Nikon service: factory or service center? Sent a lens for repair/service to Nikon ,Melville, NY. Took a month. I understand factory warrenties, etc. But--- Are there service centers...

ltatko

Sent a lens for repair/service to Nikon ,Melville, NY. Took a month.
I understand factory warrenties, etc. But---
Are there service centers just as good? I'm in SW Fl.

Thanks for any and all help/input.

Len

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

ltatko wrote:

Sent a lens for repair/service to Nikon ,Melville, NY. Took a month.
I understand factory warrenties, etc. But---
Are there service centers just as good? I'm in SW Fl.

Thanks for any and all help/input.

Len

Personally, Melville is the only one that will touch my cameras and lenses other than me. I know many of the people there and trust them completely, I can't say the same about some of the service centers and when working at Nikon, I have heard some horror stories from customers. Also, If there are issues, Nikon will have a record of what was done and there is no "Pointing of fingers".

texaseve Loc: TX, NC and NH

Just sent my camera and lens off to NY...as long as they have it done for my fall trip, I'm ok. I was wondering the same however. They are sooo expensive!

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

texaseve wrote:

Just sent my camera and lens off to NY...as long as they have it done for my fall trip, I'm ok. I was wondering the same however. They are sooo expensive!

Actually their price is going to be about the same as ANY Nikon authorized service center. Once they get the camera, you can call 1800 NikonUS and tell them when you need the camera back by. They are very good at meeting deadlines if you ask. (as long as you don't say you want it tomorrow. )

yhtomit Loc: Port Land. Oregon

Purchased a used D800 march 13 for my birthday,brought it in to be converted to IR,they screwed up and sent it to Nikon Georgia.Have not seen it since.Had our 4 month anniversary last Sunday.Sigh...Gasp...

treadwl Loc: South Florida

This is the final answer. GO TO THIS PLACE
http://www.yelp.com/biz/authorized-photo-service-morton-grove

I'VE BEEN USING THEM FOR YEAR. THEY ARE RELIABLE, FAST, REASONABLE PRICED AND HAVE NEVER, EVER, IN ANY WAY LET ME DOWN.

I shot professionally until I retired and they saved me many times.

Larry

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

yhtomit wrote:

Purchased a used D800 march 13 for my birthday,brought it in to be converted to IR,they screwed up and sent it to Nikon Georgia.Have not seen it since.Had our 4 month anniversary last Sunday.Sigh...Gasp...

Who sent it to Nikon GA. first of all there isn't a Nikon GA. That is just an authorized repair facility. Nikon has 2 facilities in the US, one in LA and the other in Melville Ny. Everyone else is an "authorized" repair facility. Nikon Corp will rarely send a camera out to another facility unless it is a special case that they cant handle because of parts, etc. However, I would call and find out what is going on.. NikonUSA if that is where you sent it will get it straightened out. The original question was about Melville though, and those guys are great.

yhtomit Loc: Port Land. Oregon

dcampbell52 wrote:

Who sent it to Nikon GA. first of all there isn't... (show quote)

The camera shop that attempted the IR conversion sent it.I had them convert a D200 back in 2011 without incident.They said it would not show an image.They have to replace the whole sensor array and are waiting for parts.
I'm trying to get them to ship any D800 with less than 10K clicks and call it even.I will then ship it to Lifepixel for the conversion.
The shop won't give me the phone number,I would have followed up after they had it a week.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

yhtomit wrote:

The camera shop that attempted the IR conversion sent it.I had them convert a D200 back in 2011 without incident.They said it would not show an image.They have to replace the whole sensor array and are waiting for parts.
I'm trying to get them to ship any D800 with less than 10K clicks and call it even.I will then ship it to Lifepixel for the conversion.
The shop won't give me the phone number,I would have followed up after they had it a week.

What camera shop was it? Just curious.

If they had to replace the entire sensor / shutter box it could take awhile. Even Nikon was having trouble getting parts for the D800 back when they had the early focus issues with that camera. (mainly at the time because the camera was newly released). But I have seen parts holds last a couple of months but at least Nikon will let you know and can give you an expected delivery time for the parts.

Reinaldokool Loc: San Rafael, CA

ltatko wrote:

Sent a lens for repair/service to Nikon ,Melville, NY. Took a month.
I understand factory warrenties, etc. But---
Are there service centers just as good? I'm in SW Fl.

Thanks for any and all help/input.

Len

I've used C.R.I.S. for both warranty and non-warranty service. Fast, quality results. Also for non-warranty, I got a recommendation here at UH for----
Rick J Riggins
1939 S. Quebec Wy. #203
Denver, CO 80231
WWW.DiscountCameraRepair.com
303-669-0945

He did a great job for a much more reasonable price and quicker.

kb6kgx Loc: Simi Valley, CA

ltatko wrote:

Sent a lens for repair/service to Nikon ,Melville, NY. Took a month.
I understand factory warrenties, etc. But---
Are there service centers just as good? I'm in SW Fl.

Thanks for any and all help/input.

Len

I can speak only for my own personal experience. I am fortunate to live 20 minutes away from the only Authorized Service Center on the west coast, which Ive used only a few times over the past 40 years it has been around, and trust them completely to take care of whatever issue I might have.

Because they are an Authorized Service Center, Nikon (corporate) will stand behind whatever they do. So, to me, I see no difference between an ASC and going directly to Nikon.

wlgoode Loc: Globe, AZ

ltatko wrote:

Sent a lens for repair/service to Nikon ,Melville, NY. Took a month.
I understand factory warrenties, etc. But---
Are there service centers just as good? I'm in SW Fl.

Thanks for any and all help/input.

Len

Don't know about now, but when I owned a repair shop, a tech had to be factory trained and pass an exam for status as a Service Center. Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Pentax and most others required that.

SHLeM52 Loc: Jacksonville, FL

ltatko wrote:

Sent a lens for repair/service to Nikon ,Melville, NY. Took a month.
I understand factory warrenties, etc. But---
Are there service centers just as good? I'm in SW Fl.

Thanks for any and all help/input.

Len

I had my film camera (Olympus OM1) repaired by Southern Photo Technical Service (SPTS) http://sptsjaxfl.com/cms/ in Jacksonville. Have never had to have any Digital cameras repaired, although they say they fix them too. Closer than NY. Give them a call.

shutterrelease Loc: Northern Illinois

Thanks Larry, This place is in my area. Had no idea it was there. :thumbup:

Best, Shutterrelease