Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

I thought Nikon was a good brand name so I bought from Costco two Nikon
cameras over the years - both of which have been fraught with failure. I
even read the reviews before I bought which never mentioned that these
Nikon cameras were pieces of ... well ... you know. They don't work.

Nikon replaced my Coolpix 3100 once under warranty and then it broke about
a year or so later. Same spot. The battery latch door has a flimsy loop of
plastic which eventually snaps off necessitating the entire body being
swapped out at the factory. I can't believe they made the Coolpix series to
break like that but there's no way it can't break, it's so badly designed.
A kindergarten kid could recognize the flaw from the outside just by
looking at it. Yet the reviewers all missed it.

I figured this was a fluke until I bought the Nikon Coolpix 5000.

I bought the Nikon Coolpix 5000 because the reviewers said it was sturdy,
having a METAL body. Whew. No more broken flimsy plastic battery doors, I
thought. Wrong. My Nikon Coolpix 5000 died often, but this time it was the
battery itself. After three or four or five batteries, I gave up, since the
replacement batteries would end up costing more than the camera was worth.
That Nikon Coolpix EATS up batteries! They worked fine for the first six
months or so. But then they died like they were placed on a charcoal fire.
I ended up having to leave the batteries on the charger because they'd have
nothing left in them after two or three days, they were so bad. After a
while, I couldn't get a dozen pictures out of the camera even hot off the
charger, .before the battery died.

Funny thing, a friend has the Nikon D50 and he says it works fine. The
battery lasts days and the battery door hasn't fallen off yet.

What gives? Did I happen to buy the two worst Nikon cameras on the planet
or did the reviewer miss a biggie or is my experience just a fluke or does
Costco only sell the Nikons that nobody wants but the reviewers don't know
that or is the entire Nikon Coolpix lineup a sham ... or what?

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:43:30 -0700, Linda Sands wrote:
Did I happen to buy the two worst Nikon cameras on the planet

I don't know about the Nikon 5000 battery (probably Nikon engineers goofed
on the charger because the batteries would presumably come from a variety
of suppliers). Nikon has a bad reputation for battery chargers.

But I do know about the Nikon Coolpix battery door latch flaws as I had the
Coolpix 2100 which uses the same idiotic design.

Here is a photo of the latch from a clueless reviewer
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Niko...ompartment.jpg

Here is a photo of the common Nikon engineering flaw the reviewer missed
http://files.myopera.com/mcduret/blog/IMGP0065b.JPG

See how a paperclip & superglue were used to fix Nikon's engineering flaw
http://www.uthunter.com/images/Nikonfix.jpg

See how a tripod screw & plate were used to fix Nikon's engineering flaw
http://files.myopera.com/mcduret/blog/IMGP0070b.JPG

Here is a photo of how Nikon fixed the flaw themselves
http://www.scaredpoet.com/images/E7600_batterydoor.jpg

I would think that Nikon fixes these under a secret warranty for free even
after the warranty period has expired.

Does anyone know how to invoke the Nikon secret warranty?

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

In article , Jeff Dittmar wrote:

I would think that Nikon fixes these under a secret warranty for free even
after the warranty period has expired.

Does anyone know how to invoke the Nikon secret warranty?

Tell 'em you're a class action attorney ;-)

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

On Oct 11, 12:43 pm, Linda Sands wrote:
I thought Nikon was a good brand name so I bought from Costco two Nikon
cameras over the years - both of which have been fraught with failure. I
even read the reviews before I bought which never mentioned that these
Nikon cameras were pieces of ... well ... you know. They don't work.

Nikon replaced my Coolpix 3100 once under warranty and then it broke about
a year or so later. Same spot. The battery latch door has a flimsy loop of
plastic which eventually snaps off necessitating the entire body being
swapped out at the factory.

