Nikon issues firmware updates for D4 and D800/D800E: Digital Photography Review

Solid review of the Nikon D800 D4 and Canon 5D3 on U Tube - check out: Full frame shoot out: D4 vs D800 vs 5Dmk III - not my video-but very interesting.

0 upvotes

need a firmware update to address the D4 focus priority issue!!!

0 upvotes

Just update the firmware of D800E, but memory card issue not solved, even shooting at basic low jpeg.

0 upvotes

Installed update last night. Today it just froze. Hour glass and green write light. D800. Extreme PRO CF on main 90mbps. Extreme SD 95
mbps on backup. Shooting RAW + .JPG.

0 upvotes

Hii all Nikonian which had many experience in using prof DSLR Camera pls let me know which is The best one that you had tried...D800E with the highest MP, D4 with only 16,2 MP with hi iso supported,or D3x still The best one? Because I had only D300 & D700 only & I'l try to buy the newest one also let me know if I buy D4 or D800E it's already have the new firmware as informed by Nikon Corp or it still must be download & install it....your recommend & suggestion will be highly appteciated Thank u all Nikonians

0 upvotes

Oh really gr8 if it is available for all D4, D800 and D800E. models. Hope they are free as well.

0 upvotes

why would you think a firmware update wouldn't be free? I can't imagine Nikon or anyone for that matter charging for firmware updates that are released to fix an issue.

0 upvotes

You have all 3 models and you dont know what firmware is?

1 upvote

this is just plain funny

0 upvotes

It's lovely that Nikon upgrades a camera (D800) that they can't even manage to produce to the extent that it's available in stores.
More hype. More fraud.

2 upvotes

lol you have know idea what you are talking about. Production lines are set up around the expected demand for the life of the product. It would be foolish to make more production lines and hire more people to meet the initial unusually high demand just to have the lines gather dust and have to lay off the new employes in 6 months to a year when that demand is over.

Not being able to meet demand, especially when they never promised to, is not fraud by any definition.

4 upvotes

God yes you're right, how dare they improve a camera that's already so good they can't make them quickly enough to sell them.

But why is improving a camera hype or fraud? Please tell

3 upvotes

I'd say you must be an expert at hyperbole and fraud.

0 upvotes

Fraud? Geez, i'm a die hard Canon man, but that comment is simply to stupid to get to grips with. Yet another cretin to add to the extremely long list of people who really shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the internet

0 upvotes

Your grammar makes no sense.

1 upvote

LOL. My grammar is perfect. Problem is you are American and English is a second language to you. :)

0 upvotes

I'm glad to see how quick Nikon was to provide a firmware update. However, Consumer Joe, will never be happy, until their camera can see the picture that they have in their mind, and take it for them without them having to do anything, while making coffee and brownies.

4 upvotes

Very clever. Choose the easiest target -- the consumer -- and then hit them with every tired cliche you can think of. Well done.

1 upvote

Hello Nikonians, I just download the Nikon D4 firmware upgrade and tried to install it. I have downloaded the instructions and followed all the steps. But It never worked for me. The upgrade option is not at all showing. I did everything that has been mentioned in the instruction. Any help will be highly appreciated.

0 upvotes

Try changing your Network Connection setting to "Off" and retry

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the same with mine... !!! hmmm? d4 still doesn't see the firmware update. ???

btw .. i did the same with my d800 and it worked.

Comment edited 42 seconds after posting

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i got mine to see the update! I took out the sony card from slot 1 and just used my cf card with the firmware file on it.. it worked!

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D800E still doesn't see the firmware update. ??? Tried different card still no luck.

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No need to buy a D4 first

A pleasure, glad to help :-)

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It worked for me. I copied bin file (you have to down load the file and run it which from the download zip file, it would create a .bin file) both to the formatted SD or CF in the DCIM directory and outside DCIM. I'm not sure which was the one that really work. After you place the card inside your D800. Turn it on and go to the set up menu, look for firmware version. Once you got in, you will see the current version (has 3 type of firmwares) and at the bottom there would be a menu for update. Select it and press OK button. These were the step I used and it worked well.

