D800E Broken 10 Pin Connector

<p>Last Friday night I was on a shoot when I attempted to insert my MC-30 remote trigger cable on my 3 wk old D800E, I noticed that something just didn't feel right and the cable would not couple with the socket on the camera, I looked at the socket and it was no longer in the center of the socket housing and it was slightly pushed into the camera body.<br>

<br />I have done some research since Friday and have found that I didn't have to look very far to find others who have experienced the same thing as I. <br>

I first contacted Gary Camera the retailer I purchased this from and they said contact Nikon service, Nikon says they are not aware of any issue with this and yet I find multiple posts on various forums stating the exact same issue.<br>

Nikon says send the body in at my expense of course and they make an assessment as to the cause, implying that this may not be covered under warranty.<br>

I am very frustrated by this to have a camera of this caliber fail so soon, in an area the should never fail from normal use and then get the brush-off by the retailer.<br>

Just wanted to post here and possibly get some feed back on how you would proceed given this issue, I have written a letter of dissatisfaction to the retailer today and am waiting for a response, I was really hoping for a new replacement given the camera is only a month old. If that doesn't happen then I am left with no choice but to send the unit in to Nikon and be left at their mercy.</p>

<p>Was this the first time you tried to use the MC-30 with your D800e?</p>

<p>No it wasn't I have been doing a lot of tripod work with all the Christmas lights, though from the very first time the coupling has been difficult to achieve compared to my 700.</p>

<p>I'd send it in and have them look at it before getting too upset.<br /> You'll almost never be able to get them to promise you warranty service over the phone unless the problem is the subject of a recall. Once they examine the camera and make an assessment of what's going on, they may accept warranty responsibility without further comment, and even if that takes further prodding, you can have a much better-informed discussion with them once they see what's wrong with the connector.<br>

<br />Edit: I'd also point out that unless the camera dealer has an unusually generous return policy, suggesting that you go through Nikon's warranty repair process is a very reasonable reaction. They're not in a position to handle manufacturing defects the way the manufacturer can, and this isn't a case where the dealer has been negligent in some way.</p>

<p>My first D800's socket failed as you describe on the first use..... my dealer replaced the camera.<br>

<br />Cheers</p>

 

<p>Yes Mark, this is my plan and I appreciate your sound advice. I am just really surprised by this problem especially the response from the retailer Gary Camera, I would have thought they would have been more helpfull</p>

<p>Yeah, this kind of thing is annoying. Let us know how it turns out!</p>

<p>Exactly Anthony and this is what I have read in the several cases I have found, unfortunately Gary camera is not helpful, the response was, "Well I can only do that if Nikon instructs me to go that route".</p>

<p>I certainly will, I don't hold the retailer fully responsible as their store policy is warranties are handled by the manufacture, but I have purchased memory card and other accessories from them, it is certainly not the way to gain repeat customers, I could understand if this was a p&s camera, but a 3K+ body and grip......man it just stings.</p>

<p>I intentionally bought the camera from this shop as it is one of those places, family owned since 1940 and figured that these are the kind of people who survived on a return client base, I paid slightly more for the camera and MB grip as opposed to going to an online company like PC World or the likes and I told this to the owner when I was purchasing it. I believe in supporting this kind of business and I will continue to do so, but I am sure it will not be this shop given the response received.<br>

Mark</p>

<p>Mark, I don't know your location but I would guess America.....<br /> In England the retailer is obliged to resolve any warranty issues. If the camera failed after only three weeks you would be able to demand a replacement.<br /> <br />I hope Gary Camera accept responsibility and get a replacement camera from Nikon for you.</p>

<p>Cheers</p>

<p>Nikon needs to determine if this a warranty issue or not. I suspect either way, they will take care of your camera for you. Good luck!</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I have done some research since Friday and have found that I didn't have to look very far to find others who have experienced the same thing as I.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Sure, you wouldn't think your D800 is the only one among some 200K+ units sold so far with this particular problem, would you?</p>

<p>I recall that early on, I have read a few similar cases back in April, May this year. But I would say you should be able to find others with similar issues on just about any defect on the D800 or another other camera.</p>

<p>Assuming that you have not abused your camera, Nikon should fix it under warranty. Just don't let them tell you that your camera has suffered "impact damage" if that is not indeed the case. They seem to blame things on that issue a lot.</p>

