camera and lens repair

[jann1033]

just curious why you went with nikon to start with when you may have had canon lenses? but hope it gets repaired and you are back in business

 

[dcox931]

Nikon and Cannon conversations are like Ford and Chevy ones, noones right, they are both great as what they do.

I am a nikon guy thru and thru, and have always used them.

Cant go wrong with a d40 for a start, or goin up to a D90 (alot more tho)

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Im glad to hear (sorta) that DSLRs are a LOT more fragile... I think I need to bubble wrap it when it gets back...

I thought about upgrading to a Canon but I liked the features and versatility the Nikon had more add that I felt more comfortable with and it was cheaper overall. I only had the starter lense for the Canon so it was a wash..

 

[Groucho]

I disagree, most DSLRs are far more rugged than PnSs. PnSs often have issues with doors breaking off, lenses getting stuck open, buttons breaking, etc. DSLRs are by and large built to a different standard.

The D40 is Nikon's cheapest DSLR and specifically built to be small and light, though; so it is probably a little more fragile than slightly larger DSLRs. The same can be said for the comparable Canons; I'm not trying to imply that the Nikons are any worse (in fact, the entry-level Nikons generally get better marks on build quality than the Canons.) But at the end of the day, the D40 is mostly a box of plastic and plastic is often a little brittle.

 

[annnewjerz]

I agree with Groucho on this one. I knocked my Fuji P&S off of the couch a few years ago onto the wood floor and it broke. This weekend, I dropped my Nikon D60 from the dining room table onto the wood floor (about 3.5 feet, give or take) and while I cringed when I heard the sound of it dropping to the floor...I went over, brushed it off, turned it on and took it right out for a morning of shooting with no problems whatsoever.

Maybe I got lucky or maybe it's just built a lot more solidly than I thought---regardless, I'm happy it survived the fall and hopefully everything with your D40 goes well.

Good luck!

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Well it seems Ive been lucky- I just heard back from Nikon and apparently it has an extended warranty I didn't know about and its FREE! Hopefully itll be home soon...

I do think Ill take the money I budgeted for its repair to buy a nice bag for it

Its a good day

 

[eeyoreland]

If it makes you feel any better, three days into our recent WDW vacation, DH dropped my camera in the sand and it's now "caput". In my opinion, it's a very nice point and shoot, about $300, and it was only 2 months old. I know it's covered under warranty, but I feel bad sending it in when it was "our" fault.

 

[GrumpyOne]

I won't recommend but I'll tell a story.

During my last trip to WDW in 2007, I had recently bought a Pentax K10D and was really enjoying the camera. Toward the end of a long day I set it down on something I thought was flat and stable but wasn't and the camera fell four feet to the street. I later got an estimate on repair and had it done. The camera came back working but not nearly as well as it had before.

I've now set a rule that if repairs cost more than 25% of the new price, I'll just buy another one instead.

 

[Groucho]

I won't recommend but I'll tell a story.

During my last trip to WDW in 2007, I had recently bought a Pentax K10D and was really enjoying the camera. Toward the end of a long day I set it down on something I thought was flat and stable but wasn't and the camera fell four feet to the street. I later got an estimate on repair and had it done. The camera came back working but not nearly as well as it had before.

I've now set a rule that if repairs cost more than 25% of the new price, I'll just buy another one instead.

If there was a problem with it not working as well as before, you should have sent it back again. I sent mine back twice in a row (not because of it not working, but because of a problem where the wrong name but right address got attached to the RMA and the paperwork got all screwy and I think they sent it back "as is" but I'm not sure as it wasn't documented like it should have been) and Pentax was very friendly and understanding and even paid for the shipping the second time. The camera works like a champion now, better then new.

 

[jann1033]

Well it seems Ive been lucky- I just heard back from Nikon and apparently it has an extended warranty I didn't know about and its FREE! Hopefully itll be home soon...

I do think Ill take the money I budgeted for its repair to buy a nice bag for it

Its a good day

glad it worked out for you

 

[jann1033]

I won't recommend but I'll tell a story.

During my last trip to WDW in 2007, I had recently bought a Pentax K10D and was really enjoying the camera. Toward the end of a long day I set it down on something I thought was flat and stable but wasn't and the camera fell four feet to the street. I later got an estimate on repair and had it done. The camera came back working but not nearly as well as it had before.

I've now set a rule that if repairs cost more than 25% of the new price, I'll just buy another one instead.

probably to late now but i know canon has 6 months warranty on any repairs , guessing most manufactures would have something similar, so something to keep in mind if it doesn't seem like a "repair" really totally repaired it.

 

[Disneyland_emily]

Its HOME! and appears to be working perfectly again...

I went and bought it a pretty new bag today at the place that was honest about the camera and now has my business It does look a bit to much like a camera bag than I wanted but it fits everything well...

 

[jann1033]

sent my out of warranty 70-200 f4canon lens in for repairs( my fault dropped it on concrete and dented the metal mount) but just got the email with the estimate of $185 to fix it ( almost double what i hoped for and had been estimated.) before i tell them "never mind" i was wondering if anyone knows of a non branded place that fixes lenses. i sent my promaster macro in to a place called phototech ( $100 and a five yr warranty vs $600 and a 1 yr warranty, what's wrong with that picture)that fixes their stuff and sent in a request for an estimate and found a sandord repair in arlington ma . any one ever heard of them or know of any other place i could try? kind of irks me that canon just sent a bill, not what's wrong that made it so much more than they said but oh well.

