I'm starting to wonder if they're going to hit the point where they make them out of metal because they "have to" because it's a higher end camera but they're making the metal so thin that the cheaper plastic cameras can handle knocks more easily.
Magnesium is prone to cracking, moreso than perhaps some other metals they used to use, if I understand things correctly.
shawn is boring wrote: That is my feeling as welll, after having used a D3s for 3 weeks before receiving the D4, it feels way lighter, and sounds a little more tiny.
I've gotten it working for the most part again, but I am going to have to get the body replaced as the cracking completely compromises the weather sealing.
I managed to fix the view finder by pulling out the diopter and twisting it to the negative side until it encounted resistence and then twisting it hard past the resistance until I felt it click, apparently in the fall what ever mechanism engages the diopter was disengaged and needed to be forced to catch again. It works fine now.
The only issue is the cracked magnesium. I honestly wouldn't have even minded if it was severely scratched or dented, but the fact that it did neither, and instead CRACKED and pieces of magnesium went flying is what bothers me. The inside of the camera body is now exposed to dust and what not, which is a completely unacceptable situation.
Systems should be designed to fail gracefully. Even if it is unreasonable to expect a camera to survive a 3 foot drop onto concrete, I don't believe it is unreasonable to expect the camera not to basically explode. What ever Alloy they are using in the camera is extremely brittle and has poor modulus strength. Perhaps it was a metallurgical defect in my run of D4, I'm not sure... but... I firmly believe that under no circumstances should the body crack.
I'm fairly sure that had the corners been made of a graphite or plastic, it would have survived the impacts unscathed like every other plastic bodied camera I have dropped.
Don't get me wrong, metal is fantastic, but not when you are using brittle metal, and not enough of it.
I'm sorry, you dropped the camera and it hit concrete right on the corner. If you hit anything the right way it will break. No camera is designed to be dropped five feet to concrete. If it hit the right way, I am sure it would have survived just fine. If it hits the wrong way, it is damaged. When I look at your photo, I am amazed that the damage wasn't worse. I see absolutely nothing wrong with the performance of the camera.
Why not just say; "I screwed up and dropped my camera." Why are you blaming the camera when you dropped it?
I've handled the D4 and the D800. I have no reason to believe that either one is anything but well built. Blaming the camera for your mistake seems a bankrupt argument. It is not a scientific test.
If you send the camera back to Nikon they might be able to repair the housing.
OP sucks about the drop, bottom line i hope you have insurance. I feel like a bunch of replies missed the point, a $6000 body should be able to take a beating, 3ft on to concrete should do some damage, and hitting the corner is a small area, but still i would have expected it to do better then that.
My D7000 was with me when i hit an IED in Afghanistan that destroyed my truck, another time it took a 2ft nose dive on to a concrete floor with a tamron 17-50 2.8... destroyed the filter, and banged up the lens, but the camera again was fine.
Fred Greissing wrote: The camera dropped from 3 feet and hit solid concrete
and all that happened is a 3x3mm chip of alloy came off.
Camera still works.
I'd say that is pretty good, not a fail.
+1
It sucks that your $6000 camera hit the concrete like that but carelessness and bad luck is the reason it is damaged right now. It isn't Nikon's fault at all and they never claimed invincibility. Their alloy bodies have long been proven to be tough and I'm sure the D4 is no different. A very small part of your camera took the entire impact. I've dropped Nikons on concrete myself which resulted in nothing more than light scratches. I'm sure they could/would have though had they landed just right(wrong).
Phil Drinkwater
Posts: 4,233
Manchester, England, United Kingdom
ei Total Productions wrote:
I'm sorry, you dropped the camera and it hit concrete right on the corner. If you hit anything the right way it will break. No camera is designed to be dropped five feet to concrete. If it hit the right way, I am sure it would have survived just fine. If it hits the wrong way, it is damaged. When I look at your photo, I am amazed that the damage wasn't worse. I see absolutely nothing wrong with the performance of the camera.
Why not just say; "I screwed up and dropped my camera." Why are you blaming the camera when you dropped it?
