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Nikon nominated for "worst mechanics" list
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Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2025 8:42 am
Post subject: Nikon nominated for "worst mechanics" list
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Post
Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2025 8:42 am
Post subject: Nikon nominated for "worst mechanics" list
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I just got news from Nikons authorized repairers that the 35Ti despite its excellent optics, solid and confidence inspiring shell has weak plastic cogs inside and that they cannot service it since the parts are unavailable.

Hence I nominate Nikon for this instance of deplorable mechanics to a top place on the global bad- and devious design ranking list.

p.


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Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2025 2:05 pm
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Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2025 2:05 pm
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Camera is OVER THREE DECADES OLD! Smile


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Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2025 3:42 pm
Post subject: old equipement should not fail due to sloppy design
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Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2025 3:42 pm
Post subject: old equipement should not fail due to sloppy design
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Sir,
I am interpreting your comments two ways, either as praising former engineering for at all having lasted 30years or as an excuse for failing . However, time elapsed is no excuse for substandard cogwheels, not even the misguided pennypinching- fashion of the time. My Alpas from 70 years ago still work while I have had much more recent kit collapse, (My not entirely recent M3 survived a torrential rain that killed off my wifes much newer OM-1.And i have had the aperture automats of two Minoxes expire within a year of being bought.)

I live in a house that is 100years old, our summer house at the coast is 300years old, both are suitably maintained,very solid and can certainly take another century. The 1959 LandRover will leave more recent and fashionable cars bogged down, although a current electric all-terrain vehicle might possibly manage to get a half ton of our winter fuelwood delivered and might possibly take studded chains in winter without ruining its bodywork. I see no excuses for sloppy design, especially behind a pretty facade on a presumably solid product.

p.


Post
Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2025 8:49 pm
Post subject: Re: old equipement should not fail due to sloppy design
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Post
Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2025 8:49 pm
Post subject: Re: old equipement should not fail due to sloppy design
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paulhofseth wrote:

I live in a house that is 100years old, our summer house at the coast is 300years old, both are suitably maintained,very solid and can certainly take another century. ... I see no excuses for sloppy design, especially behind a pretty facade on a presumably solid product.

p.


Yep, there's a big difference when comparing US and European construction work. Five years ago, I have been re-buildng some walls in basement of my house which had been removed in 1943 (to make room for stable). They now are 50-55cm thick (about 20 nches), made from local stones and traditional lime mortar. Soon I'll reconstruct the southern part as well, where the existing stone/mortar walls had been 65cm thick (25 inches). All those walls will last at least 200 years, but probably longer (similarly built walls in my brothers house are from 1628, and they for sure will last another 100 or 200 years).

Compare that to the typical Californian Paper Houses - or to what's common here in modern buldings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZGuSC7KNvM

So yeah, I love things that last. They make you feel calm and relaxed, and give you a sense of confidence that computers and AI cannot provide ...

S

EDIT just found this one from a company close to my hometown (about 10 km / miles away):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX3QZVG-18E

A similar company is also in my village, and when I was 18 years old I was working there to earn the money for my first professional camera (during high school).


Post
Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2025 8:12 am
Post subject: Re: old equipement should not fail due to sloppy design
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Post
Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2025 8:12 am
Post subject: Re: old equipement should not fail due to sloppy design
Reply
paulhofseth wrote:
Sir,
I am interpreting your comments two ways, either as praising former engineering for at all having lasted 30years or as an excuse for failing . However, time elapsed is no excuse for substandard cogwheels, not even the misguided pennypinching- fashion of the time. My Alpas from 70 years ago still work while I have had much more recent kit collapse, (My not entirely recent M3 survived a torrential rain that killed off my wifes much newer OM-1.And i have had the aperture automats of two Minoxes expire within a year of being bought.)

I live in a house that is 100years old, our summer house at the coast is 300years old, both are suitably maintained,very solid and can certainly take another century. The 1959 LandRover will leave more recent and fashionable cars bogged down, although a current electric all-terrain vehicle might possibly manage to get a half ton of our winter fuelwood delivered and might possibly take studded chains in winter without ruining its bodywork. I see no excuses for sloppy design, especially behind a pretty facade on a presumably solid product.

p.