Plastic-c-c-c-c-c-c. The days of the fine old METAL P&S cameras are
gone, quality having given way to megazooms, crappy lenses, TINY,
HORRIBLY noisy sensors and rotten plastic bodies. They make me sick.

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

Linda Sands wrote:
I thought Nikon was a good brand name so I bought from Costco two Nikon
cameras over the years - both of which have been fraught with failure. I
even read the reviews before I bought which never mentioned that these
Nikon cameras were pieces of ... well ... you know. They don't work.

Nikon replaced my Coolpix 3100 once under warranty and then it broke about
a year or so later. Same spot. The battery latch door has a flimsy loop of
plastic which eventually snaps off necessitating the entire body being
swapped out at the factory. I can't believe they made the Coolpix series to
break like that but there's no way it can't break, it's so badly designed.
A kindergarten kid could recognize the flaw from the outside just by
looking at it. Yet the reviewers all missed it.

Reviewers have complained about these flimsy doors so much that it's
almost an item that they no longer bother mentioning because so many
cameras have this problem.

I figured this was a fluke until I bought the Nikon Coolpix 5000.

The 5000 is indeed a very flawed camera. Supposedly the upgrade, the
5100, solves some of the problems, but not many reviews on it yet.
Battery life is even worse on the P5100.

The CoolPix 3100 suffers from the usual problem of cameras with AA
batteries and doors that must hold the batteries against the
spring-loaded contacts, but with the added disadvantage that it's the
camera body that breaks, not just the door which can be replaced fairly
cheaply.

The P5100 seems attractive, especially because it seems to be about the
cheapest camera with a hot shoe that uses Li-Ion batteries (the G9 is
much more expensive). However I'd opt for an S5 over the P5100, despite
the larger size.

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

Rich wrote:

Plastic-c-c-c-c-c-c. The days of the fine old METAL P&S cameras are
gone, quality having given way to megazooms, crappy lenses, TINY,
HORRIBLY noisy sensors and rotten plastic bodies. They make me sick.

There are differences in the quality of the plastics and the design. If
the design takes into account the weaknesses of plastic in certain
components then a plastic or polycarbonate body can be fine.

The worst place for plastic is in areas of constant stress such as in
battery compartment covers on cameras with AA batteries that put
constant pressure against the cover (which is part of the circuit. It's
one reason to avoid cameras with AA batteries if possible, though I
still have bought Canon cameras with AA batteries and have not had problems.

Ironically, it's often the ultra-compact point and shoot cameras that
are still made of metal because using metal helps make the camera smaller.

I still use my very plastic Canon G2. The early G2 production did have a
plastic problem but Canon repaired these at no charge.

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

"Linda Sands" wrote

I thought Nikon was a good brand name so I bought from Costco two Nikon
cameras over the years

Here and there Costco sells off what a manufacturer has too many of.
And one reason the manufacturer has too many is because he can't sell
them as the word has gone out about the problems. Costco hides
these jewels so they are hard to tell from Costco's perfectly good
merchandise.

I bought the Nikon Coolpix 5000 because the reviewers said it was sturdy,
having a METAL body. Whew. No more broken flimsy plastic battery doors, I
thought. Wrong. My Nikon Coolpix 5000 died often, but this time it was the
battery itself. After three or four or five batteries, I gave up, since
the
replacement batteries would end up costing more than the camera was worth.
That Nikon Coolpix EATS up batteries! They worked fine for the first six
months or so.

That sounds like the charger. Do you have another charger or are they
proprietary available-from-Nikon-only batteries?

Funny thing, a friend has the Nikon D50 and he says it works fine. The
battery lasts days and the battery door hasn't fallen off yet.

_Everybody_ screws up sometimes. They are more likely to screw up on
something they are doing for the first time - Leica M8 anyone?