I've handled the D4 and the D800. I have no reason to believe that either one is anything but well built. Blaming the camera for your mistake seems a bankrupt argument. It is not a scientific test.
If you send the camera back to Nikon they might be able to repair the housing.
I know what you mean, but I tend to agree with the op. Ive dropped my 5d2 this distance onto a similar surface. It also hit a corner. It was fine except for scratches.
It happens. People rush, especially in pj/events. Maybe your camera had a fault op?
That 7d video is funny I've seen it before. I love their videos for the amusement factor
Phil Drinkwater wrote: I know what you mean, but I tend to agree with the op. Ive dropped my 5d2 this distance onto a similar surface. It also hit a corner. It was fine except for scratches.
It happens. People rush, especially in pj/events. Maybe your camera had a fault op?
That 7d video is funny I've seen it before. I love their videos for the amusement factor
I would hope that a camera would survive a fall like that, and perhaps, in many cases it would.
Fred Greissing wrote: The camera dropped from 3 feet and hit solid concrete
and all that happened is a 3x3mm chip of alloy came off.
Camera still works.
Herman Surkis
Posts: 6,230
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
-B-R-U-N-E-S-C-I- wrote: If it was dropped from less than 6 feet then I would also be disappointed that such an expensive camera was unable to survive without serious damage.
I very much doubt that an old F2 would have fared as badly. Nikon cameras always had a reputation for durability. Clearly that has now been sacrificed on the altar of decreased weight/manufacturing costs.
Dang. Thats a tough camera if thats all that happened from a fall on concrete. Geez. Bad day.
Back in the day, I used a Nikon F. I think if that thing was dropped on concrete it would break the concrete. They just didn't have the electronics in those days.
DOUGLASFOTOS wrote: OP....I think if I am not mistaken...that Nikon Corporation Provides YOU...with a device called Camera Strap. Use It.
I don't use a camera strap unless I'm covering sports or newspaper work. I had my strap get hung up on my ThinkTank Airport International when I picked it up after setting it down. Broke the hotshoe of my Pocket Wizard which I expected but it also cracked the D700 body (which I didn't expect). It was from a height of about 12 inches onto a gym floor. Lens was fine.
My F3 however has been through hell and back. It is dinged and dented but never cracked.
Perfect example. The d700 fell down a mountain, and the magnesium didn't crack, just gouges. Gouges are fine and to be expected, cracking, shattering, etc... not expected.
photoimager
Posts: 4,111
Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom
DBVE Imaging wrote: Back in the day, I used a Nikon F. I think if that thing was dropped on concrete it would break the concrete. They just didn't have the electronics in those days.
Nail and head collide.
Crumple zones in cars are designed to distort and absorb some of the impact, thus protecting what is inside it. Circuit boards can easily crack - no longer a working camera. AF modules etc can become misaligned ( or be made that way ) = no longer a working camera.
Addittionally:
john_ wrote: of all the places for your camera to hit, it happened to hit on a tiny corner of a raised button outlet...
Do you think that may have been a larger factor in the damage
Compare the damage to your foot if you land on a nail to if you land on the floor.
Presumably I should blame Pyrex or Hensel for the glass dome breaking at a prom on Friday night when I toppled a lighting stand whilst changing the lighting setup around ?. No, it was user error, mine. In with the spare, checked it still functioned and on with the show.
photoimager
Posts: 4,111
Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom
D S P wrote: I don't use a camera strap ..........
I much prefer a wrist grip to a neck strap. For one thing it makes me put the camera down when I am not using it. The only problem that I have is when I use a tripod, taking the camera off the tripod I have to remember that the wrist loop is not active until I take off the QR plate and re-attach it.
shawn is boring wrote: I've gotten it working for the most part again, but I am going to have to get the body replaced as the cracking completely compromises the weather sealing.
So does it still work or not? That seems like a key issue to me. Even if it needs a bit of bodging, is it still fundamentally functioning camera without needingtrip to a repair shop to take photos?
I've seen it before. I love their videos for the amusement factor 
) = no longer a working camera.
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