alan_mclaren

<p>Thank you Shun Cheung and Barry F<br>

I have taken the good out of what has been posted and will leave it at that.<br>

I did write Nikon Japan twice last year and have not received a reply as of today.<br>

I have contacted Nikon Canada after they dropped me a note on Facbook in reply to my posting on their page. They will try and work a plan out for me and let me know in a day or two. Patience. <br>

Causing a raucous is not my intersession. Although I am not a happy camper. Time for Peace.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Shun Cheung, a very strong response to say the least, yet I am glad you have had a good experience. <br>

I purchased my Nikon products directly from Nikon Canada.<br>

I did ask for them to be replaced and they refused.<br>

I did check the 300mm f2.8 with their customer support person outside their location with the D7000 of mine and their D800. This lens had an issue with both. They said because their service department said it was operating within spec, they will not replace it, even though there was proof to the contrary in actual use by myself and the customer service person on both cameras.<br>

All other issues were dealt with in pretty much the same manner.<br>

This has continued to the point that the warranty is now over for the D7000 and I must pay for to be fixed now. This would not be a problem if I could trust Nikon the fix it. <br>

My real wish is that Nikon would help me.<br>

Thank you for your input.<br>

Alan</p>

<p>Barry F, thank you for this insight. </p>

 

<p>Shun Cheung, thank you for your input. Glad to hear you are having a good experience with Nikon. I too would have liked that.<br>

I have tried to get a replacement. Nikon does not give refunds. But there line is that there is nothing wrong even with all I have shown and explained.<br>

Yes, I am very unhappy about loosing on my investment (300mm). The other option is to talk to counsel or walk away. <br>

If you had this experience, would you buy another camera from them?<br>

Thanks again for your input.</p>

 

<p>Ikka Nissila, thanks you.<br>

The 300mm has been sold.<br>

Nikon also suggested for me to buy the D800 as a way of getting the photos I was after. <br>

When I presented multiple images taken with the D7000 and the 35mm f1.8 dx on a tripod of a group of people in a single line facing the camera. Face detection picked up all the faces, At this point I stepped away and used a remote and took multiple shots. It was a sunny day, I was set on "A" on the dial with ISO set to 100 at f8.0. after reviewing the images, the area that looked the clearest in these photos was the trees in the background, about 6 yards behind the people. The digital file showed the focus points on their faces and the background was clear, very odd.<br>

After showing them this, they checked the camera with this lens and found nothing wrong. I asked the customer service person, then how does this happen? The answer was, I was not there and have no idea what happened. <br>

Repeated issues like this and when I asked for a replacement I was told, their is nothing wrong with my product.<br>

Randomly focus stops working altogether and I need to turn the camera off and on which fixes it for a while. Each day I am out this happens at least once. This did not happen while in for service at Nikon. Included with this the camera does not always turn off with the switch. Once I found it on with the switch in the off position after a road trip. <br>

Basically Nikon does not believe there is a problem yet suggested I buy another product (D800) to be happy. I did all these returns in person.<br>

Others have been treated far better.<br>

I am disappointed in Nikon's treatment of this situation. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>More than a year later since my last post.... I am still having focus issues with my D7000. The lens I use does not seem to matter, hand held or tripod with remote. The focus is inconsistent from shot to shot even on a stationary item shooting with tripod and remote. If I manual focus with live view I can get good focus. <br>

I have had this in to Nikon service 5 times and my problem persists. All my lenses have gone in for service as well, often together. <br>

Warranty is now over for me and this camera. I have sold my 300mm f2.8 VRII as it never focussed properly. I sold it for 2000 less tan I paid, very sad. Yes it was in for service too.<br>

I have spent a lot of money on Nikon products and tried to work with them. I feel my time has been waisted. I know others have had a better experience than I. The only lens that has worked well with this D7000 is my Tokina 11-16mm f2.8.<br>

I am thinking I have spent enough time trying.<br>

Thank you all for your help.<br>

Sincerely,<br>

Alan</p>

 

