Nikon D90 Alert

[kenN]

Buyer beware. The Nikon D90 and the 18-105 kit lens are a really good system, with highly-regarded optics and electronics. HOWEVER, beware the mechanics. I took my camera out of the bag Saturday morning and the lens fell off. Seems the bayonet mounting flanges on the lens broke off, leaving nothing to engage the camera mount. The lens flange assembly is made of PLASTIC!! I checked my other lens, a 70-300 zoom, and it is the same! Go figure--heavy camera, heavy lens equals trouble. So, check your Nikon lenses and if the flange is plastic, be careful!!! Granted, my camera was in the cold car, but I didn't hit it on anything nor was it abused in any way.

After nearly 50 years of SLRs, I never in a thousand years thought I'd have trouble like this, especially a pricy camera of this pedigree! Lots of other things have gone wrong over the years, but my old Pentaxes, and older Nikons, were tanks and could withstand all kinds of abuse. So now they make this whiz-bang two-pound camera and a one-pound lens and attach them with PLASTIC?? What's wrong with this picture (pun intended)?

The silver lining in all this is that my extended service contract is still in force so it will be repaired without charge, except that I'll be without the camera for who-knows-how-long, and I had to pay insured shipping both ways. Looks like it will be point-and-shoot for a while. Pray for grubby weather. Ken

[conrailmike]

It's nothing new, both Canon and Nikon have used plastic in a few models to lighten up the weight. One reason I don't want the new 100mm f2.8 is that it has plastic in the lens mount and the old model with the metal mount is just as good.

Seeing as it was in a cold car leads me to believe it made the plastic even more brittle. I'm not defending Nikon, but that's probably what they would tell you

[B-Town]

One reason I don't want the new 100mm f2.8 is that it has plastic in the lens mount and the old model with the metal mount is just as good.:

Just got the 100mm f/2.8 the other day and I love it!

[kenN]

The "cold car" defense doesn't hold water with me. If that were true, then the camera shouldn't ever be used in any cold weather, a very unrealistic expectation. Besides, my "cold car" in the garage overnight last Friday wasn't all that "cold." KJN

[SD80MAC]

My Canon Rebel XSi booklet says in bold font to "avoid use in very low or very high temperatures" and to "avoid rapid, drastic changes in temperature".

[conrailmike]

The "cold car" defense doesn't hold water with me. If that were true, then the camera shouldn't ever be used in any cold weather, a very unrealistic expectation. Besides, my "cold car" in the garage overnight last Friday wasn't all that "cold." KJN

Don't be so sure, I don't know about Nikon but Canon bodies have different levels/types of weather sealing. I would imagine that the cheaper bodies might be a little more susceptible to cold weather damage.

[conrailmike]

One reason I don't want the new 100mm f2.8 is that it has plastic in the lens mount and the old model with the metal mount is just as good.:

Just got the 100mm f/2.8 the other day and I love it!

Yes, very good lens. Macro function is great for ring shots and up close detail shots during a wedding.

[MagnumForce]

Have I mentioned my Olympus that some of you consider crap has given me 6 years and 20000 frames of problem free service?

Just thought I'd throw that out there

[conrailmike]

Have I mentioned my Olympus that some of you consider crap has given me 6 years and 20000 frames of problem free service?

Just thought I'd throw that out there

Big deal, my Canon has done the same thing

[Aleks]

But, the Olympus comes with metal flanges and will stand up to a lot more abuse.
My sons D60 also had a flange failure and that's when we noticed Nikon used plastic flanges, at least on the kit lenses.