D2x back-focus problem confirmed by Nikon tech

joedmiles · #8 03-14-2006, 05:11 PM

I'd recommend you take it on to Nikon and get it at least checked out-I regret not doing it sooner as it's really made a dramatic improvement. I'm looking forward to my next shoot now!

HermanFarrer · #9 03-14-2006, 08:50 PM

The camera was at Nikon's satellite office in Washington, DC. They are sending the camera and my test images up to the larger repair center in Melville, NY where there are many more technicians an more comprehensive repair facilities. The DC tech was very thorough and made all of the tests and adjustments he could do.

Herman

[ QUOTE ]
I'd recommend you take it on to Nikon and get it at least checked out-

HermanFarrer · #10 03-17-2006, 04:28 PM

I received a call today from the DC Nikon tech. Before sending my camera to Mellvile, he dug into some service advisories on the D2X and discovered that the mirror had not been returning to the same location after each time the shutter fired. According to him an out of adjustment mirror can cause the camera to misfocus. I believe he replaced a mirror stop. I'm going in on Monday to make some more tests shots. I feel that I've been lending Nikon $4500 since I purchased the camera. I'd really like to use it!

Herman

MarshalRay · #11 03-17-2006, 05:35 PM

There have been too many experienced pros with these bf problems to simply dismiss it as user error as Herman mentioned. I've experienced this too as have too many others. So I'm simply not buying that "user error" spin.

I don't know why "Forum Member's" account was closed(what's up with that? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img])but would like to hear from him if possible and anyone else having their D2X bodies repaired in Melville.

HermanFarrer · #12 03-18-2006, 12:47 PM

I am the OP. There was a problem with my registration and I had to reregister.

Herman

HermanFarrer · #13 03-23-2006, 05:00 PM

Well I went down and tested the camera again, but it still didn't appear to be quite right. It did not consistently focus correctly. I was shooting a static object using the center, right center, and left center focusing areas. Some images were sharper than others and some were obviously back focused. Images were made at F5.6 @ 1/250-1/400 sec. On top of that, my 70-200VR may also have a focusing problem. I did test the body with other lenes so I know that it can't be just the 70-200VR. Both camera and lens we shipped to NPS's Melville shop. I hope to know more by the middle of next week.

It's funny how after staring at a monitor for a while, nothing looks sharp. Being the paranoid that I am, I went back to shots I made in years past as well as images shot for me by others. After about 66% magnification in PS, none of them looked real sharp. This actually made me feel better, because those images usually printed fine. As a matter of fact, The NPS tech told me that their final determination for sharpness is to make a print.

Oh well . . . .

Herman

[ QUOTE ]
I received a call today from the DC Nikon tech. Before sending my camera to Mellvile, he dug into some service advisories on the D2X and discovered that the mirror had not been returning to the same location after each time the shutter fired. According to him an out of adjustment mirror can cause the camera to misfocus.

Herman

[/ QUOTE ]

Ron_Scheffler · #14 03-23-2006, 08:45 PM

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After about 66% magnification in PS, none of them looked real sharp.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you saying that you view images in PS @ 66%? You should not do this. Only view at the "even" increments of 25, 50, 100%. If you view at 33 & 66%, there are problems with aliasing of the screen image. This is particularly true if you've heavily sharpened an image. Noise will be dramatically exaggerated.

IMO, viewing at 100% is also unrealistic since it's nowhere near the actual print size of the image (assuming your images usually go to print). For this reason I prefer 50%.