Nikon Z8 Recall

The very first day of owning the Z8, I decided I was going to update the firmware on all of my lenses. It's something that has been neglected for some time, but upon aquiring the new camera, it seemed like the thing to do. Everything was going fine until I attempted to mount the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S. At that point, the lens wouldn't fully rotate and lock in. It felt like the lens was hitting a wall.

I figured it was just my lens. I hadn't used it in a while and perhaps I damaged it? I examined all the screws near the lens mount, and everything seemed fine. Even grabbed a screwdriver and made sure nothing was loose. Everything checked out. So, I mounted some other lenses on the camera, and there was no problem. Back to the 50mm, and intermittently it had the same issue, but only the 50mm.

Today, via a Facebook group, I learned that others have had a similar issue and that Nikon was issuing a recall on the Z8:

Technical Service Advisory for users of the Nikon Z 8 Cameras
Thank you for choosing Nikon for your photographic needs.

Users of the Z 8 camera have informed us that in some rare cases, a lens cannot be mounted on the camera because the lens cannot be rotated to the locked position.

Based on our investigation into the matter, it has become clear that this issue may occur with Z 8 cameras. We have identified a range of Z 8 camera serial numbers with which the issue may occur and will address the issue as follows.

Nikon will repair affected Z 8 cameras at no cost to the customer, including the cost of shipping affected Z 8 cameras to Nikon, as well as their return to customers, even if the warranty has expired.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused...

My first thought was maybe I'll hang on to the camera and continue to use it until the weather is wetter and I won't be out doing as many things, but then I read another Facebook user had a lens drop off the mount and get damaged as a possible result of this issue. I'm not sure how exactly it's related, but it's not worth taking the chance on an expensive lens.

The camera was purchased at Glazer's Camera in Seattle, and they were nice enough to handle the repair and deal with Nikon for me, so I brought it in this afternoon and am eagerly awaiting the call from them that it's been fixed and returned to the store.

Fingers crossed! 🤞

2023-07-17 Update

I got my Z8 back today, and I immediately attached the 50mm f/1.8 that was having problems prior to the repair. It went on just fine and seems to work loke it should. I'll need to do more testing with all of my other lenses, but I'm optimistic that Nikon got it right.

There is another concern that I have however. Specifically, that the camera strap lugs have reportedly been falling out with a few users. Thus, causing the camera and lens to fall to the ground. It doesn't seem very wide spread, but I have seen it mentioned a few times on a Facebook Z8 group. Today, it's also been mentioned on Nikon Rumors. I sure hope this doesn't happen with my camera. Yikes!