Jump to content

Nikon D7000 AF factory defects


bartlomiej_gierczak

Recommended Posts

<p>I live in Poland. There are very common AF problems with D7000. On most popular polish nikon forum (nikoniarze.pl), D7000 focusing problem thread has 476 pages !!<br>

AF is very random in this camera. Probably the cause is faulty mirror lifting mechanism. Nikon doesn't want to plead, but service replaces mirror mechanism.<br>

There is a photographer, who tested seven d7000 cameras and none of them was perfect. Problem is very clear when shooting with narrow depth of field - large aperture lenses. Often, the camera is working very well for some time and suddenly begins to focus randomly (backfocus), especially at long distances.<br>

Do You know the matter ?<br>

What do You think about that ? Have You replaced mirror mechanism by service ?<br>

Sorry for my poor english</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 83
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

<p>Do you have a D7000? Are you experiencing this problem? If so, send the camera in to Nikon repair; they will fix it for free. If you are just worrying as a potential buyer, then look online at the photos that people are capturing with this camera, and don't worry about it. Online issues get magnified by the vocal few. People aren't signing up for forums to report that their camera is working as advertised.</p>
Link to comment
Share on other sites

<blockquote>

<p>Problem is very clear when shooting with narrow depth of field - large aperture lenses.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>All AF systems have problems with that. Maybe people are expecting too much of the AF system. There are many people who expect a more expensive camera to make "perfect" photos for them, especially when used with a too expensive lens - they seem to underestimate the role they play as a photographer. And Ariel makes an excellent point how on the internet a few people can cause a lot of noise.<br>

So if your camera is working just fine (like most do), I wouldn't care. If it has a problem, call Nikon service. If they are performing the repairs now, and afterwards it's fine, Nikon does not need to plea anything. They need to resolve the problem that exist. Which they seem to do.</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>I only have one D7000, which I bought as soon as they went onto the market in November, 2010. I have used it extensively and taken it to Central and South America twice in the last year (Costa Rica and Ecuador/Gelapagos). I find its AF excellent and almost as good as the D300/D700/D3. Today, the D7000 is my primary DX-format body over my D300.</p>

<p>The D7000 is extremely popular. If it has a lot of problems, I would imagine that a lot of people would be sending them back to Nikon for warranty repair. While Nikon produces D7000 in large numbers at a factory in Thailand where labor cost is low, warranty repair is individual and labor is costly. If Nikon needs to make a lot of warranty repairs, they would be losing money big time.</p>

<p>I tend to agree with Thom Hogan that a lot of the so called D7000 "problems" are due to user errors. To some degree the same thing happens to every popular camera such as the D300, etc.</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>There are no factory defects, as stated by the poster.<br>

Not in Poland or enywhere else.</p>

<p>Bartlomiej, you are new to photo.net, Welcome!</p>

<p>Photo.net is not a nikoniarze, and unfounded accusations will not be received well here.<br>

Go ahead and argue there, on the nikoniarze.pl.</p>

<p>There may be some large number of comments there, and most of comments are positive. If there are 476 pages of comments ?, then perhaps only a small % of it has some merit, resultant of things already explained.<br>

Most of people there argue about opinions and had never seen the D7000 camera.<br>

The nikoniarze.pl is not worth your time, but if you want to use the Google translate, go and see there:<br>

<a href="http://forum.nikoniarze.pl/showthread.php?t=197073">http://forum.nikoniarze.pl/showthread.php?t=197073</a></p>

<p><a href="http://forum.nikoniarze.pl/showthread.php?t=176224">http://forum.nikoniarze.pl/showthread.php?t=176224</a></p>

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<blockquote>

<p>Problem is very clear when shooting with narrow depth of field - large aperture lenses. </p>

</blockquote>

<p>Welcome, your english is just fine!</p>

<p>The problem with focus errors in this particular instance are normally, in my estimation, photographers not understanding how optics work.</p>

<p>"Help, my lens is not sharp wide open!" Nope, and it never will be. A subject who's not facing you directly will always have one eye out of focus when not head on, for instance.</p>