<p>Thanks Henrik, Good Thinking. Could you elaborate on this a little. </p>

<p>I have had my experience with the D7000 for some time now. After many times in for service including lenses with it. I believe it is not perfect. Things have improved since service, but not as good as I would have liked. I was having problems using single point AF on small items with the VR turned on. In continuous, the focus would constantly adjust itself, never quite getting proper focus. After contacting Nikon, I was told it was the VR causing this and to turn the VR off. This did solve this focusing issue. Because of this I now leave VR off. When photographing birds in flight, the VR inter-fears with the AF staying on target. Everyone's experiences will be a little different. The only filter I use on occasion is nikon's own Circular Polarizing Filter. Focusing properly is not as easy as it should be. Manual focus accuracy with this camera is not much better. looking for the green dot to appear while focusing means taking your eye off the subject. When the item is in proper focus, the images are incredible. Learning to use this camera to get what I want has taken its toll. It works because I am working within its limitations. 10% excellent - 30% good - 20% poor - this would be my average. I shoot a large volume of images in-order to pick one with good focus. I have now spent over 500 hours using this camera. When I have an issue I call Nikon. When the photographs come out perfect, they are amazing. Proper focus and holding the camera still do make a huge difference. I was hoping VR would help me with camera movement but it has yet to benefit me.<br>

My two cents </p>

<p>It is good to see there is a little bit of difference in opinions and yes I have mine. With my D7000 my expectations were high. I had problems and worked a long time on my own to see if experience(7 months) could help me overcome them. I did get better results but I believed there was more to it than experience. I was frustrated with my results. I contacted Nikon(the history of that is in this thread) and took my camera in for service. Still not happy, I continued with the help of Nikon service until my problems could be worked out(5 trips). My camera and 3 lenses needed adjustments. Nikon service spent time with me shooting photographs at their service centre before taking things away.<br>

It would have been nice if I never needed service. But if you need service Nikon will help. My example of working through a problem is not the norm. My problem involved equipment and me and both needed help. The D7000 capabilities are still ahead of mine. To help with this I send the odd photo to Nikon for there input.<br>

Now I use the word clarity instead of focus. Lighting and its understanding to get a clear looking photo is much more critical with the D7000 that the D90(these are my 2 cameras) in my experience. Some of my photos look unfocused yet it is the lighting that causes this. This is my experience after service.<br>

I'm starting to ramble on a bit here. I here a lot of "you need to learn how to use the camera". This may be true in some cases(probably is). Pointing out what needs to be learned and where to find it will go a long way. Thom Hogan has a saying at the top of his page on Discipline "<em>No, I'm not into S&M, though sometimes achieving best shot discipline seems like it."</em><br>

It you think you have a problem call Nikon. Take the time to do what needs to be done. Learning how to do something well, is not easy and you will get frustrated. If you can stay with it, in the end you will understand.<em><br /></em><br>

<br />One cent two<br /></p>

<p>Shun, Thanks for your input. You are right about 1,2 and 3. Number one and two need to pull their weight, because number three(me) is frustrated. Sending all items in question to Nikon is the right move.</p>

<p>Robert, Nikon would only say they adjusted the focus on all 5 service trips. No mention of other D7000 with similar problems.<br>

Nikon never did any checking with regards to the "ERR" error messages. this happened 4 times requiring removal of the battery to resolve the problem. When I asked, I was told "it is working now and that will not happen again. None of the paper work shows it being addressed. I left telling customer service I was concerned with this.<br>

I have noew checked the camera out with 3 different lenses, 2 are focusing on what they are pointed at and are showing a very clear image(300m AF-S 2.8 VR and 50mm AF 1.8). The 70-300mm VR(twice in for service) is not showing clarity at any f-stop from 70 to 300mm. There is a a distinct separation of the red colour directly upwards from all other colours, starting in the centre. It is worse wide open and is still readily visible up to f16. I sent samples into Nikon and here is their reply.<br>

"Thank you for your e-mail. In regards to your question, I have reviewed the photos once again, and there seems to be no issue whatsoever with the photos. I believe you have exceeded the D7000 capabilities and need to move on to Full frame shooting if you want different outcomes of photos."<br>

Deep breath.<br>

Things are better than they were. I have had an unusual number of things to deal with. <br>

I will be checking my other lenses over the next few days. </p>

 

<p>Good news 5. My D7000 appears to be working the way it should. The issues I was facing was not just the camera, it included the lenses. This time the camera's auto focus operation was adjusted again. Nikon did find a problem with the lens and adjusted the focus system as well as the auto focus operation. This was the 70-300mm AFS VR lens(second trip in for service). Lenses I have taken in previously include 35mm f1.8 ASF DX and 300mm f2.8 AFS VR.<br>

