D200 Power Problem

I have a D200, serial number 3007XXX that today exhibited a problem; when I install a freshly charged EN-EL3e battery, the lower battery power indicator flashes and I cannot take shots, few the menus, etc. The battery does seem to be fully charged, since it shows a steady amber light on the charger, and it does power my D100 just fine.

Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, how did you resolve it?

Much obliged,

--David

Sounds like the battery is bad. Yes it might have enough power to power your other Dxx camera doesn't mean it has enough juice to power the D200.

The D200 reads the battery some how some way and can tell when the battery is bad.
Page 192 of the manual

I would bet on the battery possibly having an issue with the ability to tell the camera about it's charge level. Do you have a second battery you can try? (I know that's pretty close to the computer technician asking "is it plugged in?" but I have to ask.)

--
You don't have to outrun the bear ... only the slowest person with you ...

I'm afraid I don't have another battery to test. Consider these things though:

• I've used the camera and battery for two weeks (so it's pretty new; yes, it could be worn out, but that seems pretty remote).
• I at about 1300 shutter fires.
• When I turn the camera on, for an instant it shows the battery as having a full charge, THEN it zips to low.

Any clues in there?

HokieMokie said:

I'm afraid I don't have another battery to test. Consider these
things though:

• I've used the camera and battery for two weeks (so it's pretty

new; yes, it could be worn out, but that seems pretty remote).

• I at about 1300 shutter fires.
• When I turn the camera on, for an instant it shows the battery as

having a full charge, THEN it zips to low.

Any clues in there?

Click to expand...

Are you sure that the charger is actually working correctly? Sounds like the typical result of using a discharged LIon battery.

= Dan =

Dan: Good question, but the battery powers by D100 just fine. I am using the MH-18a charger, but perhaps I ought to try the MH-18.

Do a search. Others had this problem and I believe the solution was running it down with another camera. It's the chip inside that's confused about the actual charge level. Be carefull though for if you run it down too far it might be really lost.

So I guess the corollary question about having 2 D200 bodies is probably out of scope? hee, hee

Wisenheimer aside, I am still leaning toward the battery, maybe you could run it by a shop with a D200 body and try it?

--
You don't have to outrun the bear ... only the slowest person with you ...

This means I am:

• Going to drain my sole EN-EL3e in my D100 (currently underway).
• Recharge it in the MH-18a.
• Put it in the D200, see if it works.

Thanks for your responses all, I'll post and update when I see how it all works out.

--David

Yes, this is exactly what you should try. Intelligent batteries can get confused. What they do is to keep track of how much charge current goes into the battery and how much discharge current goes out. It calculates capacity from this. Occasionally, the battery forgets the capacity figure, and when it does, it will report that the battery is discharged even though it is fully charged. The solution is to discharge it and then charge it again. Using a camera that does not have the "intelligence" to read the capacity figure and trust it.

Nikon really needs to fix this. My company has devices that use intelligent batteries. If this "out of sync" condition happens, our equipment doesn't refuse to operate. And we have a menu item that tells the device to discharge the battery so that it can be charged again and get it operating normally again.

--
There's no place like 127-0-0-1!

My First D200 which was replaced exhibited this very problem.

I determined that the camera was killing the ability for the batteries to communicate with any camera they were placed in.

The batteries are fully charged but the chip that tells the camera this has been corrupted and will not work in any D200 thereafter.

The only solution is to "replace the entire camera package completely including the batteries and charger."

Luckily my pro dealer Fotocare had Nikon overnight a replacement which has worked very well so far.
Mark

Forman D200 test images of Manhattan
http://screeningroom.smugmug.com

--
Mark Forman
MarkForman Productions, Corp.
http://screeningroom.com

Well, I drained the battery, then charged it completely, and put it in the D200. No dice. Same message, camera won't function.

Nikon Tech Support told me to mail the battery in for a replacement.

D200 is now a lens-holder.

Alas.

--David

That, of course, is the other possibility. A bad battery.

Maybe a backup battery would be a good purchase for you. Batteries are one of the less reliable components in a digital camera. $40 USD is a little pricey for a battery, though.

Good luck, and I hope you'll soon be back to your picture taking.

--
There's no place like 127-0-0-1!

Two awful facts:

• My "defective battery" successfully powered two different D200s in local shops.
• The good batteries from the local shops did NOT power by D200.

The logical conclusion here is that the camera, not the battery, is bed. I was told to let the camera sit without a battery for 24-48 hours, and then see if it worked with the charged battery.

I think a trip to Melville is in store for my unit.

--David

As I said before:

"I determined that the camera was killing the ability for the batteries to communicate with any camera they were placed in.

The batteries are fully charged but the chip that tells the camera this has been corrupted and will not work in any D200 thereafter.

The ONLY SOLUTION is to "replace the entire camera package completely including the batteries and charger."

--
Mark Forman
MarkForman Productions, Corp.
http://screeningroom.com

Mark Forman said:

As I said before:
"I determined that the camera was killing the ability for the
batteries to communicate with any camera they were placed in.

The batteries are fully charged but the chip that tells the camera
this has been corrupted and will not work in any D200 thereafter.

The ONLY SOLUTION is to "replace the entire camera package
completely including the batteries and charger."

--
Mark Forman
MarkForman Productions, Corp.
http://screeningroom.com

Click to expand...

Excuse me BUT the OP stated that HIS battery WORKED in 2 (TWO) different D200's at the shop he took it to. That would lead me to believe it is only the camera that is at fault not the battery.

But in any event just why would you need top replace BOTH camera and battery if only one of them goes bad. That seems a little over the top.

To the OP

I really don't get why someone would buy a $1700 camera and only have one battery for it. Without a battery it IS a lens holder. After the order was confirmed for my D200 I order 2 extra batteries. You can't take to many pictures with a digital camera when the battery is dead.

Good luck getting it fixed or a new body. Hope everything works out.

That's right, my camera didn't kill the batteries from the other cameras. Oddly enough my battery seems to be the only part of the ensemble that works. Be that as it may, it sure looks like Mark was right; my D200 is likely heading back to the mother ship.

To answer your question, though, I'd sure like more batteries. The reason this person with a $1700 camera has only one battery is that the vendor had none to sell me at time of purchase, and they had sold out all other places (except the one place that overcharges).

Thanks for you help all, I sure hope this gets resolved quickly... Mark, how long did it take for Nikon to get a camera back to you?

Kind regards,
-- David

Yeah I paid $49.99 each for my two extras, about $10 above what they cost IF you can find them at the right price, but without them I wouldn't be having as much fun.

Using the menus runs the battery down. I installed a freshly charged battery in the morning and by the time I had gone through all my settings, tweaking things, it had dropped to 27%. I stuck another fresh battery in and had the camera on and took about 175 pics in about 3 hours and that battery never drop below 60%. RAW+JPG.

i had problems also finding a spare battery, finally b&h got them in stock again, u have to get on there list and then they will let you know when they are in stock.
--
saraj

Unfortunately a camera is part of a system. If you replace one component it is entirely possible that another leg of the system is as fault. When my camera batteries failed we tried them in another D200 and that camera showed the same failure. We then took a newly charged smart battery from the second camera and used it in the first D200 which then killed that battery also. The battery was then checked in the second camera which also showed the same battery failure. Therefore it was determined that the Faulty D200 was to blame and we now had 2 bad smart batteries. We also tried 2 different chargers which both were showing fully charged cells so we ruled out the chargers.

Therefore both the camera and batteries had problems making the only choice full replacement.
Nikon was able to get a new camera out by FEDEX so I only had to wait 36hrs.

Another lesson to be learned is ALWAYS WORK WITH A PRO DEALER if you make a living with your tools.

If I had gone to a box house I still would be waiting and I could not have performed the tests needed to isolate the problem.

My second D200 is working well and I plan to get another body from the same Pro Dealer here in New York.

--
Mark Forman
MarkForman Productions, Corp.
http://screeningroom.com