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Steem Exclusive: My Nikon D750 Is Still in Dresden

My Nikon D750 is still in Dresden, and honestly, that was not how I imagined the end of our trip.

The whole thing started with a simple but very annoying message on the display: ERR.

The strange part was that the camera still saved the photo. I pressed the shutter, the picture was taken, and right after that the error appeared. At first I hoped it was just one of those small problems that disappear after a restart.

So I did what most of us would probably do first. Battery out, lens off, lens back on, another lens tested. I even tried it without any lens attached.

Nothing changed.

At that point it was clear that this was not the lens. The problem had to be inside the camera body.

Because we were driving back from Oberwiesenthal to Greifswald, Dresden was more or less on our route. So I wrote to Nikon Service Point Dresden and asked if I could bring the camera in personally. They answered quickly and told me I could drop it off before 3 p.m.

So we made a small stop in Dresden and left the D750 there.

They told me that the cost estimate usually takes about two working days. But in my case it was much faster. Only a few hours later, the estimate was already there.

Around 470 euros.

That is the kind of number where you sit there for a moment and think.

According to the service report, the aperture system has to be repaired and adjusted. The autofocus also needs adjustment, the sensor will be cleaned, and the camera will be checked. So it is not just a tiny little fix. It is a real repair.

And of course, once you see a repair bill like that, the thoughts start.

Do I really put almost 500 euros into an older DSLR?

For that money you can already find another used D750 body. But then again, what do I really know about that used camera? It may look good from the outside, but I do not know how it was treated. I do not know if the autofocus is still right. I do not know how many problems are already waiting inside.

With my own camera, I know the history.

I know how I used it. I know that I always took care of it. No drops, no rough handling, no bad storage. And still, something failed.

That is frustrating, but it is also part of owning a camera like this. A DSLR is not just electronics. There is still a lot of mechanics inside. Shutter, mirror, aperture control, autofocus adjustment — everything has to work together very precisely. After years of use, something can simply move out of tolerance or break.

Then there was the other thought.

Maybe this is the moment to move to Nikon Z.

A used Z6 II would be interesting. A new Z5 II also sounds good. And of course a Z6 III would be even nicer, but then we are already in a very different price range.

But switching to Z is not just buying a new body. That is the point that makes it difficult.

I could use my F-mount lenses with an FTZ adapter, but then I have another part between camera and lens. Maybe everything works fine, but with third-party lenses like Tamron or Sigma I would want to test it first.

The cleaner way would be native Z lenses. But then it gets expensive very quickly. A new body is one thing. A new body and good full-frame Z lenses is a completely different story.

So suddenly it is not just about repairing a camera anymore. It becomes the beginning of a system change.

And I do not want to make that decision only because one repair bill hurts.

Of course I also thought about staying with DSLR and going bigger. A Nikon D850 is still a fantastic camera. It would be the big DSLR step. My F-mount lenses would still work without an adapter, and the image quality is still excellent.

But it is also bigger, heavier and not cheap. And in the end it would still be DSLR. A very good DSLR, yes, but still not the direction Nikon is really pushing anymore.

So after thinking about all of this, I decided to let them repair my own D750.

Not because it is cheap.

But because it feels like the safer decision right now.

After the repair, I should get my own camera back with the aperture system repaired, autofocus adjusted, sensor cleaned and the body checked. That gives me more confidence than buying another used body and hoping that everything is fine.

Now Nikon Service Dresden wrote again.

The repair will take a little longer because one spare part is currently missing. It has already been ordered with priority, but because of delivery problems the repair will probably be delayed by another 7 to 10 working days.

Of course, I would rather have the camera back already.

But to be fair, the service was fast at the beginning. They answered quickly, I could bring the camera in personally, and the cost estimate came much faster than expected.

Now the missing spare part is the problem.

So my D750 stays in Dresden a little longer.

No new Nikon Z body for now.
No D850.
No big system change.

Just my old D750 getting another chance.

Maybe that is not the most exciting decision, but for me it feels like the most reasonable one at the moment.

I know this camera. I know its history. And after the repair, I hope I can trust it again for many more photos.

Would you repair the camera you know, or would you take this as the moment to move to a newer system?

Thanks for stopping by. See you in the next post.

Hornet on Tour

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Photo: Hornet on Tour

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