Hi All.

My D700 has about 63K shutter activations on it. I have cleaned the sensor a dozen times or so.
The rubber panel on the 'FX' side is beginning to fail and peel off.

I have a new D800.
Does it make sense to send the D700 to Nikon to 'tune it up'and service and to fix the rubbers etc???
It has never been serviced.

Thanks. Rocco




Your gonna miss 100% of the shots you never take, so keep shooting.

Visit www.roccosphototavern.com

There's Something For Everybody At Rocco's Photo Tavern.

Performance, Landscape, Portrait, Street, Creative and more.

Attachment #1, (jpg file)

Since you now have another camera so that there is no "no camera down time", I would use the peeling rubber as an excuse to have a cleaning and inspection done.

---------+---------+---------+---------+
Joseph K
Seattle, WA, USA

D700, D200, D70S, 24-70mm f/2.8, VR 70-200mm f/2.8 II,
50mm f/1.4 D, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR, 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 DX

Make sure you have an issue, for as I found out recently, if you send an item to Nikon without indicating anything wrong, they will not cover the service under warranty. I tried to get them to "tune up" a lens which was working fine but coming up on its 5 yr warranty end. they did a cursory look could find no performance issues and wanted to charge me over $350 to open it up and check further. I declined and they sent my lens back. EDIT 1/1/13- I should mention that many years ago I did have one repair done by Nikon. At the time I was using an F3HP and put my thumb through the shutter curtain (I know, I know!!). They did a great job in repairing it for me. So other than stupid operator malfunctions, I have NEVER had a failure of any Nikon product and I started buying Nikon in 1962.

Bob Baldassano
My Nikonians Gallery

"Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the
camera"

Retirement is a gift of time - Don't waste it!

Well the camera is well out of warranty and as I said above, the rubber grip is coming off on the right side of camera.

I am just wondering what Nikon does as a 'tune up' in addition to fixing the rubber?

Thanks


Your gonna miss 100% of the shots you never take, so keep shooting.

Visit www.roccosphototavern.com

There's Something For Everybody At Rocco's Photo Tavern.

Performance, Landscape, Portrait, Street, Creative and more.

I'm pretty sure they automatically do a general cleaning of any item being repaired.

Jon Kandel
A New York City Nikonian and Team Member
Please visit my website and critique the images!

Hi Rocco,

Happy New Year to you!

I sent a F100 to Nikon to CLA, with no issues mentioned, and they did a nice job returning it like new, focus screen replaced, rubber grip replaced, etc., It was quite expensive (298€), but we don't have Nikon services here in Portugal, so it went to Nikon Spain.
I found it a very good job done.
This year will send my D90 (2years old) to CLA, and then my D700, with no hesitation.

P.S. Sorry we miss to meet in Boston last year. I owe you one.
Let's see if i can make it this year, in my annual trip to US.

José

Nikonians!!! My best investment made after my camera!!!

D700, D90, D70s(IR), F100, F80, F Photomic FTn

I've had two problems with my D700 bodies that I have never experienced with previous Nikons:
-- Hot shoes loosening and needing to be replaced, and
-- rubber panels coming loose.

I wrote to Nikon about the hot shoes, but never received a response. I am concerned about the rubber coverings as well. Again -- 45+ years with Nikon cameras and never a problem. Now 3 and a few months with D700s and several issues common to both bodies. In the meanwhile, Nikon is non-responsive.

Therefore I don't think it makes sense to send anything to Nikon and I am getting my repairs done at APS in Morton Grove, IL. They communicate, fix things the first time and get the job done quickly. I've seen none of those characteristics at Nikon's own facilities in the last two years or so. Again, I have used Nikons through decades of military life, on five continents and in 25+ countries without problems. I hope my experiences with my D700 bodies -- which I otherwise absolutely love -- do not portend the future. Nikon put a dent in Canon's proliferation among pros with the D3/D700 family. But if they don't get their service and communication back on track they are going to lose market penetration again. To prevail in the market, you need to offer a great product and back it superbly. I'm pretty sure the latter element is absent and am growing worried about the product as well. My D1X, D100 and D200 cameras were great out of the box and never gave me any problems.

Alan
Waterloo, IL, USA
www.proimagingmidamerica.com

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

I on the other hand have never had a problem with Nikon repair. I sent my D2x in a couple of months ago for a cla and received a like new camera with clean sensor, new rubber grips, meter calibration and so on. It was routine service and I think I paid a little over $200. I plan to do the same with my 4 year old D700 soon.

mVs
D2H, D2x, D300s, D700 & D800

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

There is a great factory Authorized service Center in Atlanta that I recently used....

Walked me around the shop....it was like NAS on steriods (LOL)...

Even let me play with some Leica lenses he adapted to my Nikon (Wow !!!) almost bit

CAMERA SERVICE CO.
4391 W. ATLANTA RD.SE
SMYRNA, GA 30080

The owner is a Japanese guy who's been working cameras for 40 years...

They serviced my D7K and D700 for cleaning and fixed my 14-24mm Nikkor that I dropped...

You can ship and they will give you an estimate or service.

Higly recomment....

They've been in busines for over 45 years.


dc

Visit my professional gallery.

>
>Therefore I don't think it makes sense to send anything to
>Nikon and I am getting my repairs done at APS in Morton Grove,
>IL. They communicate, fix things the first time and get the
>job done quickly.

Alan, I'll second your recommendation of APS. They did a great job of repairing the hot shoe issue on my D700 last summer in addition to the general CLA.

Steve

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

APS ++
Kim
Western burbs of Chicago

Chiming in a little late

My D700 workhorse goes to Nikon every six months whether I'm aware of something it needs, or not. At the very least, I send it and the 70-200mm 2.8 VR in to the Nikon service center for a "clean and calibration".

Nikon will go completely through the equipment and return it to factory specs (assuming it's a USA body of course, and not gray).

Your first repair can be fairly costly depending on what they find (but still far far less then replacing that body), but once returned to factory specs, Nikon puts a new, 6 month warranty on the equipment.

Nikon has replaced grips, bottom plates, battery door covers, shutter arms/levers, front elements, mirror arms - and so much more. And as long as you are in that 6 month warranty window and it's not water or impact damage, you should be good to go.