The following two images were taken today after I cleaned my D800. The view is of the top part of the camera after the lens was removed.

It looks like the straight and clean cut foam (or whatever the material is) marked with an "A" is falling apart and pieces of it, marked with a "B" were "torn" and now missing. I gently removed the dangling pieces which looked like dust bunnies and the camera takes picture as usual, BUT, do you have this issue?

---
D800, D7000

My Website: www.DevekMaga.com

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Attachment #1, (jpg file)
Attachment #2, (jpg file)

Wow, I do not like that at all.

Just curious, has you're camera been opened at all by Nikon service or is it "virgin"?

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

The camera is "virgin". Never had any of the focusing issues, works great, no issues whatsoever until I saw it this morning. It doesn't affect the captured images, BUT, when will the next piece fall onto the lens back glass and mess up the images?

I have the camera since May 24, 2012.

---
D800, D7000

My Website: www.DevekMaga.com

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Well, that was worth a look. Not happening on mine. (Got it early June) I can see where this could be an issue much later in the life of the body, but shouldn't be happening now.

Beck

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

The foam on my 5 year old D300 with over 27,000 images is still a solid rectangular block. This foam absorbs some of the mirror shock when it raises up before the shutter opens. This kind of deterioration could lead to mirror problems later on. I'd definitely get the foam replaced.

Sending Nikon service these pictures should certainly convince them you have a warranty problem.

Gary in SE Michigan, USA. Co-organizer of the Southern Michigan Chapter
Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the camera.
D4, D800e, D300, D90, F6, FM3a (black), FM2n (chrome)
YashicaMat 124, Graflex Speed Graphic 4x5
My Nikonians Gallery & Our Chapter Gallery

Mine has the same problem. I have found no issues with images, and have not had the focusing problems either, but have noticed that the foam is not holding up well. I've noticed that this camera seems more difficult to keep clean than my D200 did. This may be in part due to more lens changes as I went from using my 18-200 95% of the time to now constantly changing from 17-35 to 60 to 70-200, but I still feel like it's a more difficult camera to keep dust/fibers off the sensor/mirror/prism. I may need to look into contacting Nikon Service as well unfortunately.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I agree.

When I used my D7000, my main lens was the 18-200mm... and occasionally the 35mm Prime. Now with the D800 I swap lenses more often, but still, this is a crucial part of the mirror "safety landing zone".

I contacted Nikon, provided the images I took above and am waiting their contact. Got a ticket number.

I will also contact the local Nikon authorize dealer and repair shop in Tucson and ask for an opinion....

Will keep you updated.

---
D800, D7000

My Website: www.DevekMaga.com

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Excellent, I'll look forward to what they tell you. I'm not sure how the service would go on my end as I have a USA warranty camera but I just moved to Germany (military) so I'm not sure where I would have to send it/how long it would take...

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

That is scary...I checked out mine right away and I have nothing like that. My cut is clean straight across except for an intentional cut-out in the very center. I will keep my eyes on it however...never thought to look for this....thx!

Dan

"My most rewarding photos are those that capture something I didn't 'see' in the frame....so just SHOOT."

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

This used to be a common problem when people cleaned their focusing screens and mirrors without realizing the delicate nature of the shock absorption piece of foam. Fingers wrapped with cleaning cloths used to be the main culprit.

If you haven tried to clean the focusing screen, mirror or the sensor with anything other than a blower at a decent distance, you could have inadvertently damaged the foam, if not somebody in the store had definitely played with your camera!

Edited to add..
Just noticed you have actually mentioned this was noticed after "cleaning" your camera; if you mention this to Nikon they might NOT do the repair under warranty!

Regards
Dinil



Struck by Light - Blog & Gallery
Visible Range - Photography & Beyond

Got an email from Nikon today. They suggested I take the camera to a local repair shop in Tucson and let them evaluate it. Then they will decide if to send it to Nikon for repair.

I called the repair shop and the owner said he can't touch any warranty issues with Nikon cameras because Nikon doesn't pay him enough to do the work.

I'm taking the camera to the shop tomorrow morning so the foam will be replaced by the shop at my cost ($25). It would have cost me more than double just to ship the camera to Nikon, not talking about not having the camera for days. The foam will be replaced tomorrow.

If I had a major issue with the camera, I would consider shipping it to Nikon, but for something like the foam, I'll do it locally.

---
D800, D7000

My Website: www.DevekMaga.com

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I suggest that you get a 28-300 Nikkor.
I rarely need a lens change or cleaning.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I just can bring myself to own pro glass (after it took me 15 years of photography to get it) to now not use it in favor of a superzoom, even if the 28-300 gets great reviews. Plus I'd rather take the $1,000 that I would spend on that lens and pick up (part of) another body or other lenses. That's just my opinion.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

This is interesting, I will check both of mine later today.

But I am wondering, if it didn't come that way.. has anyone seen theirs deteriorate?

Visit My Website Nikon Fanboy.

I checked mine and it looks pretty clean, so I'm not concerned.