<p>It used to be that when people used SLRs they learned about how they worked and how the principles of physics with regard to their optics worked. Now, they complain for pages and pages on blogs.</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>It's true. People with their first step-up from a point-and-shoot camera enjoy reasonable results. Then they see that they want to shoot in low light or want to be able to get nice bokeh etc and buy a fast prime, and try using it wide open. And they have no idea that the DoF in many cases is just a couple of centimeters. If their subject (or the camera) moves even a bit while composing/shooting, the focal plane will be in an unexpected spot. It's very easy to do with human-caused errors, especially in dim situations. <br /><br />I sense that thousands of relatively inexperienced people with bodies like this and fast lenses just don't understand what's actually going on.</p>
Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>I'm an owner of d7000. I don't have a fast lens now - I've sold my old analog stuff. Now I have nikkor 16-85. My nikon works fine so far, but I'm afraid that AF will brake someday. I have a lot of experience with fast lenses.<br>

Problems were reported not only in Poland - all over the world, but only in Poland I found that the nikon service replaces a mirror mechanism (notabene it also causes oil stains on matrix).<br>

Even on this forum - http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00XnSk?start=0.<br>

It seems that problem is quite frequent - many users, especially who has kit lenses, are not aware of it.<br>

You must filter all forum information. I take into account only information from experienced users. Many of them are professional photographers and can compare pictures taken with D7000 and D300 with the same lens.<br>

The worst thing is that AF in a lot of d7000's begins malfunctioning after, eg 15000 shots.</p>

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>Your AF doesn't break. It's either calibrated well, or it isn't. It will continue working exactly the same, until the day that your camera dies or you do something to damage it, such as spilling water inside, or dropping it off a building, etc. Backfocus and frontfocus is not a problem of the D7000. It is a natural shortcoming of phase-detect autofocus systems. Read these articles:<br>

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2008/12/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-myths<br>

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2010/03/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-facts<br>

Again, it is not a problem of the D7000. As Shun, Frank, Peter, and Matt have already stated, it is a problem with people not understanding the equipment they are using. They think that if they buy a more expensive camera, their photos will be better, when in fact their images will be worse, because of the complexity. Anyone could go to a local store and buy a $200 bike, and learn to ride it without issues. A $13,000 racing bike used in the Tour de France is much more complex and HARDER to use, not easier. Same thing with cameras. 99% of the people with D7000 issues are actually people that bought more camera than they understand or are able to handle. Please go back and slowly read all of the comments again, because they have all already answered your fears completely accurately.</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>You don't understand me. BF/FF isn't any problem for me and for most experienced users (in reasonable limits of course) as far as it is constant, fixed. AF microadjustment can fix this. The problem with D7000 is that AF suddenly begins to work randomly ! One shot ok, another shot huge BF. At long distances to the target, BF is usually greater than range of microadjustment and very variable. First nikon service calibrated faulty cameras, with no success. Now replaces mirror lifting mechanism, and after this operation owners of d7000 are satisfied wih work of AF.<br /> Please, believe that this problem is real, I don't have time and willingness to prove this, many clever and wise people wrote thousands comments about it, in many different countries. We only don't know what scale it is<br /> I wanted to know if case is known to You, especially replacing mirror mechanism.</p>

<p>Oh - ps: this link You gave is known for me for long time and it was discussed on nikoniarze.pl year ago<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2010/03/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-facts" target="_blank"></a><br>

<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2010/03/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-facts" target="_blank">(http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2010/03/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-facts)</a><br /> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2010/03/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-facts" target="_blank"><br /></a></p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>@Bartlomiej - what exactly are you hoping for? People here do not agree that there is a AF problem with the D7000 nor do they think it is something that you need to worry about. Every new camera goes through the same issue. The D90 had a small and very vocal group of people complaining about it. Some people just like to complain.</p>

