Here's what I believe I know that's known (hmm, channeling Rumsfeld again? ;~).
- Nikon verified the strap lug problem and fix in July.
- Nikon subsidiaries started repairing Z8 strap lugs with any unit in house for other repairs prior to announcing the Service Advisory. In the US, it appears that cameras being serviced sometime during the last week of July. You should see a RPR EYELETS line on your invoice if they did.
- NikonUSA issued the new Service Advisory for the strap lugs on August 7th. The reasons for the delay were a lot of logistical things that had to happen at the subsidiaries, including Web page, database, and other items that had to be updated and tested.
- Beginning August 7th, those of you perform the serial number check and then complete the service request process are put into a first-come, first-served queue. UPS shipping labels are being sent out to those in the queue as service availability happens (they can't fix all cameras at once; nor do you want all Z8's stacked in a room waiting repair ;~). As far as I can tell, NPS requests do not have priority for getting shipping labels at the moment, though I do believe that properly marked NPS boxes may get prioritization once already at NikonUSA.
- The actual repair process is reasonably quick and straight forward. While it requires some disassembly, this is a basic, known process. It's just a lot of screws and cables that have to be dealt with prior to getting access to the lug locking pins, themselves. At least one report says that the simpler mount repairs should take about an hour, while the strap lug repairs take three hours. I haven't been able to verify those timings or the exact process being used, however.
- Once your repair is completed, the camera has to be logged through the completion step at Nikon and packed up. I've noted in the past that often the email telling you about the shipment back to you happens after the shipment has already gone out.
Finally: if you haven't already bought your Z8, you shouldn't worry about these problems. The next inbound shipment of Z8's appears to have been delayed, and the factory in Thailand now has procedures in place to check for both issues. Units arriving in the US either later this month or in early September should be free from the Service Advisory issues.