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Hi Scubeedoo,
Thanks a lot for your feedback. I turned off the network connection setting and it worked perfect this morning. Thanks again.

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Choejor, I had the same issue, the "Update" line never appeared. I downloaded the update several times into my CF card with no luck. Then I read that the CF card must be designated as the Primary card in the D4. If you have the XQD card as primary, the D4 will not read the update from your CF card. So I designate the CF card as primary and the D4 showed the Update option in the Firmware Menu.

0 upvotes

Wow the canon tolls are on a roll. software has bugs. always has always will. the key is that Nikon is fixing them... just like Canon will tape up your leaky mkiii's... if you ask them to.

4 upvotes

Yeah with a price of tape - Canon owners must be seriously fed up

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anyone noticed the time lag when you shot still images while the live view is on , is this is a normal behavior or something wrong with my d800.?

2 upvotes

I have noticed it and it cannot be right. Until your post, however, I haven't seen any reference to it.

0 upvotes

+1 that issue. I've noticed that if you give LV button a tap while it's lagging on write, it will get you back more quickly. Definitely tweaked, though. Painful, when you're looking to get the next shot.

Anyone else noticed how long CLS flash w/TTL commander takes? I can press and take my finger off the release before the shutter opens. Compared to the D700, it's pretty slow. Manageable, but a step backwards. Without master TTL, totally normal.

0 upvotes

Hey Nikon, when do you adress the soft video issue in FX and DX format on our D4's? Or do you expect we record in CX only?

0 upvotes

I am also waiting for this update. Video quality is unacceptable for such an expensive, hyped camera.

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I think they expect you to use it as a still camera for the Olympics.

0 upvotes

Well my job requires both photo and video. It would be ideal to have one camera that does both, and that's how they advertise it. It's very difficult to manage the weight and size of two cameras in most of the remote places where I shoot that are only accessible by self-propelled means of travel.

0 upvotes

Time to shoot with smaller gear.

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my D300 had the dead battery syndrome.
this been fixed by the first update.
now few years later it start's again.
seems my camera get old - or .....?

0 upvotes

maybe your battery really is at the end of it's life. Those chemicals do age with the years.

1 upvote

Bye bye nikon. I will buy a 5D mark 3

3 upvotes

I lost count of the 5Dmk2 updates. Where are they at now, 2.1.2?

After nearly 4 years, until last week, the D700 only needed 2. Most aren't even installing the 3rd one.

3 upvotes

But you told everyone you already have one Dracula. Oh that's right, you can't afford it though can you, and with the massive price premium for the 5DMKIII it's hardly surprising. And far better to have a firmware update to correct some minor issue than have someone take my camera apart and put some sticky tape to fix light entering the camera in all the wrong places like the 5DMKIII... What's the Canon solution for all of the dust stuck in the viewfinders Dracula?

6 upvotes

Wasn't Dracula a monster that sucked the life out of everyone?

3 upvotes

yes that should fix all your problems. like that camera (as all others) don't have problems of it's own.

0 upvotes

I'd would myself if I didn't have a problem with smearing of detail on high iso (woo hoo Canon goes up to 11)

1 upvote

Hey Mr Nikon, how about sending out some cameras to dealers :-/

2 upvotes

Yes, please do so !!!

1 upvote

Still amazes me that the mid-range D90 has never needed a firmware upgrade.... Someone must have done a good job. I wonder if they still work for Nikon????

2 upvotes

D90 had a distortion control update. Good on them.

Comment edited 3 minutes after posting

2 upvotes

The D90 is a superb classic, that still takes great photos.

0 upvotes

i love mine. still going strong after a dunking in the med last year....

0 upvotes

Same happened with both my D50 and D300. Perfect cameras it seems...

