D200 possible shutter problem

cwinhall · 17 Aug 2010

Hi everyone,

Well lately my D200 has not been closing its shutter properly. Causing an error msg to appear on the top display. This usually only occurs with shutter speeds slower than 1/60th.

This is a serious problem for me as I am a professional photographer and rely on this for my income. I live in Zimbabwe now, so there are no repair centres here and upgrading from here costs an arm and a leg.

So i would like to exhause all possible avenues before i bite the bullet and upgrade here.

Has anyone had or heard of this problem before?

At first I thought it was a battery power problem, but I charged my batteries just last night and the problem still occured.

:shrug:

Arkady · 17 Aug 2010

How old is the camera and how many shutter actuations does it have?
If it's getting on a bit, the shutter might have come to the end of it's service-life and it might be a case of sending off to Jo'Burg for a repair and borrowing something else in the meantime.

As a Pro you now appreciate the importance of having a back-up capability.

My suggestion is buy a new camera anyway, get the D200 repaired in slow-time and use that as the back-up.

chip · 17 Aug 2010

Buy a flashgun and never shoot slower than 1/60th

Seriously though, sounds like the shutter may need replacing and you need to weigh up the balance between a repair or actually scrapping the camera, (even in the UK a new shutter is likely to be in the region of £300+). I can't imagine the camera is worth much more than that.

specialman · 17 Aug 2010

Colin, a shutter replacement over here in the UK will be around £150 at somewhere like FixationUK - maybe have a think about how their prices (plus postage) stack up against a repair in your neck of the woods. It may work out silly money getting it sent to the Uk and back and it may be easier to get a repair done in Africa . Like chip says, then you have to work out A) cost and B) timescale/hassle of getting it done compared to buying a new/used body to replace it.

Musicman · 17 Aug 2010

I don't want to speak out of turn for cwinhall, but it's possible that options like that are limited by currency exchange controls in Zimbabwe.

Anyhow, FWIW, I found a post on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/groups/nikon_d90_users/discuss/72157607986800621/

Called Nikon today here in South Africa to ask what the estimated cost would be to have the shuuter replaced including labour...they mentioned around R900.00 which is about $120. They said it is much cheaper on the D90 model as opposed to the more "serious" camera's

From a quick scout, US prices for the same job seem to be around US$270-$300.

UK labour is probably quite expensive.

edit: There's also the issue of whether UK VAT would be applicable for a service carried out in the UK for a non EC customer - I suspect it would be and may not be reclaimable as it's not the same goods that are being shipped out of the EU.

cwinhall · 17 Aug 2010

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I feel i may have to bite the bullet and go for a new camera (probably a D300S).

At the moment im getting too much work to not be able to send my camera off for repairs...

Once I get the replacement, I can probably then consider sending it in for repairs. I just hope it lasts till I get the new one!

chip · 18 Aug 2010

specialman said:
Colin, a shutter replacement over here in the UK will be around £150 at somewhere like FixationUK

Hmmmm... perhaps my guesstimate on repair cost for a D200 shutter might have been a bit high.

I was just going on the estimate I got from Fixation 2 weeks ago to replace my D3 shutter which was £513.00 and they replaced a D2X shutter in 2007 for £395!

Chris

Arkady · 18 Aug 2010

cwinhall said:
Thanks everyone for your replies.

I feel i may have to bite the bullet and go for a new camera (probably a D300S).

At the moment im getting too much work to not be able to send my camera off for repairs...

Once I get the replacement, I can probably then consider sending it in for repairs. I just hope it lasts till I get the new one!

Probably the sensible option...

specialman · 23 Aug 2010

chip said:
Hmmmm... perhaps my guesstimate on repair cost for a D200 shutter might have been a bit high.

I was just going on the estimate I got from Fixation 2 weeks ago to replace my D3 shutter which was £513.00 and they replaced a D2X shutter in 2007 for £395!

Chris

Just out of interest, did you have to pay a good proportion for regripping? Had my mirror box replaced on a D2x and half the cost was for new rubbers and labour.... there's always something else to consider, isn't there :lol: