Shut Dat Shutter

If you have a mirrorless camera - like the Fujifilm X-E2, The Olympus E-P5, or the Panasonic GX-7, you can conduct an interesting experiment.

Set the camera so that it will fire the shutter with the lens off. Put it to manual, and the shutter speed to 1/60 of a second. Take the lens off, and look into the open mount as you press the shutter button.

What the heck was that!? It was the shutter snapping into place, opening for 1/60 of a second, then snapping shut again, then opening up. If you had put a cigar end in there you could have cut it off...No, no, no - that was just a joke. Don't do that. Smoking cigars is bad for you and even worse for shutters.

The point of this exercise is to show you where the shutter is. It used to be tucked away decently a the back of the camera body just in front of the film plane* or hiding coyly behind a swinging mirror - now it is up the front ready to be broken.

Reduce the chances of this - now you've done the experiment, don't repeat it. If you are going to clean your own sensor ( Questionable decision ) don't leave the camera on ( Bad decision) and then press the shutter button ( Terrible decision ). Repairs are profitable but only for the repair shop - not for you.

If you are concerned about dust or smudges on your sensor past what the little cleaning program of your camera can cope with, bring it in to our repairs department. We can do it well, quickly, and without busting the shutter.

* Was a PRU Spitfire considered a film plane...?

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.

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?