Jump to content

D4 faulty shutter


brian_mchattie

Recommended Posts

The warranty on my D4 expired 3 months ago and typically, shooting a hockey game last weekend I got the dreaded err message. Although I know absolutely zero about the internals, it was clear that the shutter was sticking. I did manage to see out the end of the game the switched the camera off. Monday I took it to my local dealer who rightly said the camera should be sent to Nikon for a check.

I was quite shocked today when I received a message from my dealer that the camera has a faulty shutter which needs to be replaced.

No problem, except for the fact that there have only been 111,000 actuations of the shutter. The cost to me will be over $750.

My dealer told me that he will contact Nikon to ask that, for the sake of goodwill they ought to replace the shutter foc.

I have been a nikonian for many years and this is the first time I have encountered any problem with cameras or lenses.

Appreciate other Nikon users thoughts please.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

111,000 is a lot of actuations in some circles - I'm sure there have been Nikons with a lower shutter design life. The D4 is obviously expected to last longer, but it's a random lifetime prediction - the quoted shutter life just means "at least half (Nikon might require a higher percentage) will last this long", not how long any individual camera will last.

 

If it's just wear and tear, I suspect you may be out of luck (and if something got into the shutter during a lens change, even more so). Unless it was an unexpected design fault like the D600's oil splatter, Nikon will have designed it to last as well as they could (because shutter life is a marketing feature), but things wear out. Did you get the shutter serviced at any point? (I've not for any of my Nikons, but I'm not a pro).

 

Sorry to be unsympathetic; I'm afraid this kind of thing just happens, and will until we all use electronic shutters. For what it's worth, $750 doesn't sound unreasonable for someone qualified enough to mess with a D4 to spend time swapping out the shutter. I don't think it's a trivial disassembly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah Andrew, I understand that but its rather disappointing when a camera with a with an expected shutter life of 400,000 fails at 111,000. I can almost guarantee that nothing got into the shutter because, 1) I use a 70-200 lens almost exclusively on that camera. 2) When I change lenses on any camera, I am ultra careful. My equipment cost a lot of money and as an amateur, I take very good care of everything.

 

Dieter. My local dealer told me the camera was sent to Nikon. To the best of my knowledge, there is no "authorised nikon repair shop" in Norway other than Nikon themselves (I could be wrong but I don't think so)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was going to ask what kind of currency we are talking about for $750. As far as I know, similar to Dieter, in the US, replacing the shutter in a D4, D5 class body is roughly US$500 or so. If the OP is in Norway, I wouldn't be surprised that it is a lot more expensive. I have been to Oslo and everything is expensive there.

 

The expected life for the shutter in the D4 is 400K actuations. I am aware that plenty of people have gotten far more than 400K; some even claim 1M actuations, and none of them is talking about paying Nikon extra money since their shutter is lasting a lot longer than expected. I know 111K actuation is more like 1/4 of the expected life, and having a shutter fail so early is frustrating, but unfortunately some will last much shorter than others.

 

BTW, Nikon introduced the D4 in January 2012, a few months before the London summer Olympics, and it was replaced by the D4S in 2014. Perhaps the OP has extended warranty or bought the D4 long after the D4S was already available, but I am a bit surprised that this D4's warranty has just expired. Maybe Nikon will indeed give you a break about the repair cost since it is barely out of warranty, but any D4 should be at least 4+ years old.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The warranty on my D4 expired 3 months ago

 

If the warranty was the original manufacturer's warranty and you purchased it using a credit card, check if your credit card gives you an extended warranty. My card gives me 2 extra years up to a total of 7 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup, Norway is an expensive country but salaries are commensurate with the cost of living so life here is pretty good.

The fact that the shutter gave in after 111,000 was the issue that really surprised me but ok, these things happen and I guess that is just bad luck. I am not complaining, just surprised.

But, even for Norway, replacement at one and a half times the U.S. cost is quite a difference

 

Norwegian consumer laws are the envy of most other European countries in that for ALL goods with an expected lifespan of 5 or more years (cameras and lenses included), a 5 year warrantee applies. I bought the camera in December of 2012.