<p>Since you are certain that this problem is real, then sell your D7000 and buy something else. Fortunately for you, the resale value will be high since the D7000 is a great camera.</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>Well well ! After taking picture of my daugther last week, and not being able to get a clear focus on the eye, I did a very simple test, I lined up 5 smalls boxs (food packaging) next to each other, each is further away from the previous by 1 inche. Then I shot 5 pictures with the 5 sensors from left to right (configured 11 sensor, not 39) camera on tripod , speed 1/500 aperture f1.8 to f2.8, lense 85mm 1.8d ( I usually shoot portrait around f2.8)<br>

The result is that the box on the sensor is not in focus but the one next to it on the right side and 1 inch further away is in focus, and the process reapeat itselef for every sensor. It is alwas the next box that is in focus. With a focus correction of -20, It still focus further away than target.<br /> <br /> My D7000 was back focusing and I had better picture with my D40, and for a dslr that I paid 1100$ it is not acceptable.<br>

<br /> I was the owner of many nikon slr for the last 25 years, including, N50, N80 D40 D40X d90 D7000<br /> I shoot picture almost every day and I know how focusing work,<br /> I now shot with a D300s that I got after returning the D7000 and it focus perfectly, and no softness in the images.<br>

I will stick with the D300s for a while, the images comming out of it are really beautyfull with no artifact and crisp details. I went back with no regrets.</p>

<p> </p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>So, rather than send your d7000 to Nikon for calibration, you returned it and bought an older design ? Interesting. I was looking to buy the D300, but I opted for the D7000 for cost reasons. If after I purchased it I found it was faulty, I would have exchanged it for another body or sent it in for repair. The reasons I purchased it didn't change, so why should I spend more money to the D300 after an issue ?</p>

<p>As far as the original posters comments, I suppose it IS possible that the batch of D7000s sent to that region had a faulty part. As long as Nikon fixes it under warranty, I don't see a problem, other than a reputation black eye.</p>

<p> </p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>Anecdotal evidence only shows that it has happened to some people. It does not indicate frequency or severity.</p>

<p>Also, in my experience, with many users, it seems that they are fine with the kit lens, then they get a wide aperture lens, shoot it wide open, read on the internet where somebody had an AF problem with that camera, and assume that that must be the problem... then they write a post on photo.net and perpetuate misinformation.</p>

<p>it is certainly possible that there are some people with issues with their D7000... but it's also possible that it's not widespread. Get the camera serviced if need be and move on. All electronic equipment has a failure rate.</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>I have 40 000 shots at d 7000 since september, sigma 17 50 2,8 lens. Still All OK, that is Slow lens and i know how to work, some people just CLIC, and see out of focus. I am beginner and my manager just make training how to work. Now evry pics is FINE</p>
Link to comment
Share on other sites

<blockquote>

<p>Bartlomiej, what do you want to hear? Nikon is fixing broken cameras - good. What is the problem? Your camera works fine today. And you have proof from owners that when it isn't fine, Nikon fixes it. So, what else should they do, according to you?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Hmmm... good point. I may exaggerate, but I'm afraid that AF in my Nikon will brake after warranty expires.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Also, in my experience, with many users, it seems that they are fine with the kit lens, then they get a wide aperture lens, shoot it wide open, read on the internet where somebody had an AF problem with that camera, and assume that that must be the problem... then they write a post on photo.net and perpetuate misinformation.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>This experience (above) has nothing in common to the case. I wrote, that I can filter information from forums...</p>

<blockquote>Anecdotal evidence only shows that it has happened to some people. It does not indicate frequency or severity.</blockquote>

<p>Anecdotal ? One proffesional photographer tested seven D7000 cameras - none of them were ok, but it was year ago and they were with very early serial numbers. Another bought 3 d7000 cameras in UK and returned to the seller than bought d300. I know more than 20 proved cases of faulty AF and much more likely but not certain. People are satisfied when service replace mirror mechanism or when they return d7000 and buy d300.</p>

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>I was about to ask Santa for a D7000, but the many reported back focusing problems had stopped me in the track.</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00XnSk</p>

