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Nikon Issues Small Recall for a 16-Year-Old Film Camera
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- perardi 6y agoNikon still sells the Nikon F6 film camera. All existing stock was probably manufactured a loooong time ago, but it is still technically a current product, so I imagine they’re obligated to provide support and government-mandated environmental fixes. https://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/filmcamera/slr/f6/ https://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/filmcamera/slr/f6/ (I’d love to see the sales numbers for the F6. I can’t even guess the order of magnitude of global sales per year. 1? 10? 100?)
- formerly_proven 6y agoI still occasionally use a now over 40 years old Nikon FE that, despite having never been serviced as far as I can tell, still works flawlessly. It even does some things better than even the most modern DSLRs, it can, for example automatically expose exposures several minutes long correctly (far outside spec, but works). Impeccable quality. The old Ai-S lenses, too, entirely made from glass, brass, aluminium and some steel with a touch of cement, it pleases the gods. Zeiss still makes them like they used to.
- perardi 6y agoWhich is why I’m always surprised the F6, to borrow a phrase from Apple, “remains a product in our lineup”. There’s so many used and seemingly indestructible film cameras floating around. I guess there’s some market for a factory-warranty film SLR, but I’m not sure what said market is. If I was going to shoot film, I’d find a Nikon F5, which would also double as a medieval flail for self-defense. (Or I’d pull my 1983 Pentax off the shelf.)
- jacobush 6y agoThere are pros out there who want the support, but shoot film. 3000 USD for a pro is not cheap, but it's in line with other business tools.
- ashtonkem 6y agoFor a pro body, $3K is cheap. The flagship Nikon DSLR, the D6, has a MSRP of $6,500.
- paulmd 6y agoThe F6 is the most advanced and capable film DSLR ever built. If you want/need to shoot film and you shoot subjects that are commonly done with modern digital SLRs and considered out of reach of a film camera, the F6 is the best game in town. The fastest and lowest-light-capable autofocus, the best matrix metering, digital recording of exposure data (just like EXIF but for film!), etc. It is a modern pro camera that happens to shoot film. Most people don’t need it but it’s certainly unique. If you do need it, there is no substitute. Nikon actually has a history of doing that as well. The Nikonos series underwater cameras were really the only thing in their class, with unique water-contact optics that avoided rainbow diffraction from the port by putting the optics right against the water. They also made unique 180-degree orthographic lenses for atmospheric surveying - measure cloud cover/etc by photographing the sky every day and get the full horizon to horizon in one frame. etc etc. They really are a fascinating company. Check out the 1001 Nights of Nikkor, a fascinating series of stories about all that stuff. https://imaging.nikon.com/history/story/ https://imaging.nikon.com/history/story/
- PetitPrince 6y ago> digital recording of exposure data (just like EXIF but for film! Wait; how does that work ? Where is the camera writing the info and how do you retrieve it ?
- La1n 6y agoIt stores it on a CF card, but I think you need an accessory for it. https://f6project.com/technical/nikon-mv-1-data-reader/ https://f6project.com/technical/nikon-mv-1-data-reader/
- wishinghand 6y agoCement? As in some sort of plastic cement?
- zorpner 6y agoMost likely one or another optical cement, for joining lenses into a lens group, for example: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/661086-using-norland-uv-cement-to-recement-a-lens/ https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/661086-using-norland-uv-c...
- mauvehaus 6y agoOptical cement. Traditionally, Canadian Balsam would have been used, but there are newer adhesives that are apparently easier. I bet UV cured is a lot more practical in a production setting. See this article about using balsam to repair a doublet: http://forum.mflenses.com/re-cementing-doublet-elements-with-canadian-balsam-t34467.html http://forum.mflenses.com/re-cementing-doublet-elements-with...
- snowwrestler 6y agoAs of December 2019, Nikon was still building new units of the F6. https://petapixel.com/2019/12/10/you-can-still-buy-a-brand-new-nikon-f6/ https://petapixel.com/2019/12/10/you-can-still-buy-a-brand-n...
- thrownblown 6y agoAnd dude's camera got recalled: "Taking a look at the serial number of my camera which is 35955 and comparing it to an F6 sold new in 2015 bearing the number 34875 I’d conclude that least 1080 units have been sold since then (approximately 270 cameras per year)." "In fact, only 152 units are impacted… so few that Nikon actually lists every affected serial number in the recall notice: 0035842, ..., 0035955, ..."
- perardi 6y agoVery clever. And 270 film SLRs per year sounds perfectly reasonable.