 

Checked my credit card and it does in fact give an extended warranty for another year but I am wondering if the shutter would be considered as something like the tyres or brake pads on your car!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My D3S has well over 420000 frames and I'm guessing is a financial brick if the shutter goes. Usually used with a 70-200mm VRII. It's my back-up cam now.

 

I know the single digit Ds are built like tanks, but I'm not sure I'd get it repaired... It's a bit like when do you stop repairing a car? What's going to go next?

 

For horse sports I changed to a D500 and Sigma 50-100mm 1.8 and haven't looked back. I rarely go over ISO 6400 and careful RAW conversion in DxO produces very satisfactory, clean results. I don't have to print bigger than 20" x 30".

 

You could buy 1/2 a D500 for that shutter repair cost....:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My D3 shutter died at 104K...(camera out of warranty) I remember this was after a photo shooting with lots of 1/8000 shutter actuation. Beeing a NPS member I only have to pay the shutter assembly and not the workmanship (aprox 200euro at the time).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is an interesting thought! My second/backup is a d750 which is not that great for ice hockey because of the shutter speed limitations.

At todays exchange rate I could get a D500 for $2,600 in Norway (there is a 25% purchase tax in this country). I could also get around $2000 trade in for my d4.

Any opinions on using the d5oo for hockey, handball & volleyball?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess the D500's only real 'limitation' is very high ISO ability, and maybe, only maybe, less tank-like build.

 

I sometimes have to use it for indoor showjumping where it's plenty light enough for the riders, but not really for me! The happy angle from horse/rider to me is about 30 > 45 deg.

 

I can use the lens at f2 with single or group 9 AFC and although the whole horse may not be sharp, the AF is accurate enough that the rider's and horse's heads are sharp, but the butt, not so much.....;)

 

Mine has a-bit of a hair-trigger, but I don't mind so much as the buffer isn't an issue. Lexar 128GB XQD as main, Sandisk UHS II as 2nd slot.

 

Sometimes 100mm isn't quite long enough, depending on the jump, but modest cropping is usually OK as it's sharp enough not to really notice. At f2 the background goes soft most of the time. OOF rendering isn't very pretty, but hardly objectionable.

 

I very occasionally put my 70-200mm VRII on it, but it's not quite as sharp, but I don't need to crop. Focus is very fast on both lenses.

 

Sigma made a very good 50-150mm 2.8 OS (DX) but they're sadly pretty rare and expensive, and BIG.

 

Viewfinder is pretty good for DX, not quite F4 like but pretty good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Checked my credit card and it does in fact give an extended warranty for another year but I am wondering if the shutter would be considered as something like the tyres or brake pads on your car!

 

The only entity that can definitively answer that question is your credit card company and/or bank. Give them a call.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...
I purchased a D4s and within 2 yrs it needed a new shutter on it, it was covered under warranty so I wasn't too worried....my mistake. About 2 months ago, same problem occurred, I sent it in to Nikon Repair and was told that once again it needed a new shutter. That's 2 in less than 4 yrs on a D4s. The shutter count both times was well under 100,000, this last time it was at about 50,000. I voiced my concerns and disgust over the matter but it basically fell on deaf ears and I ended up having to pay 500 Canadian for the second repair. I told them that I wanted back the parts they replaced and they sent me back the circuit board and the shutter. On return of the camera I was going through the settings to try and get it back to the way I had it and I came upon the Copyright Info setting. When I went to enter in my info, someone elses name was already there. When I contacted Nikon I asked if they put a NEW circuit board in, I didn't ask if they replaced it, I asked if it was new. They told me they did....I then mentioned to them the little issue with having someone elses name on a new circuit board. I was told they don't know why that happened, that I should send my camera back in so they can investigate, they of course offered a shipping label and a free check and cleaning for the inconvenience. I told them it's become much more than an inconvenience....anyone else have an issue similar to this, either with the shutter or the board?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...