Just a quick update:
I finally got my replacement nozzles and after setting up the machine with them I'm happy to report that it is now working well with the 0805 caps. I have run the machine all the way up to 100% speed now and the placement accuracy doesn't appear to be visually degraded between 100% and 60% speed, but so far I have not done any fine pitch ICs or components smaller than 0603 so I am definitely not testing the machine's limits yet.
When I have turned on the "Jointly" vision recognition I get an obviously incorrect offset on the parts, even with fairly large 0805 parts. The calibration is obviously off, because the machine places much more accurately with the vision off, and very well with the vision set to 'Individual'. I have not needed the extra speed yet so I haven't bothered to try and calibrate it but it is on my "to do" list.
Make sure that your component library value actually matches what you are putting in the machine. If you are feeding the machine bad information, it cannot give you good results. I took a caliper and measured each of my parts then added that part to the component library for vision recognition. Check and make sure that the outline the vision is recognizing actually matches up with the part's outline.
The software does have some idiosyncrasies that could be fixed, although I am doubtful that they will be fixed. Those that I mentioned earlier (manual board offset being the biggest one), along with some that I just read (such as the machine just dropping the part where it sits if you press "stop" during placement). I also just began using the vibratory tube feeder, and while it works good enough once set up, it is disappointing that you have to manually go into the test menu to start and stop the vibrator both before and after a placement job, so if you forget to turn it on before a job you will start placing then run into feed errors, then have to exit out and start the job over again. In my mind, if one of the vibratory feeders is called for during placement then it should turn on automatically when you start the placement routine.
This is just like most of the Chinese flashlights I deal with---they go about 90%-95% of the way to making a truly great product, but then fall short on some of the small details that could elevate the product from 'acceptable' to 'great'. I am happy enough with the machine as it sits as long as it keeps running reliably, but if they had a more polished interface and a better sales pitch can you imagine how many more of these they could sell?