An Announcement From Nikon For Warranty Issues

I have received a message from Thomas in our repair department alerting me to an announcement from the Nikon company.

It concerns the questions that have arisen around the shutter mechanism of the Nikon D600 cameras. Some people may have experienced difficulties with oil contamination of the sensors in these cameras, and have had to refer to Nikon for warranty attention.

Essentially the Nikon company has said that circumstances may not necessarily gone to the advantage of D600 users...and that if owners do have issues with oil spot contamination on the sensor they can send it to Nikon to get the shutter replaced free of charge. Thomas says that our customers can bring them in to us and we can send it off to Nikon for them.

Here is a the rather complex web address that will link to the service advisory:

http://www.nikon.com.au/en AU/service advisory.page?ID=templatedata/en Asia/taggable content/data/service advisory notices/d600 service advisory&Category=service-and-support&Section=nikon-service-advisory

I hope this will be of assistance to the Nikon users - the cameras are excellent and the system is extremely successful. I use their cameras and lenses myself and have always been pleased with them. This should correct a small manufacturing glitch and let the D600 users venture out with confidence.

You Bet Your Digit

Did you know they have a casino in this town? Apparently it's the big building sitting on top of the old Burswood rubbish tip down by the causeway. They have a gold sign out the front and an army of field hands in hi-vis vests tending the bushes. And if you go in there they can mind your money for you for a long, long time.

The mechanism they use to do this involves brightly coloured lights, computer screens, and credit cards. Rather like the on-line camera trade, in a way, but with the numbers reversed. Here's what I mean. When you go into the casino (apparently*) you put a small amount of money down somewhere upon the understanding that there is a possibility that they will give you a large amount of money to take away. Then they do something and take your money away. The something involves a wheel or a computer program or cardboard cards, but the essence of it is you know very quickly if you are going to get that large amount of money to take home or not. Small bet - big return - quick decision.

You can add overpriced drinks and dodgy food to the equation if you wish plus the amusement of seeing other pensioners. Suit yourself...

The on-line camera trade from Brisbane, Sydney, Blurkistan, or wherever is the same brightly coloured computer screens and the same credit card transaction, but in this case you are betting large sums of money with the hope of very small returns - the $ 2150 camera that you try to get for $ 2025 online sounds tempting until you find out that the manufacturer's representative here in Australia won't warrant it or supply repair parts to the cousin of a friend of he chap in Brisbane who is dealing out of a carton of them in his garage...

The local buyer who pays the $ 2150 gets a two year no-quibble warranty from the correct wholesaler - the online cheapjack gets to wonder if their putative $ 125 gain will really work out and won't know for two years. There is about an 8% chance that they will be out the whole pot. Big bet - small return - long delay in resolution.

Dumbo the elephant managed to fly with big ears. I would advise anyone who is seriously considering sending thousands of dollars off to unseen and unknown websites to examine the sides of their heads in the mirror. And then calculate their chances of getting off the ground...better than 8%...?

* Who knows? Us Baptists never go into casinos...in case it leads to dancing.

Uncle Dick

Tamron Make You An Offer - 60 Days

It's not often that you hear the expression "Satisfaction Guaranteed". Hard to do in retail, harder to do in politics, and nearly impossible in family life...

Can't help in the parliament or the bedroom, but we can tell you that Tamron have made the offer in retail sales of their lenses. They have come forward with a 60-day satisfaction guarantee on any new Tamron lens bought before December 31, 2013.

Their flyer states that if you are not completely satisfied for any reason with your new purchase in that time you register with them at

tamron.com.au/satisfied

and they'll give you a full refund.

That's pretty bold, and speaks well for the quality of the products and for the sincerity of the manufacturer. Tamron lenses have been on the Australian market for a very long time - there were many series of them way back into the film era that did marvellous things. They could be adapted and switched in strange ways between different camera systems. Times have changed, of course, and lenses made by Tamron for Nikon or Canon cameras are dedicated to those mounts.

They are good lenses - I think in particular that the wide-ranging lenses of the 18-270 variety are the most useful. They are stabilised and solidly built with good metal mounts.The 24-70 is no slouch and the 90 macro is wonderfully light. It is actually piece of unsung hero glass...

60 days - you get less than that for poaching. Worthwhile thinking about...

Wham Bam, No Thank You, M'am...

So I arrive at work and put my satchel onto a wheelie bin, preparatory to taking in all the emptied bins from the curb-side. As I work there is this almighty crash, and when I look around, the satchel has fallen onto the concrete driveway.

Anglo Saxon, Anglo Saxon, Yiddish, Anglo Saxon, Western Canada....

Having relieved my soul for a few minutes I hauled it up here to the editorial desk and opened the thing. It has some internal padding and the editorial camera and computer seem to have survived the impact fine. The editorial Nokia phone is dead. The editorial apple was not squashed, so all in all it seems to have been a light blow.

My complements to the makers of Macbook Pro, Fuji X-10 and apples. Also my admiration for the Crumpler people for a fine satchel - it is the Boston Heist, if you want to go buy one.

What if it had been an expensive professional camera that hit the deck?
They do, you know - we can introduce you to a man who dropped on off Bluff Knoll, and another man who dropped one in a volcano. You might meet the chap who crossed a river and opened his backpack in the middle and....

Disasters happen. If they happen to your old camera we can fix it - that's what we have a repair department for. If it cannot be repaired we have a sales department and sympathetic faces.

What if it is a new camera...the manufacturers honour warranties that cover internal failures and material flaws for one to two years - and as we source our cameras from the proper Australian distributors, there are no problems getting the warranty repairs. But they aren't liable for you dropping it off Bluff Knoll or a council rubbish bin....

Here is where the Mack Warranty system comes in shining. When you buy new cameras and lenses from us you can buy extended warranty coverage from us with Mack. They have pure extension policies and also what they call " Diamond" policies.

Essentially, the " Diamond" covers repair or replacement for whatever specified period that includes ALL forms of disaster. Drop, boil, bake, douse, ignite....The only thing they will not reimburse you for is theft - you have to keep your cameras and lenses safe from other humans.

I wonder if there is a warranty for computers? Or mobile phones? Or apples?