Dear Nikon

Тhis is a story about a few lessons of marketing, philosophical and other kinds of character, you name them.

Ten years ago, when I fell in love with photography, I stepped into a long and enchanting affair with Nikon. I am Nikon, I am passion, I am blah-blah… I am very sensitive to emotional messages as a consumer and in no time, I was a big fan of the brand. For the past ten years, I have changed five or six camera models and may be more than fifteen lenses.

Meanwhile I had started shooting professionally and photography became my main occupation. I shoot weddings and portraits as a full time job. Of course, at this stage, I had become much more demanding towards my gear, as you know the internet is full of articles that educate future brides how important it is for the wedding photographer to catch all those fleeing moments in the wedding day. Thus I wanted a camera that I could rely on 100%, no need to mention autofocus being a crucial part of the camera’s characteristics.

So let’s get back to Nikon. My question is WHY.

Why is that my newly bought and heavily praised D750 refuses to focus with my good old zoom lens 28-70/2.8 D and after having read a dozen of complaints on different forums, I found out that this is not only my problem and that the eventual solution would be to send it for some calibration, which will take about six weeks and this would eventually solve the problem. Of course, the payment for this service will not be eventual. Meanwhile I have to stay with one camera only in mid wedding season… and without my zoom lens. For six weeks.

The zoom lens which I own 28-70/2.8 D is pointed as a lens that is compatible with the model D750 – https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/19473/~/what-lenses-can-i-use-on-the-nikon-d750-camera-%3F

Why is that camera bodies, which are not cheap, create more troubles than the old models? I used to not think about gear at all when I was shooting with D700. Yes, you read that right – I did not think about gear, I did not worry whether there would be focusing issues, I just enjoyed photography. May be someone will say: “get a D5”, but my reply is: “no, thank you”. I don’t want to try one more model, this time at the price of a car, just to find out that some function of the camera is not working.

To change the system for me as a photographer, who does not dive too deep into the technical side of photography is a risky affair… I am extremely loyal towards brands, which I once liked. Yes, it will take time to get used to a new system and yes, I am afraid whether I will manage.

These lines are especially for Nikon’s marketing department – your approach is not sustainable in the long term and will lead you up to nowhere. You have no e-mail address wherever on the internet pages of Nikon Europe, Nikon Asia, Nikon Mars. This says to the consumer: deal with it. And this is not OK. You can’t sell gear for thousands of Euros and not have a single e-mail for contact listed on your web pages.

Your strategy is for your consumers to associate your brand with emotion and reliability, but at the end of the day, they get none of these.

Photography became really accessible in the last years and obviously this tendency had led you to fall in the trap of mass commerce and the speedy production of new models. After all, there are millions of consumers out there, so a few disappointed ones are just part of the game…

Sure, this emotional and insignificant outcry from a small market like Bulgaria, will hardly impress you.

The moral of the story is not only one.

Always be ready for feedback.

Listen.

Give more than you promise.

Develop.

Because if you don’t, one day someone who is light, sexy and listens, comes and grabs the heart of some of your consumers, dear Nikon. Someone like Fuji, who update their firmware regularly and give more benefits to existing customers, someone who listens what people say and want and reacts. And suddenly the joy of photography is back in your heart…