- rangibaby 6y agoThere have been consistent rumors that Fujifilm stopped making most or all of their films around 2005 and have been selling old stock since then. I wouldn't be surprised if the same held true for Nikon F6
- paulmd 6y agoI would guess on the order of 1000 globally per year, with a lot of those being in Japan. Japan fucking loves film. Maybe a hundred or two hundred in the US. Maybe 100 on the low end. edit: from a sister comment the number is approximately 270 per year globally.
- randomblast 6y agoOthers have mentioned the estimate of 270 derived from serial numbering. Nikon have also said very specifically in this case that they are recalling 152 pieces sold since last July. That will likely be artificially depressed by the covid situation.
- dkuntz2 6y agoActually the implication from this recall is that they're manufacturing about 12 new F6 bodies per month.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- dirtyid 6y ago> In fact, only 152 units are impacted… so few that Nikon actually lists every affected serial number in the recall notice:
- abeppu 6y agoI've never worked in a context that made complex physical goods. Is it surprising to others that they even know which specific 152 cameras were over-plasticized?
- thetinguy 6y agoThe f6 is high end low volume product. They only make and sell a couple hundred a year.
- ars 6y agoLooks like it costs $2,549. Which doesn't really seem profitable in volumes that low.
- sudosysgen 6y agoIt's quite mechanically and electronically simple, though, by modern standards.
- meatmanek 6y agoAnd some of the more complicated or precision components (shutter, mirror, viewfinder screen + prism, lens mount, autofocus motor, autofocus and autoexposure sensors) exist in similar forms on newer products and may be able to share production lines to some extent.
- jdietrich 6y agoNikon and Canon's pro SLR ranges are product ecosystems with massive switching costs. They maintain all sorts of products and services that don't make economic sense in isolation, but are necessary to maintain a comprehensive product ecosystem. A professional or serious amateur might own tens of thousands of dollars worth of camera bodies, lenses and accessories; for a small but meaningful proportion of those customers, the continued availability of the F6 will be the key factor in their choice of camera system.
- mook 6y ago
- piinbinary 6y ago[deleted]
- duxup 6y agoThe article seems to indicate this is a pretty straightforward situation where it comes hazardous substances. I'm not sure this is something the company could ignore without potential consequences. It might simply be a supplier found thing happened, they notified the other companies and so on.
- perardi 6y agoYes, I’m sure the viral marketing for…a film SLR…that was introduced in 2004…is absolutely priceless.
- ErikVandeWater 6y agoTBF the benefit is to their entire business.
- supernova87a 6y agoI love how the idea of Japanese conscientiousness has become almost a meme for how we wish companies were run. Other examples you've probably seen come across the webs: -- Hotel apologizes in advance for a brief 1 minute planned disruption of in-room internet at 4am https://www.google.com/search?q=japanese+hotel+internet+apology&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiR0fyo19LqAhVZHjQIHWLwBWkQ_AUoA3oECAsQBQ&biw=1751&bih=1211#imgrc=cZGXwwqZeLmVcM https://www.google.com/search?q=japanese+hotel+internet+apol... -- Japanese train company issues apology for train leaving 20 seconds early https://www.google.com/search?q=tokyo+rail+apologizes+train+leaving+early&oq=tokyo+rail+apologizes+train+leaving+early&aqs=chrome..69i57.6899j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 https://www.google.com/search?q=tokyo+rail+apologizes+train+...
- vsareto 6y agoThey even give you a note if the train is late: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay_certificate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay_certificate
- simias 6y agoWe have that in France as well, I assumed it was common everywhere. Otherwise how do you justify yourself to your employer/school/whatever if you're late because your commute took one hour more than usual because of something completely out of your control?
- reidjs 6y agoDoes someone actually care enough to check the slip? The few times I've been late due to things like this (flat bike tire, crazy traffic, train delay, whatever) my boss was just like ...ok try not to let it happen again and possibly documented it somewhere. I have been salaried for the most part, maybe if you're hourly you might get docked the time. When I have had someone under me and they're late once in a while I don't really care. (USA)
- frostburg 6y ago
- BooneJS 6y agoMeanwhile, my 2 year old mobile device...
- dayjobpork 6y agoMeanwhile Pentax is still avoiding the issue of multiple models dying from cheap apature solonoids.
- wtallis 6y agoI found out about that issue the hard way last week. Pictures started coming out too dark, and searching online quickly revealed that it's a well-known issue and that a class action lawsuit was filed back in May. Repairing it was pretty straightforward, but sourcing a replacement part from before production moved from Japan to China was unpleasantly expensive.
- jacquesm 6y agoWhat really impresses here is their ability to document the recall to the point that a product that old still has its full history available, allowing them to work out which specific cameras to recall.
- loa_in_ 6y agoWe somehow got used to the idea that we can expect companies not to do this because it's not profitable for them