<p>In fairness to Nikon's specific response to your issue, they must be given the benefit of the doubt and have the opportunity to examine the camera before rendering a decision. But to deny knowing such a problem when there are only two Nikon Service Centers in the US? Hard to imagine. For every person that mentions this problem on the 'net, how many go unmentioned? I've heard from three friends about their less than satisfactory experience with Nikon Service (1x Melville, NY and 2x El Segundo, CA) in the past eight months pertaining to warranty issues on cameras less than six months old. Each said it was like pulling teeth to get Nikon to honor the warranty. Why the obstinance, Nikon? This gives me pause as I contemplate three expensive acquisitions in the coming months.</p>

<p>As for your local retailer, I can understand their reticence given that they probably don't move much volume. I'll bet B&H would have handled this very differently.</p>

<p>Thanks all for your well thought out comments regarding this issue I am having, I hope I find Nikon service a better experience than what Lilly has mentioned.<br>

<br />Mark</p>

<p>I've got the MC-36 for my D800 and have found that I struggle to get it to lock in position in the socket. I can push it in and it will probably stay on but locking it securely is not easy, it just spins around 9 times out of 10 just not screwing in properly, not user friendly in cold weather with numb fingers. Pity they couldn't put a good old fashioned screw in cable release in modern DSLR cameras as most of the time that would more than do the job.</p>

<p>Couldn't agree more Allan, the old plunger type release that screwed right into the shutter release would be much easier.<br>

I do find it much easier to use the 10 pin socket on the D700 over the D800 it seems that there is a tad more clearance on the 700 between the female socket in the camera and camera housing around the socket.<br>

Like I had mentioned earlier in the post I had been using the D800 for a lot of night shoots of Christmas lights and scenes, fiddling around trying to get the release engaged in the socket is a real pain, especially when its cold out.<br>

Hopefully the socket itself when I get mine repaired will be just slightly smaller in diameter to allow for more clearance, but I won't hold my breath on that one. Would have been even nicer to have the IR remote built right into the camera for simple trigger release, or even better a multifunctional IR remote built right into the camera, I know I like to dream...... :).</p>

<p>I really don´t understand why Nikon does not make their professional cameras compatible with the ML-L3 IR remote control like all their consumer models. I much prefer working with the ML-L3 than with a cable release which is hanging from the camera all the time. It works great and it is much smaller and lighter than a cable release.</p>

<p>I think Nikon will take care of you if you send the camera in. But, I don't think your dealer did you any favor, as they didn't appear to want to be bothered about it. I believe they could have replaced the camera and returned the defective one to Nikon.</p>

<p>Detlev, Since my socket has broke I did purchase an ML-3 which is an IR trigger that mounts to the camera through the 10 pin connector, this may help relieve any undo stresses applied to the socket when using an MC-30 release cable, but I agree with you fully why not add the IR functionality directly to the camera.</p>

<p>Dan, I did talk to the retailer yesterday, took a couple of days to gather my composure before I called him back, what he told me is, he makes very little on the sale of a camera, like $100 per, with that low a margin and Nikon treats him the same way they would treat a customer who buys Nikon product, he didn't want to get stuck with a camera he would have to send to get fixed and then sell it as used at a rather large loss, for which he would have to absorb and this I can understand.<br>

I did talk to another local shop owner here in Michigan and he has verified this issue between Nikon USA and the small shop owners. Nikon will however treat companies like B&H differently due to the amount of product they move, but they do poop on the small guy, something I don't think is right. This is I am sure the reason there are so few small shops around these days.<br>

<br />As for the D800E, I sent it in yesterday at a cost of $72 insured via UPS and I truly hope that Nikon USA will honor their warranty and repair it on their dime. I will let you know what comes out of this. It sure would be easier if the local guys were empowered to make these decisions and have Nikon USA stand behind that decision.<br>

<br />Mark</p>

<p>I think that this is a good example of the reason to buy locally; before you leave the store and in the presence of the clerk, test the camera's basic functions, including the remote shutter release mount. </p>

<p>Steve, the mount did not break for at least a month following receipt of the camera, but yes if I had bought it locally I am sure they would have handled the logistics of sending it back to Nikon, I see today that Nikon had received the camera on 12/26/12, but I haven't heard from them yet.</p>

<p>A brief update, I received an email today from Nikon Service stating they have determined the broken connector as a warranty repair.</p>

<p>As the closer to this conversation, I received my camera in great working order from Nikon, they repaired the broken socket, cleaned the sensor and verified/adjusted the focus sensor. The package was received on January 9th 2013, one must note that Nikon did not return an insured package, not sure how that would have worked out had it gone missing, I did reroute the package for pickup as opposed to having them leave it on the front porch.<br /> Everything is working fine and I would say overall a relatively painless adventure other than the down time, this is why we have backups isn't it.</p>