How is one to explain my luck or lack of it. Today I am happier than I was, but what has happened should not have. At this point I believe Nikon got to the bottom of this and stood behind its product. Yes, this is an opinion.<br>

After hearing so many times, the D7000 focus issues are almost all users inability to understand and use the focus system. I took a long time using, testing, asking questions, purchased Thom Hogan's manual on this camera(yes, I read the entire book). Months went by with discouraging results.<br>

Now will I be able to rekindle the excitement I had when I first purchased this camera and lenses almost a year ago? Well I hope so. Perhaps a slower start.</p>

<p>Robert K Thank you for your input<br>

This last Wednesday I did exactly what you are talking about. Nikon's Customer Relations Specialist spent 2 hours with me including taking photos. He got a poorer results than I did. He tried his best to figure things out and when all was said and done the specialist wanted me to leave the camera and lens to be looked at again. This is the 5th time. Just to be clear, we both tried another body and had no problems. This included swapping lenses between bodies.<br>

Nikon and I both believe this D7000 has a problem, there for it has a problem.<br>

I do believe the "ERR" flashing messages that have happened may be part of this issue. If the computerized system has problems, this may explain the other issues.<br>

Nikon will eventually get to the bottom of this and remedy it. Till then, a cool head is needed. </p>

<p>My D7000 is now in for service for the 5th time. Nikon's Customer service specialist took 2 hours to show me how well this camera worked while picking it up after the 4th service. He was unable to get it to work to his satisfaction using my lenses they have serviced as well. The customer specialist asked to keep the camera and lens again to get this problem fixed. Bellow is my experience prior to picking my camera up on its 4th time into service.<br />My experience with Nikon. I have owned my D7000 since last summer.<br /> <br />Back focus is a real issue for many of us with Nikon D7000. Mine has been back for service 3 times already and is back there again. I drive the 2 hours from my home in Peterborough Ontario, Canada to Nikon service in Mississauga Ontario. The first time after conversations on the phone I sent it in because it was back focusing on all my lenses. I picked it up from service and took it home and tested it. There was no change. I talked to service on the phone again. They asked me to do more tests including AF-Fine tune, adjust sharpening to 6 instead of default 3 and with all my lenses. I did this and was unable to get it to focus accurately. It was still back focusing. Nikon Service asked me to bring it in again with sample photos and one of the lenses. I did this and picked it up when they called. Again I took it home and tested it again. It was still back focusing with all the lenses. After much discussion and many more tests as suggested by them including samples sent in by me for them to review. Nikon service asked me to bring in 3 of my lenses and the camera for service. This is the 3rd time for this issue. I took all of this equipment in and met a Customer Relations Specialist whom would personally oversee this. One week later I received a call to say all was ready to pick up. At the counter I was told all were work properly, adjustments were made to all and I should be pleased with the results. I take the equipment home and test it. I am now completely discouraged. The best photo was back-focusing by more than 2 inches. I took the best samples and emailed them to the Specialist that was helping me. He could not believe this was still happening. I was asked to do many more tests and send the samples in. I did and the Specialist believes there is a problem with the camera and I need to bring it in again. It is now at service again, this is the 4th time for the same issue. While dropping it off I had a long conversation to try and understand this. I was promised this problem would be solved this time. <br />Do try and understand that the area that is back focused is extremely clear(sharp).<br />The specialist did show me a D800 and how well it focused and suggested that perhaps this is what I and looking for. He may be right as to the camera being what I want to go with the lenses I have. <br />To add to this sinking feeling I have invested over 8 thousand dollars in senses for this camera that are sitting idle. Without a camera what are they worth.<br />Here's to hoping it all works out.<br /><br />Additional problems<br />1. I had a card reading error with all 6 memory cards I used with this camera. A firmware upgrade and this does not happen anymore.<br />2. 4 times the top screen has flashed with "err", this happened awhile after the firmware update. The only way I was able to get back to using the camera was to remove the battery and put it back in, turn it on, error starts flashing, now press the shutter half way.<br />3. After the third service while going around town to take shots in various locations, Buildings, Traffic, People, Trees and so on. I noticed the photos were coming out in a pattern. Normal, light, bark. I checked to see if Bracketing was turned on and it was set to "0F"(Zero-F). I called Nikon to help with this. Reset the camera with the 2 green buttons and 2 other places in the menu. This cleared up what was happening, no explanation, it just worked.<br />4. The late afternoon before taking the camera in again another thing happened. Running around town again take photos of all kinds of things. When loading things in the car I put the camera on the passenger seat then finished packing the rest of the gear and noticed the camera on and went to turn it off, but it was already turned off. I paused for a few seconds, then turned the switch to the on position then off again and it turned off. Don't know what to make of this.<br /> <br />Nikon is aware of all of this.</p>