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Paulo, The D300 had a firmware upgrade. I have the D50 too and can't rember any upgrade for it :o)

0 upvotes

D800 used to lock up when I put a CF card formatted with a D700 (with a few images taken with the D700)

Firmware fixed the issue. I did get the hourglass for about 45 secs before it said (no images) Then it let me shot and play back images (d800 images only)

0 upvotes

Nikon recommends formatting the memory cards in the camera they will be used in, even if you have 2+ of the same model. My CF cards are labeled for the camera they're for.

0 upvotes

I guess there are few around here who have built computers as a hobby or as a trade in their lives, or even had a smart phone? Most electronic devices require firmware upgrades in their lifetimes. I've delt with motherboards that needed half a dozen or more firmware upgrades over the span of a couple of years.

Why would electronic devices like motherboards, videocards, cellphones and cameras have flashable EEPROMS, NAND or NOR memory chips in their design if you were never expected to have to update them?

Get over it, quit whining and flash your damn camera.

7 upvotes

My cellphone is a 300euro product, not a 6000euro pro product where you expect a high quality made.

1 upvote

That's kind of irrelevant. You might drive a 10,000euro or a 100,000euro car but they both may need the engine servicing, adjusting, and *gosh* even the engine management chip updating.

3 upvotes

Yup, they flash Prius' as well.

0 upvotes

If manufacturers tested untill all problems were found they would never release the product. This is the same in computers, cars or cameras.
Is it frustrating? Of course but when your an early adopter you must expect teething problems and this is just that.
If you want a problem free camera go back to a fully manual film camera.

10 upvotes

You consider that it's ok for a electronic product to have bug that prevent normal use of the product ? I have a 3year old 80$ Kodak camera without any bug. But nowday, it's seems manufacturer release product has is, without enough testing. When i think to fuji, it's white orbs, slow af, and that count's a lot in buying their products.

2 upvotes

I don't think you get ccd100's point though. It doesn't matter about cost. It doesn't matter what the product is. It doesn't matter whether it was manufactured today or manufactured 30 years ago. In many ways we are *lucky* with electronic products because they can be updated at home in a few minutes. In the "old days" when products were more mechanical, a fault (which, yes *did* occur from time to time) might mean either you had to live with that fault forever, or you might be able to send it off somewhere to be fixed and get it back in a couple of weeks.

0 upvotes

spidermoon, if you think your camera has no bugs in it, you just did not find one. It is not only commercially nonviable, but also technically impossible to find (let alone to fix) all the bugs in the devices/software of the complexity which is present in these cameras.
But, it IS good enough for you because you (as most of the buyers) cannot find the bugs either.

0 upvotes

Heart Pacemakers go through years of testing and then FDA approval, yet they still have recalls, so a firmware update on a camera is nothing.

0 upvotes

Well done Nikon. We thank you for being responsive and supporting your products. We expected nothing less. I LOVE my D4.

1 upvote

YES! Love my D800E. NO ISSUES AT ALL!!! Load firmware update, is easy, so what, both Nikon and Canon release these.

1 upvote

Well, it's a nice thought but we live in the real world. It simply can't be done in a high end manufacturing process. Not possible, and yes I have worked in technical manufacturing. QC can find 999 out of 1000 problems but #1000 will require firmware update. As I said, this is fortunate and a positive not a negative. Obviously Nikon had some "issues" getting this camera out the door, but that doesn't have anything to do with the firmware update.

0 upvotes

Firmware definitely works. I was having the lockup problem but no more.

Firmware fixes are absolutely standard for new cameras. This is a positive, not a negative. Every manufacturer does this, fortunately. I'm sure there are more to come for the d800.

3 upvotes

"Every manufacturer does this"

Which is precisely the problem and only happens because people like you see nothing wrong with it. An issue like this should have been caught by internal QC testing.

