Nikon UK Service & D3S producing initial black frame not fixed

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Craigzad

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Name
Craig
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Just wondering if any of you guys have had problems with Nikon UK service before.

I Sent my D3S in about two weeks ago to Nikon UK for service and repair and some worn rubber grips replacement.

But the main reason being was the camera was producing initial black frame and err message on the top lcd and also sounded like the shutter was getting stuck and the mirror not flipping up. Press the shutter again once or twice then returned to normal but if the camera left off or not used for period of time goes back to the black first frame.

The estimate for work it needed was to replace shutter, charge base and rubber grips along with some other parts so accepted the bill for a small fortune thinking it would come back better then ever.

Just received the camera back today from Nikon and low and behold the camera is still producing initial black frames. For the amount i paid for this to be "repaired" i am not happy at all guess its going to have to go back to Nikon.

Go on holiday next Saturday so more then likely not going to be back before then :(

Uploaded a video to youtube of whats going


Any suggestions or help would be appreciated
 
I would contact them straight away if you haven't even if its not going back straight away.

Only sent stuff to nikon once and that was my d800 for the left AF fix, it came back and none of my lenses would focus properly with the centre point and the left was still off.
 
Craig, did you purchase it cheaply, fairly recently?
Could you not have got back in touch with the seller about the fault?
 
Purchased off another photographer i know in august this year.

It worked fine no probs at all for about 3 weeks Cost me 1800 only had about 167,000 clicks on shutter few worn stretched rubbers but generally well looked after.
 
You have to contact Nikon and find out what they are playing at.Tell them you need another camera whilst they repair it properly.I would be furious!
 
Doesn't surprise me with Nikon UK :rolleyes: Have a few instances, whilst not as bad as yourself, were I was less than impressed with the standard of service from Nikon UK.

If you identified the issue or issues and they have failed to address then you've every right to complain and expect them to deal with the issue quickly. I think it would also be reasonable to expect them to loan you a camera.

Really amazes me, that company's have this attitude to customers. Did they think you wouldn't notice :eek:
 
The more I hear about Nikon's poor repair service the more I consider grey Imports without a Nikon warranty. I could get a camera repaired by a third party better than I could by Nikon. Nikon are far better at selling Cameras than repairing them.
 
Damn right i was absolutely furious and still am

Exif data still says total shutter count is 167723 as should this not be reset when a new shutter is installed?

Hopefully on Monday will try and demand they should arrange courier collection from my self which would only seem fair. And like some of you say loan camera should be made available at least.
 
I noticed on the first press the lens didn't focus but on the second press it did. I was wondering what would happen without a lens attached, would the shutter work then? only i am thinking maybe it is not so much the inside of the camera but the contacts on the camera to the lens itself. Does it do the same with all lenses or just that one?
If a lens does not focus then the shutter won't operate on occassions as initially it could be down to bad contact
So please let us know what happens without a lens , does the shutter work every time

It is a process of elimination
If the shutter works ok without a lens then it may not be the camera inside
then try a different lens and see if the same thing happens
Could be just down to bad contact, a little bit of dirt/oil or other contaminate on just one of the contact points could cause it on lens itself or on camera
So clean them and try again

I have had similar with one of my lenses and it was just bad contact and removing and putting back the lens got the problem sorted. As for rubber grip replacement I did my own on my D300 , plenty of info on how on youtube and getting new replacements is not difficult.
 
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realspeed said:
I noticed on the first press the lens didn't focus but on the second press it did. I was wondering what would happen without a lens attached, would the shutter work then? only i am thinking maybe it is not so much the inside of the camera but the contacts on the camera to the lens itself. Does it do the same with all lenses or just that one?
If a lens does not focus then the shutter won't operate on occassions as initially it could be down to bad contact
So please let us know what happens without a lens , does the shutter work every time

It is a process of elimination
If the shutter works ok without a lens then it may not be the camera inside
then try a different lens and see if the same thing happens
Could be just down to bad contact, a little bit of dirt/oil or other contaminate on just one of the contact points could cause it on lens itself or on camera
So clean them and try again
Click to expand...

Its exactly the same when no lens attached to the camera have tried also with my sigma 70-200 same as video.

Same also if no memory card so its not a card error.
 
Decided to replace the rubber front grip on my D300 as its coming away from the card slot end.
The actual replacement part is about £27 if anyone is going to do the same.
Did a little research on just glueing the existing one down but discovered that due to the grip material things like superglue or other stuff isn't advisable.

This material Nikon use for grips is absorbant to a certain extent so any moisture say off the hands 3eventually seeps through and unglues the grip from the camera body. Seems its a common complaint on not only the Nikon D300 but other variations as well.

Once the rubber grip comes loose it tends to spread a bit making it not very easy to put back in place



Wiith the research I discovered there is a small screw right up inside the battery housing which has to be undone as it screws into the grip, so a very small screwdriver is needs to undo it.






Me being me I am reluctant to send the camera away for this "minor" repair so I thought I would have a go myself.


wol_error.gif
This image has been resized. Click here to view full size.



This photo of mine shows up where the screw is better (arrowed)







Well the new grip was so easy to fit it must be one of the easiest camera repair jobs to do

First I removed the lens and put the camera cover back in its place so i could stand the camera upside down. The next was to remove the battery grip and and remove the battery in the camera. Ok that then allowed me access to the screw that had to be undone. Next I held back the battery cover by just using a rubber band around it and the camera body.

