Why didn’t anyone tell me…

The lens is back, and it’s good as new.

First of all, this is why I bought a Nikon camera and lens instead of a Sony or other “consumer grade” plastic shell camera. When I had originally bought a Sony DSC-D700 at its original abominable price, it was a wonder. It was fun! But it was designed by Sony, and they were not still camera experts at that time. They had an autofocus problem that became well known to the users – it would focus, then reverse to a point it liked, then keep going 3 or 4 more ticks, leaving all your shots focused too near, and distinctively fuzzy. Then you had to back it up by hand to refocus it. Eventually we D700 owners convinced Sony of this, who more or less said, “There’s a new model. Throw out your old expensive camera and buy a new expensive camera.”

So I did. But I didn’t buy a Sony.

I bought a camera with a company behind it. And when the silent wave motor suddenly needs replacing under warrantee (which was the repair job on the lens), you can not only send it to them without question, but they’ll fix it, clean it, and return it for no more than the cost of shipping it to them (while under warrantee, of course). When I had shipped my D1x off for cleaning and upgrading, they performed marvels on it. The sensor got cleaned, the pads that started to peel got reattached, the dials got adjusted even though I didn’t realize they needed it, etc. Nikon service has always given me good surprises, and this time was no exception. The lens was returned in better shape than I hoped, worked perfectly on return, and there were no questions asked.

There is no doubt in my mind that even though my camera cost far more than a consumer level Sony, I’m getting exactly what I’m paying for, and so are Sony buyers.