<p>Shun, Thank you for this input. I read the 85mm article. I to believe this camera should be replaced. In my case there has been more to it than Back Focus issues. I will list them bellow. But first I would like to let you know some good that has come from this. Because I was trying to figure out if it was me or the camera, I now know how to test the camera properly. I have gone out and practiced, practiced, practiced. I have spent a week on flying birds alone. Using the flash now more than ever, day , night and indoors. Making a check list before going out and following it. What I am saying is this experience has taught me some of the things I needed to learn. Although I did not like the way it happened.<br>

List of other happenings with the camera.<br>

1. I had a card reading error with all 6 memory cards I used with this camera. A firmware upgrade and this does not happen anymore.<br>

2. 4 times the top screen has flashed with "error", this happened awhile after the firmware update. The only way I was able to get back to using the camera was to remove the battery and put it back in, turn it on, error starts flashing, now press the shutter half way.<br>

3. After the third service while going around town to take shots in various locations, Buildings, Traffic, People, Trees and so on. I noticed the photos were coming out in a pattern. Normal, light, bark. I checked to see if Bracketing was turned on and it was set to "0F"(Zero-F). I called Nikon to help with this. Reset the camera with the 2 green buttons and 2 other places in the menu. This cleared up what was happening, no explanation, it just worked.<br>

4. The late afternoon before taking the camera in again another thing happened. Running around town again take photos of all kinds of things. When loading things in the car I put the camera on the passenger seat then finished packing the rest of the gear and noticed the camera on and went to turn it off, but it was already turned off. I paused for a few seconds, then turned the switch to the on position then off again and it turned off. Don't know what to make of this.<br>

Nikon is aware of all of this.</p>

 

<p>Back focus is a real issue for many of us with Nikon D7000. Mine has be back for service 3 times already and is back there again. I drive the 2 hours from my home in Peterborough Ontario, Canada to Nikon service in Mississauga Ontario. The first time after conversations on the phone I sent it in because it was back focusing on all my lenses. I picked it up from service and took it home and tested it. There was no change. I talked to service on the phone again. They asked me to do more tests including AF-Fine tune, adjust sharpening to 6 instead of default 3 and with all my lenses. I did this and was unable to get it to focus accurately. It was still back focusing. Nikon Service asked me to bring it in again with sample photos and one of the lenses. I did this and picked it up when they called. Again I took it home and tested it again. It was still back focusing with all the lenses. After much discussion and many more test as suggested by them including samples sent in by me for them to review. Nikon service asled me to bring in 3 of my lenses and the camera for service. This is the 3rd time for this issue. I took all of this equipment in and met a Customer Relations Specialist whom would personally oversee this. One week later I recieved a call to say all was ready to pick up. At the counter I was told all were work properly, adjustments were made to all and I should be pleased with the results. I take the equipment home and test it. I am now completely discouraged. The best photo was back-focusing by more than 2 inches. I took the best samples and emailed them to the Specialist that was helping me. He could not believe this was still happening. I was asked to do many more tests and send the samples in. I did and the Specialist believes there is a problem with the camera and I need to bring it in again. It is now at service again, this is the 4th time for the same issue. While dropping it off I had a long conversation to try and under stand this. I was promised this problem would be solved this time. <br>

Do try and understand that the area that is back focused is extremely clear.<br>

The specialist did show me a D800 and how well it focused and suggested that perhaps this is what I and looking for. He may be right as to the camera being what I want to go with the lenses I have. <br>

To add to this sinking feeling I have invested over 8 thousand dollars in senses for this camera that are sitting idle. Without a camera what are they worth.<br>

Here's to hoping it all works out. </p>