To Nikon or not to Nikon

Hello,

One of the most important decisions a photographer can make is what equipment to purchase. Once a decision has been made and a brand decided upon, it can be extremely hard (or at least prohibitively expensive) to change brands because camera lenses are frequently tied to a specific manufacturer. A professional will often have $10k - $25k in lenses that would need to be replaced, in addition to the body.

We selected Nikon equipment due to what has historically been a very good reputation. Unfortunately, we have had extremely mixed results and cannot offer a whole-hearted endorsement of their products. While their products seem to work fairly well in general, we have had a couple of instances where, we believe, Nikon is not living up to their reputation.

In the first case, we had purchased a D200 camera body. This camera was supposed to have a hardened body that would allow it to take more abuse than the next lower model, and it was priced appropriately higher (a couple of hundred dollars more). Our understanding was that this camera should take a reasonable amount of abuse without failing, as one would expect of any professional camera. Unfortunately, this does not appear to be the case. We took the camera on a kayaking trip where it got a little wet – no, it was not dunked, but rather splashed, and only slightly at that. It hasn’t worked since and the estimate to repair it was essentially the same as the cost of a new, and improved, camera. This is far from the robust behavior we expected of a hardened, professional camera body, and was extremely disappointing. (The lens continued to work fine.)

We have also had several problems with Nikon’s Nikkor lenses. In at least two cases, our lenses have lost their zoom and significant focusing capabilities (even manual focusing), presumably because a center ring has loosened or gotten dirty. It is also worth noting that with at least one of these lenses, no precipitating factors caused any damage. One frame the lens worked fine; the next, it did not, and it hasn’t since. The initial estimate to repair the larger of the lenses was about $450, while the smaller was just over $200. That is a lot of cash for lenses that have only been used for a year or two, and may be indicative of a quality issue.

In addition to the unreliable quality of the products, we have had significant problems with access to parts. Nikon appears to have a poor reputation among certain retailers for providing parts (including complete lenses) in a timely manner. This can lead to shortages and the inability to purchase or repair equipment on a reasonable, much less short, timeline. Furthermore, Nikon does not appear to provide accurate information about when they will deliver – meaning the retailers and repair shops cannot provide reasonable time estimates for delivery either. We have had multi-week to multi-month delays in both lenses and repairs due to supply problems. So far, this has generated only a couple of critical problems for us, but it has come close several other times and is always extremely frustrating. Since the same retailers are able to provide new Nikon cameras and standard, but cheaper, Nikkor lenses, this would appear to be a business decision on Nikon’s part about what products to produce and distribute.

At this point, we are continuing to work with Nikon equipment (now using a D300). However, we wanted to voice our concerns about the quality of both the service and merchandise being provided. It certainly does not appear to be providing the high quality products and service that its reputation (and pricing) would suggest it should.

Note: Though we cannot confirm this through personal experience, we have heard similar complaints from our vendors and repair shop about Cannon’s timeliness and service. We therefore suggest that, when choosing a manufacturer, you speak to a knowledgeable retailer about such issues as repair times, availability of parts, and common problems encountered in addition to the specs and capabilities of the specific piece of equipment you are considering.

Terence
City Escapes Nature Photography