3 upvotes

Because it was a film camera and not a computer like modern DSLRs! Film cameras use 100 year old proven technology that only requires a dark box, film, and a brief exposure to light. Not much could go wrong. Comments like this are as stupid as saying that my horse did not have to go to the dealer for warranty repairs like cars these days. True, but did you horse get you from LA to SD in a few hours while providing a comfortable air conditioned ride.
Even the all mighty Apple has to continuously release updates to their OSX. People that complain about being lab rats to consumer electronic manufactures are truly short sided. Years ago if an electronic device had a bug, we learned to live with it. Today’s devices are far more capable and complicated; meaning after thousands are sold occasionally bugs will surface.

1 upvote

@Josh152 well it would be interesting to know what QC looks like in the job you do? Is *everything* you *ever* produce 100% perfect when it leaves the door? In some jobs you are lucky that there is either no contractual obligation to be "perfect" or defining what "pefect" means is so difficult or subjective that it is not enforceable. Professional photography would seem to be a clear example of the latter.

0 upvotes

Odd, my comment was a response to a comment that is no longer here. Now it just looks silly talking about film cameras without anyone else mentioning it.

0 upvotes

and for "old" camera's too as Nikon was nice enough to release updated firmware for D700 just a week or so back that dealt with an "underexposure" problem. needless to say i had read of maybe two owners experiencing it and this was only mentioned by them after the firmware release.

0 upvotes

COOL

0 upvotes

"When a still image was captured while viewing existing images in playback mode, the monitor turned off, the memory card access lamp glowed steadily, and, in some rare cases, the camera ceased to respond to operations. This issue has been resolved."

I can confirm (D800), did a shoot this morning with the new firmware, no more occasional HUGE delays waiting for the monitor come back up, or having to power cycle.

Things are moving right along, thanks Nikon.

4 upvotes

You are thanking Nikon for selling you a duff camera. This problem should not have happened when D800 was sold to the public. All Nikon did was releasing a firmware fix, they did not give you extra feature or performance enhancement over what they promise on the original spec sheet.

Comment edited 29 seconds after posting

4 upvotes

these kinds of growing pains are normal

5 upvotes

@Kodachrome200

That kind of non caring, complacent attitude on behalf the buying public is exactly what has lead to the " skimp on testing and patch it latter" mentality that now pervades software development and has the first buyers acting as another round of beta testers.

3 upvotes

Do you know /any/ piece of software - let alone one as complex as a camera operating system - that does not need patching from time to time as defects are found? I mean /any/? Complex software can be tested from now until the end of time and not all issues will be found. Until the day large programs can be mathematically proven to be "correct" this will be the case - and that isn't going to happen any time soon. Nikon is doing the right thing and fixing things that is making the camera even better to use.

3 upvotes

Mistakes happen, own it, fix it, and were good.

I make my living with Nikon's, so yes, thank you Nikon for doing right by me through the years.

0 upvotes

You're such a troll taikonaut why do you love to comment on the D800 so much when you spend your life in the Canon forum??? Ah that's right, massive product envy...... You will have such a hollow life for the next three years commenting on every D800 piece of information until Canon eventually offer something in the market that comes remotely close.

3 upvotes

When is your next space mission Taikonaut?

0 upvotes

Does this apply to North American bodies too or should I wait for Nikon USA/Canada ?

0 upvotes

You don't have to wait for Nikon USA or Canada.

0 upvotes

http://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/17815/kw/D4/

Comment edited 26 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

I tested it on US body. Works great.

0 upvotes

What about the left focusing problems with the D800? How are they going to fix this with a firmware update? I think not. I love the Guinea Pigs that try out all this stuff early so the rest of us can get a clean product a few months later.

0 upvotes

Thanks for the firmware update....you should always own up to your mistakes.

0 upvotes

Hi Felicia,
I'm very glad you're able to update the D800 firmware. My update did not go through the last step : tell the camera to go ahead with the update,by choosing "OK". What did I do wrong?
PS: I followed exactly the instructions from Nikon website.

0 upvotes

Finally, I was able to update my D800 firmwarre.

0 upvotes


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