Nikon D850 and 200 - 500 mm F5.6 Nikon Lens: Mirror cleaning and general checkup plus calibration of lens to body

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JimmySchoster

JimmySchoster

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Hello,
I have a Nikon D850 body that I purchased new when the camera was first released. I just noticed that the mirror is very foggy. So, I am looking for advice about where to send. If I send to Nikon will they check over the entire body and clean the sensor, etc? How do I save my settings before I send the body in? Also, I thought this would be a good opportunity for them to calibrate my lens with the body since I was always curious if the focus was accurate as it should be.
What should I expect the cost to be (not including shipping)? How long does it take to do this?
Is there a better alternative?

Thank you all for your advice!
 
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You can purchase one of Nikon's Maintenance Packages and send the camera to them.

Error | Nikon USA

Shop the latest mirrorless & DSLR cameras and NIKKOR lenses from the official Nikon eCommerce site. Explore our innovations and photo equipment!
www.nikonusa.com www.nikonusa.com
 
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JimmySchoster said:
Thank you all for your advice!
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Yeah, get the camera packed up and sent out to a Nikon service center. There's info in the manual and on Nikon's website on how to save your settings to a memory card.

In terms of lens and camera tuning, I do believe Nikon will perform AF Fine Tuning if you ask them to for a charge but if your lens doesn't show a consistent back or front focus problem fine tuning won't do anything. IOW, AF Fine tuning doesn't make a lens sharper it just slightly adjusts for front or back focus problems so if you have a front or back focus problem AF Fine tuning is a good idea but if you don't there's no image quality improvement to as you say 'calibrate the lens to the body'. Do you regularly miss focus in such a way that objects slightly in front of or slightly behind your desired focus point are sharper?
 
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I wouldn't send the lens, either. If you think it's has a consistant front or back focusing issue, calibrate it yourself using one of the several methods out there.
 
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JimmySchoster said:
Will the foggy mirror in my D850 negatively affect the autofocus?
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As usual, that depends on how foggy…or rather how much light can pass through the mirror. If the System on the D850 is normal for a DSLR then this article will help

www.slrlounge.com

How does your DSLR Auto Focus Actually Work?

We all use the autofocus (AF) systems in our DSLRs on a daily basis, they are one of the most important aspects of our cameras - without them achieving perfect focus would mean a slow manual process. We have all heard terms like "Phase Detection" or "Contrast Detection" and know they are...
www.slrlounge.com www.slrlounge.com
 
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JimmySchoster said:
Will the foggy mirror in my D850 negatively affect the autofocus?
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As posted above, it may but I'd be more worried about how that mirror got fogged and what it means about anything else in the AF or viewfinder in terms of moisture and fogging. It's not typical for a DSLR mirror to end up foggy so the camera was likely exposed to humid conditions or something else that fogged the mirror and that may have led to other moisture related issues to the AF sensor, in the viewfinder optics or on the sensor itself. I'd send the camera to an authorized Nikon service center for a good cleaning and check up.
 
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Thank you all. I rarely take the tele lens off and it was just two days ago I was at a Preserve and removed the lens to put on a manual Macro lens I have. While the body was in my lap in the car and the sun shown down I was shocked to see the mirror fogged with circular grey spots and the one edge had a gold hue. Right, I will send in to Nikon. I really am careful with this camera and it has not been in harsh climate. I know I have taken it out in the winter when cold, perhaps that may have resulted in some condensation when I returned to the warm house. Anyway. Thanks again for the helpful advice. Jimmy
 
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Are you sure you are seeing a problem? As DR says, if it truly is fogged, I'd be suspicious of some sort of chemical or that something damaged the mirror (it should never be touched). I've had dslr's since the D100 and many have sat in the closet for years and I've never seen any sign of fogging inside. Condensation would be a temporary thing and if it left any permanent marks, they would only appear in the viewfinder, not in the image. The mirror is partly reflective and partly transparent. If you shine a bright light on it, it can appear "milky" but that isn't cause for concern nor are colors as various coatings reflect light differently.
Are you seeing any loss of clarity in the viewfinder? If not, I don't think you have a problem. It is possible that the af sensor has some junk on it so that might be worth a trip to Nikon but I'd only do that if I was having af performance problems. As stated previously, I wouldn't send the lens, I'd run my own focus check using any of the methods available (dot focus comes to mind).
 
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jimmyd850mirror.jpg
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This is what I see when I shine a flashlight on the mirror. I have never inspected the mirror like this, in fact I never really examine the area since I am so keen to get the lens changed quickly to avoid any dust, etc. This could have been this way for a long time. Looking at the mirror with the naked eye it looks OK, just see the reflection of the frosted screen above. Crazy. But not right.
 
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Not sure what that is, can't say I've seen that before. I do see dusty particles but the green/blue looks odd, almost like there is a seperation of layers. Might be worth sending it in. I'll have to take a look at my oldest D850 (2nd batch) when I get home. Are you using an LED flashlight?
 
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Good grief! Haven't been in the jungle lately!!! I just purchased the premium choice for Nikon service. If fungus, can they clean that or will they have to replace the mirror. I would imagine the latter. Yikes. I have seen fungus on VERY OLD lenses and view finders in the past (vintage stuff).
 