I think he probably meant that you can't expect a manufacturer to keep spare parts available for 30 years, and that designig a component to have an expected service life of 30 years is hardly the definition of devious design in context of more recent marketing practices.

Other than that I agree with your sentiment, but it isn't necessarily the result of deliberate pennypinching.

30 years ago or more plastic fatigue under repetitive stress was less well-understood than it is now; e.g. they may have used Nylon instead of Delrin, and a plain rather than a GF (glass-filled) version. The cog could have been made of metal, but some plastics have the advantage of being able to work without lubrication (and thus no problem of migrating base oil). For every camera with a broken plastic cog you can probably find another camera with a gummed-up metal gear train.

And 30 years ago a 30-year useful working life would of course have been considered more than sufficient by the manufacturers as well as by most consumers, regardless of your own personal views in this regard.

With the benefit of hindsight, Nikon might have decided to use a different material if there were many reported early failures, but if 30 years is a typical life span for these cameras they would probably consider the material used appropriate.


Post
Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2025 9:06 am
Post subject: longevity
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2025 9:06 am
Post subject: longevity
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God comparison plastic/metal versus oil.
I agree that companies cannot be expected to carry spares that will lead to them going broke, and understand that there is a current shortsightedness among companies not planning to stay in business for centuries, but rather to make a quick fortune and disappear like fast fashion. Also, the solid products might be more expensive to make.Like the houses in the Swiss example above (though divided by the time they last, the cost per year may be far lower than building cheaper). "Sub specie aeternitatis" , less long lived, unrepairable merchandize is a certain method for destroying value, so both company managers and customers ought to demand long lived well thought through products.

p.


Post
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2025 2:07 pm
Post subject: Re: longevity
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Post
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2025 2:07 pm
Post subject: Re: longevity
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paulhofseth wrote:
Also, the solid products might be more expensive to make.Like the houses in the Swiss example above (though divided by the time they last, the cost per year may be far lower than building cheaper).

It is a catch-22. When building regulations/standards/technologies change frequently, longer lasting buildings can work against you. E.g. in the UK the government ultimately wants to replace domestic gas boilers and get the majority of domestic homes heated by heat pumps. The problem is that in order to work as efficiently as designed, a heat pump needs a well-insulated property. Retrofitting better insulation to older properties is technically feasible, but practically it is running into a lot of issues re. humidity control and overall renovation costs. In other words, it can be done, but in some cases financially it would be more effective just to tear the existing property down and build a new one.


paulhofseth wrote:
"Sub specie aeternitatis" , less long lived, unrepairable merchandize is a certain method for destroying value, so both company managers and customers ought to demand long lived well thought through products.

I agree, but that mindset started to decline in the 1930's, and took a further nose-dive after the 1950's. (I'm not making up that timeline by the way; if interested read the works by Vance Packard, especially "The Waste Makers" and "The Hidden Persuaders").


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Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2025 1:23 pm
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Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2025 1:23 pm
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No option for printing the plastic parts?


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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2025 5:04 am
Post subject: Re: Nikon nominated for "worst mechanics" list
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Post
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2025 5:04 am
Post subject: Re: Nikon nominated for "worst mechanics" list
Reply
paulhofseth wrote:
I just got news from Nikons authorized repairers that the 35Ti despite its excellent optics, solid and confidence inspiring shell has weak plastic cogs inside and that they cannot service it since the parts are unavailable.

Hence I nominate Nikon for this instance of deplorable mechanics to a top place on the global bad- and devious design ranking list.

p.


I can't really complain about a 3 decade life span on what amounts to an up-graded point and shoot camera.
The plastic internals on the Series E lenses are really not worth the bother, with the "E" denoting "Economy".
You still get what you pay for.
Kind of curious about which of these style cameras from other makers are still operational after 3 decades?

-D.S.
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