Nikon Owners: Buyer Beware

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Okay call me naive. I bought my Nikon D70s in 2005 from Butterfly Photo in NY for $1,308 (not cheap in my book). It has worked well until a couple of months ago. The camera no longer shows up when I plug its USB cable into a computer. I have been downloading photos by putting the memory chip into my old Nikon Coolpix.

Okay, so I bring it to the Nikon repair center in El Segundo and get the bad news that not only is it not under any warranty but they won’t fix it at all because it is “gray market.” A little internet research and I learn that shopping for the best price – used to be called being thrifty- is really, buy a Nikon without getting any Nikon support. The fact that the camera is manufactured in the same factories as NikonUSA cameras has no significance. In fact, even if I want to take it to an independent repair shop, it probably can’t be fixed since Nikon won’t sell parts for repair of non-NikonUSA cameras in the USA. So if you want to purchase a Nikon: Buyer beware. If it isn’t NikonUSA, you may not be able to service it. If you are thinking of purchasing a used Nikon: Buyer Beware!

I have used Nikons since my first Nikkormat in 1973. That is loyalty! I’m in the market for a new DSLR and won’t buy a Nikon. Any suggestions?

6 thoughts on “Nikon Owners: Buyer Beware

  1. As a Nikon loyalist, I'm rather dismayed. I have a D200, not my first Nikon camera, but I stuck with Nikon because I already had lenses, and the bayonnet mount hasn't changed in more than 3 decades. However, it's become obvious to me in recent years that they are no longer the leader they once were. Most of my friends have switched over to Canon, and up until now, I've thumbed

  2. Just starting to look into other cameras. Olympus supports all of their cameras regardless of where they were purchased. I think Panasonic does also.

  3. I love my Canon – it&#39;s a digital SLR, the most recent purchase in a long line of Canon&#39;s this family has owned. The Rebel XTi will do anything you could ask of it – and will work with inexpensive lenses as well as very high end pro quality lenses.<br /><br />On the short fix however, you should be able to use the memory card anyway – just take your pictures, remove the card, and install

  4. Thanks Mary. I have been using another camera to download the pictures from the memory card but may just get a card reader. Been hearing good things about Canons and may go this route after I check out their support policy.

  5. Is your camera&#39;s memory card the smaller, thin one? (Sorry, don&#39;t know what it&#39;s called) I use a memory card that actually flips in half, revealing a usb. I just stick it into the computer and am good to go without having to hook up the camera or a card reader.

  6. Hi Christine. My memory card doesn&#39;t connect directly to the computer but I did order a memory card reader so that problem is solved. Guess mostly I&#39;m irked by the customer service. Still haven&#39;t decided what to do about that but I think I&#39;ll just find an independent camera repair shop to see if it can be fixed and cleaned. If that fails I&#39;ll start seriously checking out other

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