Unpleasant Discovery

Have had issues with digital equipment rubber coverings - first with the DF, sent it in, waited, it got fixed. Second - the left hand front covering came loose on the D 750. Called in, no Joy, the only solution, send it in - no cost estimate, wouldn't even suggest an adhesive. Last night at a photo "job" the zoom ring on my 24-120 F4 began to come loose. Note - no problems of that type even on my oldest Nikon gear. Just got off a Chat with a "Nikon employee". The individual asked what equipment I had - though I had already stated that in detail. Then the individual then transferred me to a "Technician". NO, to "Just Answers" where I was supposed to give a credit card and pay a Buck. $1 is no big deal, that they are apparently Outsourcing Customer Service is! Obviously I am a dedicated Nikon customer so will hope it is only a Sunday thing and try again West Coast business hours tomorrow. Shocker!

I just hate this sort of thing.

If you can pay the buck with PayPal, it might (?) protect you a little from having your card numbers all over the "internets".

Here's the good news--you don't need to send your camera in to replace those bits. Or at least you shouldn't.

 

Nikon sells the rubber bits--including grips, focus/zoom rings, etc.--and some other camera/lens parts to the public. You can look up the relevant parts here: Cameras and photography equipment from Nikon. And replacing them yourself is a simple and very quick operation, no need to pay anyone to do it.

 

Just make absolutely certain that you're ordering the exact part you want. Nikon refuses to give refunds/exchanges of any kind, even if they screw up.

 

(I contacted them looking for a zoom ring for my 80-200/2.8 AFS lens. I sent them a link from their site to the exact lens I own and asked them specifically if the ring they had listed fit my lens--it wasn't clear from the description--and making certain they knew that I wanted a zoom ring for that lens and not for the AF-D version. They sent me the wrong ring, and when I complained and pointed out that I'd gone to great pains to make sure I'd been precise about what part I wanted, and that they'd promised it was the correct part, their response was basically "tough s--t.")

 

There are certain parts for Nikon cameras/lenses like those you seek that are also sold on eBay. I can't guarantee the quality of those bits, certainly, but they're cheaper and will probably do just as good as the Nikon equivalents, when tend to break down/come loose/expand so they no longer fit after just a few years.

Note - no problems of that type even on my oldest Nikon gear

I had it on F100, right side.

I just did a search for the D750 on the DSLR parts page. And it returned only one result. But when I removed the filter for D750 and set the page to "Show All," it appears they do have the part you need for your camera available. You'll have to scroll about midway down the page to find it.

 

It looks like they also have the zoom ring. And the parts are really cheap. But they're gonna stick you on the shipping, I'm afraid.

If you own practically any Nikon camera with the modern rubber-covered body, you're going to have to replace the rubber at some point if you own it long enough. And you'll probably have to replace zoom rings on lenses as well.

 

The first thing to go will probably be the grip. But even the parts that don't get a lot of direct wear and tear eventually swell up so that they no longer fit in the place designed for them. Replacing the adhesive won't fix it--you'll just find that the rubber has expanded beyond its original size and no longer will go back in place.

 

I've had to replace the rubber--generally all of it, at one point or another--on my D300, my D700 (had to replace all of it twice) and my D810. Oh, and I had to replace the rubber on both my MB-D10 for the D700 and the MB-D12 for the D810.

 

I've needed to replace the zoom ring on my 80-200 twice now and I'm it's second owner (I'm making do with the previous, loose ring, until I can find a proper replacement--see my reply above) and I've lost track of how many times I've had to replace the zoom ring on my 24-70. Whenever I order replacements from Nikon, I always order an extra spare or two, as I'm sure that within a year or so I'll be replacing the zoom ring again, and that way at least I save on shipping/price rises.

 

The Nikon rubber feels nice and gives a good grip. But as far as longevity under regular use, it's really a bit crap.

But as far as longevity under regular use, it's really a bit crap

Yup same here.

 

I've met quite a few heavy users of Nikon stuff that have NEVER had this problem and just as many who have had endless problems,

 

All genuine Nikon rubber and genuine user experience...

 

However, the main differences I found were both personal and, to some extent, climate related.

 

Do you have 'dry', cold hands, maybe cracked skin needing handcream?

 

or do they get moist as soon as you pick up a camera, especially in anything above 5C?

 

I'm of the later type and destroy modern materials.

 

My better half uses her cameras just as much as me and has very dry, cold hands and her zoom rings and grips etc look pristine.

 

Apparently, there's a similar issue with pastry chefs, some people with warm, moist hands just can't touch the stuff without it turning to adhesive, whereas others can handle it all day and come away clean.

Bernard Miller - may I ask where you mostly use your equipment, as I have had very bad experience with my D700, whereas D300 and D810 no problem with the rubber, but with the viewfinder lock, which is stuck at present. That is climate related +28 C ++ humid coastal area but only 3 months rain

Thanks for the sources & ideas. Nearly always dry hands even when things get interesting - no pastry chef though!

Hello, I haven't posted here in a long time but I am having the same issue with my D300 rubber grips. Unfortunately, the Nikon Parts link does not have the grips for the D300/D300s. There are aftermarket replacement grips available but they seem to be a mixed bag of good and bad as far as fit and adhesives. Anyone have good experience with any of these aftermarket replacements? If so, which one?

Thanks

Stan

Hello, I haven't posted here in a long time but I am having the same issue with my D300 rubber grips. Unfortunately, the Nikon Parts link does not have the grips for the D300/D300s. There are aftermarket replacement grips available but they seem to be a mixed bag of good and bad as far as fit and adhesives. Anyone have good experience with any of these aftermarket replacements? If so, which one?

Thanks

Stan

Did you check "Ali-Express"?

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=AS_20191009070240&SearchText=nikon+d300+parts&switch_new_app=y

I did the right front and rear on my new to me Df myself a few weeks ago. It looked like the previous owner had tried to superglue it in place when it peeled, which made an even bigger mess.

 

In any case, IIRC the two pieces were right around $15 including shipping from Nikon. They were only a couple of dollars each, and then shipping was $6 or $7.

 

The biggest obstacle was getting all the superglue remnants off. I initially tried cleaning with IPA, which would barely touch it. I was hesitant to use acetone for fear of what it would do to the plastics, but ended up using it carefully with wipes as "dams" to both hold it in place(and soften the glue), then chipped it off with a blunt metal scraper. That part was probably an hours work. Aside from that, I cleaned up Nikon's adhesive with hexane, although anything similar(naptha, lighter fluid, or even kerosene provided that you clean up after it) should work fine. The replacements are easy to install as they are self adhesive-I'd suggest using the trick I learned from John White(when installing light seals) of licking the adhesive and positioning, the allow it to try(this gives you a few minutes of working time).

My Df cover didn't get peeled off until I sent it in for repair which they peeled it off and replace with a new covering because they needed to disasemble the camera to fix the problem with the exposure meter.

Thanks for the replies the ones at Aldi seem to get good reviews so I guess I'll give it a try.

Thanks for the replies the ones at Aldi seem to get good reviews so I guess I'll give it a try.

Aldi ?