jeffjones

<p>The very first time I shot with my new D300 was last fall.  I was shooting a minor league baseball game and the camera was exposed to a very light drizzle for just a few minutes before the game was called off.  I had sheidled the camera from the drizzle and kept it wiped off, just as I have on many occaisions with all my other Nikon DSLR's.  I had no idea the camera had been affected until I tried to shoot the next day when the game was resumed.<br>

When I looked through the viewfinder I was shocked to see that the veiwfinder image was a blur and had hundreds of small spots over its entire area.  I shot a few test shots and was relieved to see that the review of on the back LCD was sharp, which meant the recorded image was not affected like the veiwfinder was.  I ended up shooting the rest of the game with one of my D2H's and set the D300 in a dry warm location for the next several hours.  The viewfinder image did eventually clear up, but the same blurring and spots reappeared about a week later when I happen to be shooting in a high humidity situation, but not in the rain.<br>

Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed in the "weatherproofness" of the D300.  I sent it back to Nikon for warranty repairs.  When returned about a week later the work order did not show replacement of any components, so I dont' know exactly what they did to the camera.  It has worked flawlessly ever since, however, but I have been very careful to keep it out of the rain.<br>

As I said, I've shot many times with my D2H's, D70 and my old D1X and D1H in the rain with no ill effects.  I'm not sure one can conclude the D300 model is not as well sealed.  It may be I just had a defective specimen.  FYI</p>

I got my 600mm back from Authorized Photo Service last Friday. They gave it a CLA and now it works beautifully! The $150 charge was money well spent.

The drop in filter would have been too easy. It was the first thing I checked.

 

Thanks again to everyone who's made helpful suggestions.

 

APS said they would put the lens on their optical bench and test it, then give me an estimate if repairs are warranted.

 

Regarding suggested testing methods: They're all taken into account. I have tried most suggested methods with a wide variety of lenses over the years. The weeds in my submitted photo have been a very conveniet test of resolving power of numerous lenses, including several 300/2.8's, a couple of 600mm's, a couple of 500mm's all with and without teleconverters so I do have a extensive database to compare to. They're don't yield analytical results but they do have a lot of detail to resolve.

Robert, yours is an opinion I share. It is an AIS version and is likely 20 years old but still looks like new and has no internal dust or other obvious optical flaws. Im hoping my problem is an alignment issue that can be remedied.

 

Thanks to everyone for the help.

 

Authorized Photo Service in Morton Grove is the nearest Nikon Service Center to me. Would it be worth the extra time and expense (probable) to send to Melville instead?

Oops. Of couse, the original image was 12MP.

The attached image is a 7% segement of the original 35MP image. It was taken with a Nikon D300. ISO is 400. Shutter speed is 1/250 and aperture is f/4.0. No teleconverter or other attachment. Distance was approximately 300 feet.<div></div>

I've had my Nikon 600/4 AIS lens now for about 6 months but have been disappointed in the images it has produced

so far. Having had a Niknon 600/5.6 previously, I was expecting the f/4 to exceed the performance of the 5.6. I no

longer have the 5.6 so cannot perorm side by side comparison testing but I do still have many images on file from

the smaller lens. The f/4 is just not as sharp.

 

I've tried various methods of supporting and shooting the f/4 including: my massive Bogen 3036 tripod with a long

lens support attached to the camera body, mirror up shutter release, with shutter release cable. I've shot distant

subjects and close subject during various weather conditons, striving for cool, less windy days.

 

Can anyone tell me if the lens needs to be realigned? I've heard it may cost up to $400 for this service so I would

appreciate any informed opinions you may have. It appears to be in mint condition with no visible marks outside or

inside.

 

I'm not sure if what I'm seeing is chromatic aberration but images show a lot of fringe around high contrast objects

that the 600/5.6 did not have.

 

Recommendation of a competent shop to make the repairs would be appreciated as well.<div></div>

The D300 is the MOST sucessible to moisture of any of my Nikons, base on its first day of shooting. The minor league baseball game was delayed because of rain so I hung around the concourse waiting for the rain to stop. At one point I ventured out into the drizzle for just a few seconds. The camera did fine when the rain stopped and I finally shot the game.

 

The next day, however, I was shocked to see a very fuzzy and soft image in my D300 viewfinder. Not only was the image fuzzy but there seemed to be hundreds of what looked like small bubbles across the image as well. I was sick. The mirror looked fine so I deduced that the focusing screen was the affected part, but could not be sure. I did take a few shots and they appeared normal in playback mode. Eventually, a few hours later, the fogging did disappear with no apparent permanent effects.

 

I have had and shot with several D1H, D2H and D1X and even a D70 many time is much more severe conditions with no il effects. If this camera can't take even a light drizzle for just a few seconds I'd say it is not even close to weather proof.

 

I did notice two possible points of entry for the errant water. One is the joint between the plastic eyepiece and the body. To get a good look at this spot you must slide the rubber eyecup off. The other is on top of the camera, under the pop up flash. With the flash up you can see that the release mechanism protudes through a hole that might lead directly to the prism area. The hole here sits in a bit of a well where the flash is nestled when closed. The joint around the flash is not sealed at all so any moisture that gets past the joint will run into the well and then into the camera.

 

This, probalby, my biggest disappointment in the camera, though I still think it's fine over all.