view finder of my Pentax K1000. That one would certainly show
you whether or not you were in focus.

mysteryscribe · Jan 11, 2007

I have to have the split image range finder type. Small ground glass is impossible for me to see. I sold all my studio stuff a few years ago and just decided to place it. I bought an old minolta system and the focus is great. nice and bright and it has the split image as well at the ground glass circle.

I have not see a digital with a split image and I couldn't focus on the ground glass either.

Don Simon · Jan 11, 2007

I find the combination of split-image circle and microprism in the center to be the best for really precise focusing, however the thing that bothers me more than the lack of such aids is simply how incredibly dark and small the viewfinders on modern digital (and some film) SLRs are. Personally one factor that's consistently put me off a Canon system, for example, is that pretty much every time I tried looking through the viewfinder of an EOS body (the film ones too) it was like staring down a dark tunnel. I think all of the major companies have been guilty of bad viewfinder design since AF came along, though to varying degrees. Obviously it doesn't bother most people, but I don't think I'm the only photographer who wears glasses nor the only one who uses manual focus. I can't understand why the viewfinder, something so inherently vital to SLR photography, to properly composing and capturing a good image, is routinely ignored in camera design.

Oh well, I know it was about as far away from the original topic as possible but I couldn't resist hopping on with one of my favourite rants

ksmattfish · Jan 11, 2007

castrol said:
How in the WORLD can you even tell if something is in focus with a DSLR when you are using is manually?

I've installed split ring screens in my DSLRs. That definately helps. I do wish the viewfinders were bigger and brighter, but I seem to be able to do it. Maybe it helps that I'm used to zone focusing with some of my vintage cameras. I have several film cameras that require I focus without any sort of help or confirmation; the viewfinder is just a square hole.

I found the AF extremely unreliable when the DOF was tight. I've seen a lot of bitching about the 20D AF. I'd see about sending them back to Canon for calibration (if that would even fix anything?), but even if I did, I still wouldn't use it. I am faster in low light than any AF system I've ever used.

castrol · Jan 18, 2007

Installed split ring screens huh? Where would one go about finding something
like that? Did you send it off to be done?

neea · Jan 18, 2007

I hate camera warranties. A few years back I had a small digital FujiFilm.
The first one crapped out about 3 days after the one year warranty but the store was kind enough to lie to Fuji and say that they lady that deals with that was away and it sat on her desk till she got back.
I got another one in exchange.
Not even 4-5 months later.. crapped out.
I got mad, took it to another store and got my money back. I was intending on buying another one that day but couldnt find what I wanted so ended up spending the money.
I'll be getting a new digital before our Mexico trip in May.

As for auto vs manual focus. I wear glasses and hate looking through the view finder with them on. To take them off and try to figure out whether manual focus is really in focus is very straining.
I use it to be 'creative' every once in a while. That's it.

smyth · Jan 25, 2007

I sent my Nikon Coolpix 5900 (P&S) in to have a noisy zoom mechanism fixed, and it took seven weeks. I felt almost lost without it. But when I got it back, not only had they fixed the zoom mechanism, but they replaced the LCD screen, and the battery door. I was pleasantly suprised, and it works well now.