Wisdom has it one should always hold off until Version 3.21a is released.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Darkroom Automation: F-Stop Timers, Enlarging Meters
http://www.darkroomautomation.com/index.htm
n o lindan at ix dot netcom dot com

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

On 2007-10-11 09:43:30 -0700, Linda Sands said:

I thought Nikon was a good brand name so I bought from Costco two Nikon
cameras over the years - both of which have been fraught with failure. I
even read the reviews before I bought which never mentioned that these
Nikon cameras were pieces of ... well ... you know. They don't work.

Nikon is a good brand name and Costco is okay, but Costco does not
carry Nikon's best cameras and Nikon's point & shoot cameras are not
special. However, you should see the *really* fragile junk put out by
the likes of Fuji and Minolta. Fujis are notorious for the slightest
moisture, even condensation or breathing on the camera, causing
irreparable damage. They also are extremely sensitive to heat, to the
point where you cannot use lithium batteries in them. Minolta point and
shoots tended to be just flimsy.


Nikon replaced my Coolpix 3100 once under warranty and then it broke about
a year or so later. Same spot. The battery latch door has a flimsy loop of
plastic which eventually snaps off necessitating the entire body being
swapped out at the factory. I can't believe they made the Coolpix series to
break like that but there's no way it can't break, it's so badly designed.
A kindergarten kid could recognize the flaw from the outside just by
looking at it. Yet the reviewers all missed it.

The reviewers didn't miss it. It is just that flimsy battery doors are
so common that they are considered normal. It is one reason that Apple
did not put one on the iPhone. Camera battery doors (and memory card
doors) are usually cheap pieces of junk. It does not get better with
the expensive DSLRs. You can buy a $5000 DSLR and not only will it have
an easily broken memory card door, it will have external contacts for
shutter release and the like covered by a little plastic button that
has to be completely removed when the contact is in use. These buttons
are usually lost very quickly. And let us not even get started on
flimsy lens hoods. I have replaced several on my Nikon lenses. One lens
in particular, the 18-200 mm VR, is now on its fourth lens hood. That
one is broken, too.


I figured this was a fluke until I bought the Nikon Coolpix 5000.

I bought the Nikon Coolpix 5000 because the reviewers said it was sturdy,
having a METAL body. Whew. No more broken flimsy plastic battery doors, I
thought. Wrong. My Nikon Coolpix 5000 died often, but this time it was the
battery itself. After three or four or five batteries, I gave up, since the
replacement batteries would end up costing more than the camera was worth.
That Nikon Coolpix EATS up batteries! They worked fine for the first six
months or so. But then they died like they were placed on a charcoal fire.
I ended up having to leave the batteries on the charger because they'd have
nothing left in them after two or three days, they were so bad. After a
while, I couldn't get a dozen pictures out of the camera even hot off the
charger, .before the battery died.

Your charger is bad, or you are using third party batteries, probably
from Best Buy or Ritz. These are made in China. In my opinion, they
make good fire starters.


Funny thing, a friend has the Nikon D50 and he says it works fine. The
battery lasts days and the battery door hasn't fallen off yet.

What gives? Did I happen to buy the two worst Nikon cameras on the planet
or did the reviewer miss a biggie or is my experience just a fluke or does
Costco only sell the Nikons that nobody wants but the reviewers don't know
that or is the entire Nikon Coolpix lineup a sham ... or what?

Many Nikon fans suspect that the entire Coolpix line is a sham. Nikon
does nothing outstanding there. Just a whole bunch of me-too cameras
with average features, performance and build quality.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

"Linda Sands" wrote in message
...
I thought Nikon was a good brand name so I bought from Costco two Nikon
cameras over the years - both of which have been fraught with failure. I
even read the reviews before I bought which never mentioned that these
Nikon cameras were pieces of ... well ... you know. They don't work.


snip
While Nikon's DSLRs are among the best, their current point and shoot line
is nothing special. The P5000 was a dissapointment in performance from the
reviews I've seen. I may be a Canon Fanboy, but you'd be much better served
by a Canon A6xx series camera. You may be hard on the cameras battery covers
and break off the Canon's too.
John

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

The battery doors are uniformly fragile on almost all digital cameras;
the Nikons you mention are perhaps a little bit worse than average. I
have experience with the 3100; with careful use it can be made to hold
up. But as you mention, the stupidity is that the door is not designed
to be easily replaced. I've also noted flimsy battery doors all the way
up to my D80.