My worry was the screw would fall into the camera body itself though one of the small holes but luckily the screwdriver or the screw itself was slightly magnetic and the screw was easily removed as it stayed on the screwdriver tip.

Right now removing the old front grip was just a question of pulling it off, dead simple. This then left the remains of the old adhesive on the camera body, so should I leave it or try and get it off? that was the next question. Well I tried cleaning it with meths but that had no affect so decided to leave the old resin and put the new grip over it.

Well the rest is the reverse of the removal and the whole job took less that 15 minutes.

Here is the result

wol_error.gif
This image has been resized. Click here to view full size.



This image has been resized. Click here to view full size.



Total cost £30 including PP, time without camera zero and a perfect fit.

To say how pleased I am with the result goes without saying. have to say it looks like Nikon have used a different adhesive to what the old grip had.

Inside of old grip

This image has been resized. Click here to view full size.



you can see the difference in the adhesive. The centre recessed is still good while the outside edges have had it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Thanks for the reply. then it does look like a cameras "guts" issue. I did notice it had a high shutter count (something to watch out for if buying second hand). I understand a company called "Fixation" is supposed to be fairly good not that I have used them

Link

http://www.fixationuk.com/Fixation/Fixation - Home/Fixation - Home.html

Maybe worth giving them a ring for an estimate. My manageress ,when I had my own business, used them and was satisfied.
Other than that I can't suggest anything else apart for sending it back to nikon again Sorry
 
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3s shutter rated for about 250,000 I believe but when its been sent to Nikon for release errors etc expect to come back in working order :( when they say it's been fixed

Strange thing is for the cf door rubber they don't do just the rubber instead a whole new cf door :0
 
realspeed said:
Decided to replace the rubber front grip on my D300 as its coming away from the card slot end.
The actual replacement part is about £27 if anyone is going to do the same.
Did a little research on just glueing the existing one down but discovered that due to the grip material things like superglue or other stuff isn't advisable.

This material Nikon use for grips is absorbant to a certain extent so any moisture say off the hands 3eventually seeps through and unglues the grip from the camera body. Seems its a common complaint on not only the Nikon D300 but other variations as well.

Once the rubber grip comes loose it tends to spread a bit making it not very easy to put back in place



Wiith the research I discovered there is a small screw right up inside the battery housing which has to be undone as it screws into the grip, so a very small screwdriver is needs to undo it.






Me being me I am reluctant to send the camera away for this "minor" repair so I thought I would have a go myself.


wol_error.gif
This image has been resized. Click here to view full size.



This photo of mine shows up where the screw is better (arrowed)







Well the new grip was so easy to fit it must be one of the easiest camera repair jobs to do

First I removed the lens and put the camera cover back in its place so i could stand the camera upside down. The next was to remove the battery grip and and remove the battery in the camera. Ok that then allowed me access to the screw that had to be undone. Next I held back the battery cover by just using a rubber band around it and the camera body.

My worry was the screw would fall into the camera body itself though one of the small holes but luckily the screwdriver or the screw itself was slightly magnetic and the screw was easily removed as it stayed on the screwdriver tip.

Right now removing the old front grip was just a question of pulling it off, dead simple. This then left the remains of the old adhesive on the camera body, so should I leave it or try and get it off? that was the next question. Well I tried cleaning it with meths but that had no affect so decided to leave the old resin and put the new grip over it.

Well the rest is the reverse of the removal and the whole job took less that 15 minutes.

Here is the result

wol_error.gif
This image has been resized. Click here to view full size.

Camera​
HC-X900M​
Focal Length​
2.84mm​
Aperture​
f/1.5​
Exposure​
1/25s​
​



This image has been resized. Click here to view full size.



Total cost £30 including PP, time without camera zero and a perfect fit.

To say how pleased I am with the result goes without saying. have to say it looks like Nikon have used a different adhesive to what the old grip had.

Inside of old grip

This image has been resized. Click here to view full size.




you can see the difference in the adhesive. The centre recessed is still good while the outside edges have had it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Click to expand...
Where did you get the replacement part? Can you clarify what adhesive you actually used.Thanks.
 
Well I have used Nikon UK several times, as I have Fixation (Canon and Nikon) over the last 12 years. I also used Canon's service centre in Borehamwood before I switched.

I would say that out of the three I have been most happy with Nikon directly, with Fixation coming a close second. I had two items repaired 2 weeks ago at Nikon UK. Both were done to specification and a high standard, and at a reasonable cost. Now I'm NPS but the technicians are the same, I just queue jump a little over non-NPS repairs.

So it isn't endemic, and there are happy users of their repair service. You always get those with bad experiences coming out quickly and I wanted to redress the balance a little.

That doesn't mean you should be pleased - but this does appear to be a simple case of them not completing the repair and missing the work on the shutter. Inconvenient I know but call them on Monday morning after 9am, explain the situation and get it back in to have the work completed. You should get your carriage covered both ways to rectify, and you could *ask if it is possible* to get a loaner. It is unlikely as I doubt the repair will take long enough to warrant it - unless you are NPS and have a job which you'll need the camera for. You shouldn't go to the back of the queue as if you were a new repair.

Let them know you are going away on Saturday, and they might be able to rush it through - especially if you can send it out on Monday to arrive on Tuesday.
 
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