mihut_ionescu

<p>Leszek, thanks for addressing my question ;)! Nikon Romania would like to charge $110 for the complete rubber kit for the D700, which is a $38 package on Amazon! If all other parts are triple the price as this one, then you can imagine how they got to the $650 total cost. I'll be taking this to Nikon Switzerland as well because I think the parts are overpriced and I think they're trying to replace more then it's necessary.</p>

<p>I dropped my D700, it can still focus, but it no longer takes a picture. It's either the shutter or the mirror I guess. I took it to the Nikon service in Romania and they asked for over $600 for work and replacement of shutter, mirror and other parts. I'm not even sure that this is the right price or that all those parts need to be replaced. I'm going to take the camera in a few days to the Nikon service in Switzerland for a quote. If all those parts need to be replaced, what would be the actual price I should expect to pay total for this repair in the US (since I also have the option to take it there)?</p>

<p>I've owned the Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 lens for more than 10 years and I've been using it for at least 80% of my shots when traveling. It's been working flawlessly, with one exception. It seems that every 5 years or so the front element somehow gets "unscrewed" and the lens no longer focuses (auto nor manual) at 35mm and then slowly no longer focuses in the range 24-35mm and so on. The ring around the front glass element has two slots where you can place a tool or simply your nail to screw that element back in and the problem is solved. I've had to do this twice in 10 years. I don't know why this is happening, but thought I'd pass the info around which could save some folks here a trip to the Nikon service. If anyone knows why this is happening, please let me know.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the suggestions. It is true that a 24-120mm f4 would be nice, but I already have all these lenses, I'd feel guilty investing in more ;).</p> <p>Do you recommend taking a solar charger? Are there any strong enough to charge a D700 battery? Or just take 3-4 charged batteries on the Inca Trail and forget about the solar charger?</p>

<p>I'll be going to Equador, Galapagos Islands, Peru and Chile for 2 months. I'm trying to keep the weight down since I need to pack for both warm and cold weather, which means I'll have to be careful with the lenses I'll be taking. I own the following Nikon lenses which I use for different occasions, generally it's much easier to take any 4-5 of them when traveling by car or staying in big cities since I can leave any 2-3 in the car/hotel, but this time is different since I'll have to travel with my entire backpack sometimes in places like the Inca Trail or Patagonia. Primes: 16mm fisheye, 24mm f2.8, 50mm f1.8, 85mm f1.4. Zooms: 17-35mm f2.8, 28-70mm f2.8, 80-200mm f2.8 af-d, 80-400mm af-s vr, 70-210 f4 e series (manual focus). I own a D700 body.</p> <p>Option 1: 17-35mm, 80-400mm, 16mm fisheye, 24mm (for going light instead of 17-35mm), 50mm</p> <p>Option 2: 17-35mm, 70-210mm e series, 16mm fisheye, 24mm, 50mm</p> <p>Option 3: 16mm fisheye, 24mm, 50mm, 70-210mm e series</p> <p>Option 4: drop Nikon, get a Fuji XT1 + 18-135mm + 23mm f1.4</p> <p>Option 1 is the only one that will allow me to shoot wildlife in Galapagos successfully, I can say goodbye to wildlife in motion with my manual focus 70-210mm. Option 3 is the most basic before giving up on this Nikon DSLR setup for this trip and moving to a lighter/smaller Fuji system. Note that option 1 weighs 4kg without other accessories such as batteries, filters, cards, but those shouldn't take more than a few hundred extra grams.</p> <p>Thoughts? Other mix of lenses from the ones I own? Other suggestions for such trip in South America?</p>