Your 5000 battery experience is atypical. I've had good performance
with Nikon battery packs back to the CoolPix 995. In fact the battery
that came with mine years back is still fine. Are you buying genuine
Nikon batteries?

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:55:25 -0700, C J Campbell, breathing heavily,
wrote:

Nikon is a good brand name and Costco is okay, but Costco does not
carry Nikon's best cameras and Nikon's point & shoot cameras are not
special. However, you should see the *really* fragile junk put out by
the likes of Fuji and Minolta. Fujis are notorious for the slightest
moisture, even condensation or breathing on the camera, causing
irreparable damage.

You might want to mention some specific models, as I've used
several of Fujis (mostly the S-series), and far from being fragile,
they are quite robust, and have performed well for several years.
Do you have first-hand experience, or did a birdy whisper some
nonsense into your ear, causing a wee bit of irreparable brain
damage from the accompanying traces of moisture?

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

On 2007-10-13 15:41:58 -0700, ASAAR said:

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:55:25 -0700, C J Campbell, breathing heavily,
wrote:

Nikon is a good brand name and Costco is okay, but Costco does not
carry Nikon's best cameras and Nikon's point & shoot cameras are not
special. However, you should see the *really* fragile junk put out by
the likes of Fuji and Minolta. Fujis are notorious for the slightest
moisture, even condensation or breathing on the camera, causing
irreparable damage.

You might want to mention some specific models, as I've used
several of Fujis (mostly the S-series), and far from being fragile,
they are quite robust, and have performed well for several years.
Do you have first-hand experience, or did a birdy whisper some
nonsense into your ear, causing a wee bit of irreparable brain
damage from the accompanying traces of moisture?

I have owned five Fuji digitals. I will never buy another one. All of
them either died of battery overheating or they stopped working after
being exposed to Puget Sound fog.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 08:48:22 -0700, C J Campbell wrote:

You might want to mention some specific models, as I've used
several of Fujis (mostly the S-series), and far from being fragile,
they are quite robust, and have performed well for several years.
Do you have first-hand experience, or did a birdy whisper some
nonsense into your ear, causing a wee bit of irreparable brain
damage from the accompanying traces of moisture?

I have owned five Fuji digitals. I will never buy another one. All of
them either died of battery overheating or they stopped working after
being exposed to Puget Sound fog.

Fuji makes DSLRs as well as several different lines of P&S
cameras. Is there some reason you don't want to identify the ones
you've used? ALL of the ones I've used are extremely battery
efficient, so there should be no problems with overheating unless
less efficient, battery draining models are used, many pictures are
taken rapidly using the flash, especially if lithium AA batteries
(which can produce a lot of heat) are used. I suspect that dense
fog isn't kind to more brands of cameras than just some of Fuji's
models. Equally strange, is that you'd choose to not identify the
cameras that you deem to be good for use in dense fog. Perhaps
you're not really confident that they're much more reliable than
Fuji's cameras when used in highly humid environments?

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

On Sat, 13 Oct 2007 16:51:09 -0400, Scott Schuckert wrote:

The battery doors are uniformly fragile on almost all digital cameras;
the Nikons you mention are perhaps a little bit worse than average. I
have experience with the 3100; with careful use it can be made to hold
up. But as you mention, the stupidity is that the door is not designed
to be easily replaced.

I found this wonderful thread while looking up how to fix my son's Nikon
Coolpix 3100 battery latch door camera body broken problem.

I latched onto the paperclip idea but nobody said which glue to use. I
bought Locktite superglue and Locktite epoxy but I think one or both of
those glues melted the camera body a bit. The camera body plastic is pitted
slightly and indented where the glue was wet but now has dried.

