Respectfully...while there certainly is a chance of something getting through Nikon's QC, unless we are true machinists and know their system, we don't really know. I submit that camera manufacturers, in general, are pretty dang finicky 'bout such things. I worked in a plant manufacturing stuff for satellites and you wouldn't believe our QC, and we're not the Japanese culture-wise, either. Personally, I can only go on 13 years of Nikon equipment with never a problem with their manufacturing/machining (including the FTZ adapter)...of course anecdotal, but I'd wager many more on this board would bear that out...these guys work in ten thousandths of an inch, I *do* wonder what their tolerances are...

That's a good article by Roger Cicala. I see what he means about doubling the amount of lens mount interfaces. He's saying that a misalignment of 10 microns side to side is enough to cause blur on the side of the image. 10 microns is .0004 inch. I make high-precision parts for the Navy. We sometimes have to work with tolerances that go into the ten-thousands of an inch. It can be very difficult to hold those close tolerances. The inspection lab uses coordinate measuring machines to check many of the parts. With a part the size of a lens mount, they would expect that the coordinate measuring machine could check the part to an accuracy of +/- .0002 inch.

My my, that was quite a rant--maybe you were bitten by a mirrorless camera when you were young? Anyway, your response was pretty much non-responsive to my questions. I do get it that you don't think switching to mirrorless is a good move at this point in time and I also get it that you didn't pay any attention when I indicated that I am and will remain an amateur and that I shoot for a type of travel photography to insert pictures into my stories of my trips and that because of how I often travel space and weight are at a premium.

Let's see, I do not care how good the modern iPhones are--I have one but cannot take good pictures on it and have no desire to. I actually like being able to play around with shutter speed, f-stops and ISO as well as different focus points etc. To me (and many of my readers) my photography has evolved significantly since I started doing these trip stories and as I have modified and improved the equipment I use--that makes me happy--I don't care about rewards or becoming famous--it's not going to happen. I don't care what famous photographers used as walk-around lenses--I am not them although I very much appreciate a lot of their work.

And for the record I've been following the debate about mirrorless cameras and Nikon vs. Cannon vs. all the other brands on UHH and other sources for some time. I presented this post not because I didn't check out past discussions but because I am presently considering changing format for what I consider valid reasons (I didn't really ask you) and I have a few questions that I was hoping to get the most current thinking on. So far I've had a really good response and I appreciate the other hoggers who took the time to help clarify my questions. They have helped me open my mind to a few new possibilities and to the strengths and weakness of what I'm contemplating and that's what I think this forum is for.

So, thanks for you answer I do always enjoy good rants--I've been know to do a few myself--but unfortunately I must reject yours because it is irrelevant to my questions.