Urchina
Full time employment: Posting here.
Last Monday I bought a new Nikon D90. This is my first DSLR and I had done some research prior to buying it. I want a camera that will allow me greater experimentation than my P&S and autofocus (which my Nikon EM film body does not have). I also wanted a camera that would allow me to push myself a little and regain and improve on my technical skills, and I like Nikons and find them comfortable in my hand. The D90 also has a reputation for good to great JPEGs right out of the camera without needing a lot of PP work, something the more advanced Nikons tend to require.
Long story short, it turns out that the camera I bought as new, isn't new. At least, it has been turned on and the settings changed, and not in a good way. As far as I can tell, most of the settings have been changed to custom settings, the result being that the pictures I've been taking have been awful technically -- wrong exposure, bad color balance, issues with the autofocus. I've been having to spend several hours figuring out what's been jacked with; I've reset the menus to default and have had to go back and reset the custom settings. A couple of things still don't work correctly and the overexposure issue remains.
I'm taking the camera back tomorrow and plan on asking to exchange it for another NEW D90 body, explaining that I was under the impression that the camera they sold me was unused, but that it did not appear to actually be unused. It's entirely possible that they didn't know it had been used -- it looked perfect there in the box, and if someone opened it up, used it and then repackaged it to return it how would they know if they didn't check it?
If I were them, I would either 1) Exchange the camera without question and apologize for the inconvenience, or 2) ask if the camera is defective. If they choose tactic 2, I'm not sure I can convince them that it is. I'm frustrated with the camera; it's possible that my issues are those of a photographer who's bought more camera than they can handle, but I'm also concerned that the customization of the settings and subsequent return of the camera are camouflaging a more advanced defect that I won't discover until much later, when my skills develop and take me farther. So I'm not certain that the camera is defective, but I am concerned that later it might prove to be (when I'm past the return date or warranty date).
So my question is: Anyone else have the overexposure issues with the Nikon prosumer models, and anyone else have ideas on how to proceed with the shop if they give me any hassles about returning it?
Long story short, it turns out that the camera I bought as new, isn't new. At least, it has been turned on and the settings changed, and not in a good way. As far as I can tell, most of the settings have been changed to custom settings, the result being that the pictures I've been taking have been awful technically -- wrong exposure, bad color balance, issues with the autofocus. I've been having to spend several hours figuring out what's been jacked with; I've reset the menus to default and have had to go back and reset the custom settings. A couple of things still don't work correctly and the overexposure issue remains.
I'm taking the camera back tomorrow and plan on asking to exchange it for another NEW D90 body, explaining that I was under the impression that the camera they sold me was unused, but that it did not appear to actually be unused. It's entirely possible that they didn't know it had been used -- it looked perfect there in the box, and if someone opened it up, used it and then repackaged it to return it how would they know if they didn't check it?
If I were them, I would either 1) Exchange the camera without question and apologize for the inconvenience, or 2) ask if the camera is defective. If they choose tactic 2, I'm not sure I can convince them that it is. I'm frustrated with the camera; it's possible that my issues are those of a photographer who's bought more camera than they can handle, but I'm also concerned that the customization of the settings and subsequent return of the camera are camouflaging a more advanced defect that I won't discover until much later, when my skills develop and take me farther. So I'm not certain that the camera is defective, but I am concerned that later it might prove to be (when I'm past the return date or warranty date).
So my question is: Anyone else have the overexposure issues with the Nikon prosumer models, and anyone else have ideas on how to proceed with the shop if they give me any hassles about returning it?