 

[YesDear]

I am just picky about glass and want a factory authorized to repair it. Just worth it to me.

 

[jann1033]

last time i had a problem my ( different) lens and camera were still under warranty so i sent them to canon..it took 6 months of headaches for me to get them to replace my gear since they couldn't seem to fix it ( it literally came back and i don't think they had ever touched it once, twice they claimed they replaced the entire IS mechanism, last time i sent the body and lens in and they couldn't find anything wrong...except the lens didn't focus at all...guess they missed that...between times i had sent in cds with before and after photos etc, to no avail... finally i got customer resolution involved thanks to one tech support worker who actually thought it was crazy i had to go through all that and they replaced the body and lens.. but wanted me to just take a new lens at first and "see what would happen" but i had had enough and said i want a new body and new lens). i've heard others who have had similar problems..i think they give you a 6 month warranty on their repairs cause it takes that long for them to actually fix something right ...so much for my opinion of canon's factory authorized repair.

for $185 i would like it fixed right the first time but don't think i have a good chance of that with canon. had i known the estimate was so off( i told them exactly what was wrong and what happened) i never would have sent it there since i really don't want the hassle with them. i think i am going to call the local camera shop and see if they know of anyone else. should have done that before i was foolish enough to send something in to canon again

 

[Gdad]

KEH has a repair center. I have never tried though.

http://www.keh.com/OnLineStore/repair.aspx

 

[jann1033]

with KEH it took less than 2 weeks to get my 70-200 f4 canon lens from my door broken back to my door fixed, they were great to work with, stuck with the original estimate of $40 less than canon wanted just to look at it, you actually could talk to the guy handling the repair ( who was nice as well) and so far it works great. the calibration took care of the softness over f8/11 so now it looks sharp thru out the whole range( didn't try it with a tripod, i figured if it's sharp hand held with my shaky hands it would be better on a tripod). one happy camper and i love that lens again

by and large i think i will like the tamron, much better than my other $400 lens( 28-135 was close to that when i bought it) it really looks desaturated and not nearly as contrasty looking thru the lens vs the 70-200 but looks fine out of the camera( i think i have faithful or landscape pic style set can't remember right now) i mostly used my longer lens today ( i love to take a 1:4 macro sitting on a shady bench 4 feet away from the plant) but the few i took with the 17 were fine and look nice and sharp, , even at 50mm where i heard it has some problems. i didn't really see any ca either but then again i didn't really take any shots where it would really show up. i'll have to go early weds if i can and use it more for some wider angles. it got hot to quick today

 

[2Tiggies]

This may be a silly question, but I am new to the photography world. I recently purchased a used Nikon D40 with the basic 18-55 kit lens. It didn't appear to be too well cared for (as in dusty, a bit sticky on the body and also when sent to me the body was bubble wrapped but the lens was rolling around loose in the box ). I got it on eBay for a bargain and I knew I was going to add at least one other lens to it in the short term, but I wasn't expecting to have no lens at all for a while.

I bought it just before my recent Disney trip so I had to learn as I went along (wasn't my only camera on the trip) and it worked fine most of the time. However on the last day the shutter just refused to generate any response other than a loud, grinding noise as if the lens was laboring and trying to focus. I noticed when I got it that the lens was a bit noisy but it worked fine so I didn't worry.

BTW I kept in on AF all the time. Last night I tried flicking it to Manual and the shutter does work on that setting, except I don't know what I am doing with the manual settings.

Is this likely to cost more than replacing the lens?

 

[MICKEY88]

This may be a silly question, but I am new to the photography world. I recently purchased a used Nikon D40 with the basic 18-55 kit lens. It didn't appear to be too well cared for (as in dusty, a bit sticky on the body and also when sent to me the body was bubble wrapped but the lens was rolling around loose in the box ). I got it on eBay for a bargain and I knew I was going to add at least one other lens to it in the short term, but I wasn't expecting to have no lens at all for a while.

I bought it just before my recent Disney trip so I had to learn as I went along (wasn't my only camera on the trip) and it worked fine most of the time. However on the last day the shutter just refused to generate any response other than a loud, grinding noise as if the lens was laboring and trying to focus. I noticed when I got it that the lens was a bit noisy but it worked fine so I didn't worry.

BTW I kept in on AF all the time. Last night I tried flicking it to Manual and the shutter does work on that setting, except I don't know what I am doing with the manual settings.

Is this likely to cost more than replacing the lens?

did you switch to manual settings, or manual focus, big difference, if thre lens is the problem you should be able to switch to manual focus, but leave the camera in auto if that's what you were shooting before, then the only thing you really need to know is to turn the lens to focus it

 

[2Tiggies]

did you switch to manual settings, or manual focus, big difference, if thre lens is the problem you should be able to switch to manual focus, but leave the camera in auto if that's what you were shooting before, then the only thing you really need to know is to turn the lens to focus it

Oh no, I was just trying to figure out if it was the lens that was the problem so I flicked the switch from AF to M on the lens itself. I had no idea what the problem was but just assumed it was the lens.

The camera settings were on P (although I did try flicking to auto to see if that would make a difference, but it didn't). I didn't use the auto setting as the pictures I first took on auto were horrendous. Thanks, I did figure out the turning of the lens to focus, but wasn't sure if I should have been doing anything else so I played safe and left it (the lens switch) in AF as well. As you can see, I know nothing.