Does anyone know what the camera body plastic is made up of? The package
insert says not to use the Locktite Quick Set Epoxy on "polyethylene" or
"polypropylene".

Also, the articles didn't say WHAT SIZE drill bit to use so I used a #55
(0.052 inh) drill bit which seemed to work to drill the holes in the ribs
in the inside of the Nikon Coolpix camera body to hold the long legs of the
paperclip.

In addition, nobody said which dremel bit to use, and I munged up the
camera body by using one that was too large and unwieldy.

You can see a dozen step-by-step photos of my operation to recycle my son's
Nikon Coolpix 3100 camera at http://usera.imagecave.com/coolpixfixer/

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

"Linda Sands" wrote in message
...
I thought Nikon was a good brand name so I bought from Costco two Nikon
cameras over the years - both of which have been fraught with failure. I
even read the reviews before I bought which never mentioned that these
Nikon cameras were pieces of ... well ... you know. They don't work.

Nikon replaced my Coolpix 3100 once under warranty and then it broke about
a year or so later. Same spot. The battery latch door has a flimsy loop of
plastic which eventually snaps off necessitating the entire body being
swapped out at the factory. I can't believe they made the Coolpix series
to
break like that but there's no way it can't break, it's so badly designed.
A kindergarten kid could recognize the flaw from the outside just by
looking at it. Yet the reviewers all missed it.

I figured this was a fluke until I bought the Nikon Coolpix 5000.

I bought the Nikon Coolpix 5000 because the reviewers said it was sturdy,
having a METAL body. Whew. No more broken flimsy plastic battery doors, I
thought. Wrong. My Nikon Coolpix 5000 died often, but this time it was the
battery itself. After three or four or five batteries, I gave up, since
the
replacement batteries would end up costing more than the camera was worth.
That Nikon Coolpix EATS up batteries! They worked fine for the first six
months or so. But then they died like they were placed on a charcoal fire.
I ended up having to leave the batteries on the charger because they'd
have
nothing left in them after two or three days, they were so bad. After a
while, I couldn't get a dozen pictures out of the camera even hot off the
charger, .before the battery died.

Funny thing, a friend has the Nikon D50 and he says it works fine. The
battery lasts days and the battery door hasn't fallen off yet.

What gives? Did I happen to buy the two worst Nikon cameras on the planet
or did the reviewer miss a biggie or is my experience just a fluke or does
Costco only sell the Nikons that nobody wants but the reviewers don't know
that or is the entire Nikon Coolpix lineup a sham ... or what?

NO,

you have just been unlucky...........or heavy handed.

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

On Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:43:30 -0700, Linda Sands
wrote:

I thought Nikon was a good brand name so I bought from Costco two Nikon
cameras over the years - both of which have been fraught with failure. I
even read the reviews before I bought which never mentioned that these
Nikon cameras were pieces of ... well ... you know. They don't work.

Nikon replaced my Coolpix 3100 once under warranty and then it broke about
a year or so later. Same spot. The battery latch door has a flimsy loop of
plastic which eventually snaps off necessitating the entire body being
swapped out at the factory. I can't believe they made the Coolpix series to
break like that but there's no way it can't break, it's so badly designed.
A kindergarten kid could recognize the flaw from the outside just by
looking at it. Yet the reviewers all missed it.

I figured this was a fluke until I bought the Nikon Coolpix 5000.

I bought the Nikon Coolpix 5000 because the reviewers said it was sturdy,
having a METAL body. Whew. No more broken flimsy plastic battery doors, I
thought. Wrong. My Nikon Coolpix 5000 died often, but this time it was the
battery itself. After three or four or five batteries, I gave up, since the
replacement batteries would end up costing more than the camera was worth.
That Nikon Coolpix EATS up batteries! They worked fine for the first six
months or so. But then they died like they were placed on a charcoal fire.
I ended up having to leave the batteries on the charger because they'd have
nothing left in them after two or three days, they were so bad. After a
while, I couldn't get a dozen pictures out of the camera even hot off the
charger, .before the battery died.