Tom
D5000IR, V1, Oly OM-D E-M5
Nikkor Zooms: AF-S 18-105 f/3.5-5.6 VR, VR, AF-S 18-135 f/3.5-5.6
Nikkor primes: 24 f/2.8Ai-S, 28 f/2.8D, Micro 60 f/2.8, 85 f/1.4D, Nikkor-C 500 f/8 Refl.
Nikon 1 lenses: 10mm f/2.8, 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 VR, 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6.
Voigtlander 58mm f/1.4, Sigma 70-300 Macro f/3.5-5.6.
Oly 12-42mm f/3.5-5.6, 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3, 12mm f/2.0, 45mm f/1.8, 75mm f/1.8.
Lumix 20mm f/1.7, 14-140mm f/4.0-5.8, 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6
Gitzo GT3541L, Manfrotto MT293A4, MP 680B
Markins M-20, RRS BH-25 Pro

just checked mine, both fine

Visit My Website Nikon Fanboy.

Okay, let's start from the end: It is my fault!

Having the D7000 with the 18-200mm lens, I found myself rarely cleaning inside with anything but a puff of canned air. With the D800, I find myself changing the lenses way too many times... I hope this habit will stop, now that I have the Tamron 24-70mm lens. It looks like in the last cleaning session I had with the D800, I pressed against the foam, not knowing it was even there... I never had any issue with the D7000.

In short, Nikon will fix it for me, but it may cost more than $25 in shipping, insurance, lost days and who knows if the actual repair will cost anything as well...

I took the camera to the Tucson Camera Repair and they will cut and fit a new piece of foam, clean the inside and the camera will be ready on Monday... $25.

SO... When cleaning inside the camera, if it is needed at all, be VERY careful not to touch the foam piece.

Live and learn.

---
D800, D7000

My Website: www.DevekMaga.com

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

>Having the D7000 with the 18-200mm lens, I found myself rarely
>cleaning inside with anything but a puff of canned air.

Do you really clean the sensor with compressed air?

Visit My Website Nikon Fanboy.

I never cleaned the sensor. It was the glass filter and the mirror. When I received the D800 I went on a tour to Antelope Canyon and Canyon X, where dust storms are common. I used canned air to blow the dust off the camera while the lens was mounted and a bulb to clean inside the chamber. I did press a puff of canned air around the lens thread area to clear dust particles.

I, since, decided that I'm not going to ever replace lenses outside a closed room. So far I cleaned the mirror and the filter glass once, which probably was enough to tear the foam piece off its position.

Hope this is clearer.

---
D800, D7000

My Website: www.DevekMaga.com

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Changing the lenses and getting dust on focusing screens, mirrors or sensors is something we all have to live with.

I have changed lenses by the seaside, in deserts, in the middle of jungles and along bush walks. To date I have never had a sensor professionally cleaned. This is how I do it .... your mileage might vary..

1. As a rule I'm very careful with my rear lens caps and rear elements of the lenses, I keep rear lens caps and rear elements clean and devoid of dust.

2.When I change lenses, I open my bag and keep the "operation distance" between the camera and the lenses at a minimum.

3.I point the lens downwards to let gravity take dust particles towards the rear element of the mounted lens and away from the mirror box.

4.As I take the lens off, I close the downward looking lens mount of the camera with the body cap or my hand. (If the camera is kept looking upwards dust on the hand can easily get into the mirror box)

5. Unmounted lens goes in to the open bag with the rear element facing up, the rear lens cap of the lens that is going to be mounted quickly gets transferred to cover the rear element of unmounted lens and the new lens gets mounted on to the camera.

6. I do this as quickly as possible and cover the wind with my body.

7. I clean my hands before changing or touching lenses with a small towel that usually hangs down from my belt whenever I shoot - visible dust and sand mostly get transferred to camera and the lens from hands rather than from wind. (This is a tip I learnt from Moose Peterson's blog - and he was spot on)

8. If I see a dust bunny on my images I run the sensor cleaning program of my camera keeping the bayonet mount facing downwards. Then I put the camera in the sensor cleaning mode keeping it in the same position, open the shutter and blow few puffs of air with a rocket blower. My D800, which I got the day it got released is nearing a shutter count of 1000, and still still hasn't got visible dust on the sensor.

A side note: I completely destroyed the mirror foam of my first ever SLR in late 80's. Since then I've never touched the foam while cleaning a camera - and I never wipe the mirror or the focusing screen.

Regards
Dinil



Struck by Light - Blog & Gallery
Visible Range - Photography & Beyond

Thank you. I pretty much do what you do although I never lower a lens into the camera. It is always raising a lens into the camera when the camera is pointing down.

I believe I've learned my lesson on this one.

Thanks again.

---
D800, D7000

My Website: www.DevekMaga.com

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Here is the foam piece after it was fixed. The cost: $34.46.

Actually it is a double layer. One is straight and the other has a cut shape in the center.

I'm glad.

Life goes on.

---
D800, D7000

My Website: www.DevekMaga.com

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Attachment #1, (jpg file)