Help!

My D2X was shooting fine this morning, and then on the second dive (housing not opened at all) it has stopped working.

Symptoms are no LCD display (menu or review), no green light for the CF card insertion, and no writing photos.

Auto focus, shutter and controls still working. I have tried different CF cards with the same problem. Any ideas?????

... we are at the begining of 10 days at Layang Layang

Damn, sorry to hear that. I assume you've opened it now, and still has problems. Maybe some button is pressed halfway or something? Replaced battery (not enough voltage, ive seen some weird things with third party batteries). Pin in your CF card slot bend? Obviously.. it didnt get wet?

Hope you sort it out..

Cor

ps: what housing?

Cor, No water that I know of - except humidity maybe ???

Yep, the first thing was to get it out of the housing. Tried a second CF card with no joy (both work fine in card reader).

I thought of pins, they look "normal". I was going to try cleaning, but that doesn't explain the no LCD thang - so I decided not to mess with it and make it worse.

Wondering if it could be a firmware issue? It is one thing I can think of that may relate to both the LCD and CF? Also the sudden onset?

One thing ive seen with the D200 is someone had taken their camera from airconditioned room into their housing. It most likely became moist inside the housing while underwater, even inside the camera. He then let it sit for a day, and it worked fine again. Was any airconditioned room involved?

What about the battery? original nikon one? Did you swap it?

Sudden onset seems to suggest some environmental issue like water/moisture.

What firmware do you have? Latest one? Ive had the latest firmware in all 3 of my D2x cameras and shot thousands of images with them. No problem.

Changed the lens also? Maybe some weird moisture issues on the lens mount.

Cor

Also take the battery out and then look where the battery came out you"ll see a small slider, open it and you'll see a small battery, take that out to, if you have another replace it if not put the old one back in again, it will reset the camera, then try it again.

One thing ive seen with the D200 is someone had taken their camera from airconditioned room into their housing. It most likely became moist inside the housing while underwater, even inside the camera. He then let it sit for a day, and it worked fine again. Was any airconditioned room involved?

Yep, the camera has been in the aircon for a couple of days and today was the first day outside. Also noting it was the first sunny, hot day here.

What about the battery? original nikon one? Did you swap it?

BTW, It was showing full, but I charged it anyway. It has plenty of juice for AF and shutter.

Sudden onset seems to suggest some environmental issue like water/moisture.

What firmware do you have? Latest one? Ive had the latest firmware in all 3 of my D2x cameras and shot thousands of images with them. No problem.

Changed the lens also? Maybe some weird moisture issues on the lens mount.

No, checked the contact, seating only - but I will do that.

It shot its 10000 frame this morning .... maybe its on strike !?!!?

Yep, the camera has been in the aircon for a couple of days and today was the first day outside. Also noting it was the first sunny, hot day here.

I bet thats the problem. It probably accumulated condensation when you took it outside. This can happen in every airspace, including any inside the camera. I would try and put it in a really dry/warm space for a day or so. Clean engine rooms are good

I must say I've always been of the adage if its not broken when it comes to firmware & drivers ... so its got what it came with. Is there a way to reset the camera ... thinking out loud, but I assume there is an internal bettery that keeps the clock and stuff alive when the main battery is out that could be reset

No, checked the contact, seating only - but I will do that.

The firmware upgrade is very easy and pretty safe. One thing I really like about the latest firmware is the option to open the shutter indefinitely for cleaning.

Cor

I'm not sure about the configuration of the D2X. However this might help. Try removing the battery and place some fresh desicant packs in the battery compartment.

I have a similar problem with one of my 20D after leaving it out in a humid room for 2 days. The desicant trick has helped saved a trip. My cameras now live in a camera bag or the housing.

Good luck! I hope you get your camera back in working shape.

Well .....

Have done the reset, and camera is packed with dessicant, new battery on its way ... but not much hope.

Email from Nikon says that the fault is non-specific and the camera will need to go back to them or a service centre

Am very sad not to have my camera for the shootout

Thanks for all the suggestions

cheers

Leander

Well .....

 

Have done the reset, and camera is packed with desiccant, new battery on its way ... but not much hope.

 

Email from Nikon says that the fault is non-specific and the camera will need to go back to them or a service centre

 

Am very sad not to have my camera for the shootout

 

Thanks for all the suggestions

 

cheers

Leander

Hello Leander,

Lee at Underwater Photo-Tech (my former employer) notified me of your situation.

The most common reason for this error is bent CF Pins in the camera. Look inside the CF chamber and look closely at the two longer center pins and the two longer pins on each end of the pin array. If bent these can sometimes be straightened (warning do not use a metal object) but in most cases the pins must be replaced. This can also occur due to a malfunctioning memory/compression circuit board in the camera.

This has nothing to do with firmware upgrades and as an FYI the firmware upgrade would not be possible if you can't read or write to the CF card.

If I can be of any other assistance, such as pro-rush repair service please let me know.

Regards,

Dave Marsh, Precision Camera

Director of Professional Services

1 Anngina Drive, Enfield, CT 06082

Phone: 860-272-2117 Fax: 860-272-2183

Toll Free: 800-665-6515 x117

Email: DMarsh@PrecisionCamera.com

Isn't Dave the greatest!!!!!

Hello Leander,

 

Lee at Underwater Photo-Tech (my former employer) notified me of your situation.

 

The most common reason for this error is bent CF Pins in the camera. Look inside the CF chamber and look closely at the two longer center pins and the two longer pins on each end of the pin array. If bent these can sometimes be straightened (warning do not use a metal object) but in most cases the pins must be replaced. This can also occur due to a malfunctioning memory/compression circuit board in the camera.

 

This has nothing to do with firmware upgrades and as an FYI the firmware upgrade would not be possible if you can't read or write to the CF card.

 

If I can be of any other assistance, such as pro-rush repair service please let me know.

G'day Dave!

Thanks for the info

So bent CF pins cause the lack of display on the LCD too?

I think its too late for this trip, but good to know it can be fixed

cheers

Leander

an update ...

I was just packaging up my camera to send off to the service techs and decided to give it one last try (mainly to see if it had gotten worse since a couple of weeks ago)

and

its working

now I don't trust it, but how do I send it off and say "fix what was broken" ?!?!?

I have seen a Canon 1D stop working due to being waterlogged (very heavy rain) but start up normally after a night on a radiator. If everything is working again as normal I would suggest that damp/humidity has got to be the prime suspect - and this could affect the battery/charger I suppose too. I'd ship it off with the full story and see if they can come back with either a fault or an explanation.

Just a thought as well. If you travelled with the camera prior to its failure, could it have been subjected to any low pressure (ie in a waterproof box), prior to removing it in humid conditions as this might have sucked in humid air which could take quite some time to then dry out (pro cameras are well sealed which can be both good and bad if you see what I mean). Although I've never experienced a camera failure from this problem, I'm always disconcerted by opening the valve on a pelicase and hearing it suck in air after a flight or moving from one area to another, and the camera will have to equalise too. When old F801s stopped working (they didn't like static) I used to remove the batteries and short out the connections which often solved the problem - not sure if this would work on a D2X but you could also ask Nikon if its worth trying.

It travelled "unsealed" with a body cap ??

It did about 10 days diving before it suddenly stopped - it was on a shootout, so lots of witnesses to its deadness

Humidity was the initial suspect. silica and hairdryer warming to no avail for a week ...

Nikon said not DIY solution - service only. Think I will have another talk to them and maybe get it serviced anyway