Funny thing, a friend has the Nikon D50 and he says it works fine. The
battery lasts days and the battery door hasn't fallen off yet.

What gives? Did I happen to buy the two worst Nikon cameras on the planet
or did the reviewer miss a biggie or is my experience just a fluke or does
Costco only sell the Nikons that nobody wants but the reviewers don't know
that or is the entire Nikon Coolpix lineup a sham ... or what?

Costco is not going to carry higher end cameras. There is a dividing
line between consumer and pro-sumer cameras. The CP5000 that I had
operated perfectly for over four years on the original set of three
Li-Ion batteries. I also had a Nikon CP990 that had similar success.
Currently, I have a P5000 with a Nikon battery and a Delkin battery
clone battery of the Nikon. The first Delkin was DOA--would not take
a charge. Second one has been fine. Total time so far on camera and
batteries is about one year and 900 pix. My DSLR is Nikon D1x with
two spare batteries. These work perfectly and so do the chargers for
either camera. D1x has taken about 1800 pix...no problems.

One feature that really eats battery life is reviewing pix on the LCD.
It is indeed handy at times but is best done after transfer to
notebook PC.

I like the hot shoe feature and use a Nikon SB-400 on the P5000.
Works great.



Kiss French. Drink California.

gary at gaugler dot com

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:54:59 +0100, BIC wrote:
you have just been unlucky...........or heavy handed.

It's a VERY common problem BIC. Google for the Nikon coolpix battery door
latch and you'll see many people have the same problem. For every one you
find, there are hundreds who don't know about the usenet or the forums.
Even Nikon's own forums are fraught with sorry sad little coolpix owners.

Look at the design in the photos of the notorious Nikon Coolpix 2100 and
3100 series cameras. You, like most others in this thread, will have to
conclude the little flimsy plastic loop is bound to break under almost ANY
circumstance.

Did you actually look at the pictures?

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

Jeanette Guire wrote:

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:54:59 +0100, BIC wrote:

you have just been unlucky...........or heavy handed.


It's a VERY common problem BIC. Google for the Nikon coolpix battery door
latch and you'll see many people have the same problem. For every one you
find, there are hundreds who don't know about the usenet or the forums.
Even Nikon's own forums are fraught with sorry sad little coolpix owners.

Or switch to Canon. Canon has had a substantial lead on digital
technology that the others have been playing catch up with for years.
And the ergonomics of Canon are pretty good. I'm *really* hard on
cameras and my Canon A95 is still ticking (so's my Rebel and elph). It's
had a *lot* of exposures clicked through it.

Jeff


Look at the design in the photos of the notorious Nikon Coolpix 2100 and
3100 series cameras. You, like most others in this thread, will have to
conclude the little flimsy plastic loop is bound to break under almost ANY
circumstance.

Did you actually look at the pictures?

Did I buy the worst two Nikon cameras (or are they all this bad?)
 

Jeff wrote:
Jeanette Guire wrote:

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:54:59 +0100, BIC wrote:

you have just been unlucky...........or heavy handed.


It's a VERY common problem BIC. Google for the Nikon coolpix battery door
latch and you'll see many people have the same problem. For every one you
find, there are hundreds who don't know about the usenet or the forums.
Even Nikon's own forums are fraught with sorry sad little coolpix owners.

Or switch to Canon. Canon has had a substantial lead on digital
technology that the others have been playing catch up with for years.
And the ergonomics of Canon are pretty good. I'm *really* hard on
cameras and my Canon A95 is still ticking (so's my Rebel and elph). It's
had a *lot* of exposures clicked through it.

It's true, the A series is remarkably robust for such an inexpensive
line of cameras.