<p>Not sure if OP was referring to this.</p>

<p>The reported back focusing problem may be due to design or manufacturing defects, or sample defects, or firmware version difference, or the photographers' incompetence, or is yet another urban legend. Since almost all the reports and rebuttals are from those owning only a single D7000, it is difficult to tell. But Nikon, Adorama and B&H, etc. can certainly shed some light on this. Their representatives must be well aware of this, and some of them are PN members.</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>When there's a lot of a certain product, there are sure to be problems. When I've heard about problems with most cameras over the past few years, it seems far more people are having no problems. That seems to be what is happening in this case, too.</p>

<p>How long has this camera been out and I'm just hearing about these problems now in this thread?</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<blockquote>

<p> yet another urban legend</p>

</blockquote>

<p>IMO, most of this is urban legend. While I have only one D7000 and have used a friend's, my D7000 is my 6th Nikon DSLR and I have tested many other samples, including a 2nd D300, D300S, D3 (two samples), D3X, D3S, D3000, and D5000. Most recently I tested a J1. And prior to digital, I had four Nikon AF film SLRs including the N8008, F4, F5, and F100. None of them has any defect at all. Obviously the test sample were shipped from Nikon directly, but the SLRs I bought were all off-the-shelf random samples.</p>

<p>Among those camera, the only two problems I have had so far are:</p>

<ol>

<li>The electronics in the F4 failed after about 8, 9 years. Today, it no longer switches on.</li>

<li>The depth-of-field preview button on the F100 malfunctioned after about 3 years. Today, the preview is no longer usable.</li>

</ol>

<p>Interestingly, those two are higher-end bodies. None of my 6 DSLRs has experienced any problems so far, dating back to the D100 I bought in 2002, almost 10 years ago.</p>

<p>Yet, for just about every recent Nikon DSLR, there is some sorts of urgan legend that many of them are defective. E.g. the following thread is of a similar nature for the D300: <a href="00SCGt">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00SCGt</a></p>

<p>There are a few Nikon models that have massive problems such as the D70 BGLOD and the D5000's circuit board problem. Once those issues are confirmed, typically Nikon responses quickly and provides free repairs. For example, as soon as the D5000 was released, I got a test sample and the wide-spread circuit-board issue was also discovered almost immediately. By the time I finished up the review a couple of month later, Nikon had already set up a system to repair those D5000 and I even provided a link about the recall inside the review: <a href="../equipment/nikon/D5000/review/">http://www.photo.net/equipment/nikon/D5000/review/</a></p>

<p>Otherwise, something like a 5% defect rate is fairly typical for electronics such as DSLRs. If it is much higher than that, all the warranty repair cost will really hurt Nikon.</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>I saw a guy on another site that posted "the purpose of a dslr is to auto-focus", and a second who screamed "what's wrong with my D7000, it only focuses perfectly 99% of the time!" Jeez, with folks like that running around its no wonder people think the D7000 has auto-focusing issues. So many variables can give a newbie the impression something is wrong that its almost impossible to say if there really is a problem or not. All I know for sure is that my D7000 focuses perfectly 86% of the time as expected.</p>
Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p><em>"</em><em>I know more than 20 proved cases of faulty AF and much more likely but not certain."</em> Considering that these are mass produced (probably in the hundreds of thousands I would imagine), 20 seems like an insignificant amount (I know those experiencing problems are not happy but I think everyone knows even Nikon can't get it right 100% of the time - that is why they offer a comprehensive warranty).</p>

<p>My D7000 gets the focus right 100% of the time (but I do mess up on occasion). The D7000 is truly an incredible camera and exceptional value - a true bargain considering what it costs and what you get!<br /> <br /></p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>I don't have sales numbers for the D7000, but when Nikon introduced the D300 back in 2007, they were producing 80K units a month running three shifts at their Thailand factory; after a couple of months, they increated that to 90K a month. While I am sure that number would slow down later on, I would say there were probably 1 millioin D300 in circulation after a year.</p>

<p>Now that the D7000 is a little over a year old and since it is a cheaper DSLR (and therefore higher sales than the D300), there should be no doubt that there are well over 1M unit around. Given a typical 5% defective rate, I would assume that there are 50K defective D7000 produced, at least as a rough, ball-park figure. So if you only listen to those people who have problems with their D7000, you can easily find a lot of them.</p>

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...