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aolander said:
You can purchase one of Nikon's Maintenance Packages and send the camera to them.

Error | Nikon USA

Shop the latest mirrorless & DSLR cameras and NIKKOR lenses from the official Nikon eCommerce site. Explore our innovations and photo equipment!
www.nikonusa.com www.nikonusa.com
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Has anybody used this service from Nikon? If so, were they able to keep to their 5-business day turnaround? And is their a preference between having the work done at the NY or CA facility?

--Ken
 
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aolander said:
You can purchase one of Nikon's Maintenance Packages and send the camera to them.

Error | Nikon USA

Shop the latest mirrorless & DSLR cameras and NIKKOR lenses from the official Nikon eCommerce site. Explore our innovations and photo equipment!
www.nikonusa.com www.nikonusa.com
Click to expand...
I'll provide a brief update as I decided to send a body in for their premium maintenance package. First, the price that Nikon initially posts does not seem to include some type of tax or additional charge. They showed $89USD and then charged me $100.95 in the cart. No breakout of the pricing was provided so I have no idea what the charge is for, and the additional charge for each of the service package options were not the same percentages.

Second, they say that they will provide you with a printable shipping label. My assumption was that this was a pre-paid shipping label, otherwise why would they supply it? Wrong, they provide you with a shipping label that has your service number bar code on it so they can scan the package. This is not of limited use, but is actually less than helpful. If you are wanting to ship by UPS, for example, they generate their own label that is not small. And, as most of the carriers charge by box size along with weight, sticking two labels on a small box so they are both fully readable is a bit challenging to say the least. They could have at least instructed customers to minimally have the bar code showing. Not off to a great start, but I am hoping they finish on a much better note.

--Ken
 
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Update on my maintenance. Nikon received my camera today and quickly sent me an estimate to approve. The $89 premium "package" they advertised that went to $100.95 is now $130.59. I can somewhat understand the sales tax charge, but they also tacked on a shipping and handling fee as well. They do state that the price is starting at, but it would be greatly appreciated if they actually showed the full scale for the various bodies. And, they are now stating that repairs take between 7-10 business days rather than the 5-day (in most cases) servicing they have listed on the website.

Not a way to win customer loyalty if you ask me. The current price is over 46% higher than what they initially advertised. I just wish they would have included or mentioned all of the extra charges a bit more clearly so expectations could be set accordingly.

--Ken
 
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Hello, My D850 just returned from Nikon. I shipped out on Friday June 3rd and it returned to me today, Thursday June 16th. So over all 13 days but I sent it UPS ground and they returned it UPS ground so most of the time was with shipping. They received it on June 9th, fixed it June 10th and shipped it out. Apparently the mirror just needed a cleaning. Looks PERFECT now. I had the Premium Service done. So should be Tip Top. There was even a small chip in paint on the top view finder. I must have bumped against something. No longer present. Looks perfect.
Total cost was 127.00 which includes 17.00 for return shipping. I of course had to pay to ship it to Nikon insured but that is expected.
Overall I am very happy with Nikon Premium Service.
I wish I knew how the mirror got so dirty when I rarely change lenses and do it in protected environment.
Just thought I would give an update.

Best,

Jimmy
 
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JimmySchoster said:
Hello, My D850 just returned from Nikon. I shipped out on Friday June 3rd and it returned to me today, Thursday June 16th. So over all 13 days but I sent it UPS ground and they returned it UPS ground so most of the time was with shipping. They received it on June 9th, fixed it June 10th and shipped it out. Apparently the mirror just needed a cleaning. Looks PERFECT now. I had the Premium Service done. So should be Tip Top. There was even a small chip in paint on the top view finder. I must have bumped against something. No longer present. Looks perfect.
Total cost was 127.00 which includes 17.00 for return shipping. I of course had to pay to ship it to Nikon insured but that is expected.
Overall I am very happy with Nikon Premium Service.
I wish I knew how the mirror got so dirty when I rarely change lenses and do it in protected environment.
Just thought I would give an update.

Best,

Jimmy
Click to expand...
Did you send it to NY or CA? I sent my D500 in to their CA facility on June 5 and it was supposed to arrive back today, but UPS had a railroad issue and it is now coming back tomorrow. Hoping I have the same luck as you on the premium cleaning.

--Ken
 
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My experience with Nikon service here in Australia is amazing.

I bought a second had D750 with an unknown history, found out that it was one with a potential faulty mirror issue and was listed as a recall candidate.
My preferred camera store attended to having it sent to Nikon to check if they would honour the recall.
Nikon did so and when I received the camera back it looked like new with a report that they had checked that everything worked, cleaned the sensor as well as fix the suspect mirror mechanism, it performed flawlessly.(y)

A lens I bought new had developed a problem with some slightly out of focus shots whilst others were fine.
I finally worked out that the front of the lens would move very slightly rotationally, which made some shots OOF.
I sent it back to a Nikon repair centre and it was was back fixed within a week, apparently there were some loose screws involved.(y)

All the above at no cost from Nikon.

Hope that you have your camera/lens issues resolved so you may get back out photographing your favourite subjects.
 
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