Camera locking up and i can't figure out why

you're correct. that's what i need to do.

i'm checking out card prices and will order one asap.

found that Adorama has the same card i'm now using (sandisk extreme III 2 gig) for only $57 after rebate, or better yet, in 4 gig for only $105 after rebate. seems like a good deal...

this is usually indicative of power problems. some D200's have a problem with battery fit -- i think it actually may be QC on the battery manufacture. if it wiggles at all, it can fault.

ensure the battery contacts are clean.

if you have an external flash mounted, ensure it is not loose. a slight wiggle can also cause a fault.

when Nikon cameras hit a power fault, they stop completely for a few seconds and then can be started again...dav
--
don't wait for technology -- it won't wait for you

thnx dave, i'll keep that in mind when it happens again.

This is a kown issue , I had my D200 serviced and several boards were replaced. The problem happened again , here was my solution. I cleaned all contacts on the camera and MB grip with a pencil eraser and alcohol on a Q-tip. NEVER had any more lock up issues , there was a lot of oxides built up on the contacts.

Careful I dont know if there is any problems using alcohol inside the camera, it worked for me.
Rick Q.
http://www.pbase.com/wyatt/galleries

thnx rick. i'll give that a try too, using a mostly dry q-tip.

no, q-tips are just for gunk. to clean the contacts you have two basic options:
dry - use an eraser

wet - use alcohol/methanol. alcohol is not a problem unless you're pouring it in...dav
--
don't wait for technology -- it won't wait for you

w. coyote said:

in the middle of a shoot, between shots without making changes to
setting, my D200 will lock up. a half minute to a few minutes
later it will start working again as if nothing happened. nothing i
do seems to make any difference to fix it when it's down (turning
it off/on, taking out the battery...).

Click to expand...

I've had intermittent problems with my D200 as well. For example, during a long shoot, it will operate normally most of the time, but at times will not respond to the Play or Menu buttons, although it will continue to take pictures. This is very frustrating, as I'm unable to check exposures or change settings while the problem is present. Another symptom: While the back buttons are inactive, the viewfinder display is showing the exposure offset value instead of the frame count, as if I was holding the compensation button down. Since I always use the battery grip, I was wondering if the problem was in that unit. I've also noticed on occasion that the CF card access LED will light up when handling the camera (even when off) although no buttons had been pressed.

The camera is now in for repair ($355) at the Seattle area Nikon authorized service station, Phototronics. Their tech is confident that the problem is a failure on the power converter board, and said it's not an unusual problem on the D200.
Sounds very similar to your case.

• Marianne

thnx Marianne. more helpful info.

as things progress and i have another failure, these are things i can watch for.

you folks are great!!!!

thnx dav. i'll try your alcohol trick and see if my problem continues to occur.

You gotta get off of your thing with ACME. No ACME batteries, CF cards, etc. They may be good for rocket launchers, but I would not trust them for Nikon DLSR accessories. Of course if they are paying you to use their products you will have to put up with those problems.

So, having reached retirement age, you gave up trying to catch the road runner and have decided to photograph it instead? What lens did you choose for that?

And lastly, if you fell off yet another cliff with the camera, you could have damaged it. Does UPS pickup and deliver out there in the desert?

Good luck!

Please post some picks of the road runner if you get any good ones! They may take a lot of PP to undo the cartoon affect though.

after howling at Visa that they kept dogging me over paying them on time, i got a one of them low-interest ACME credit cards. it promised me frequent flyer miles and free shipping on all ACME products.

only problems are the quality of some of their products (ever own an ACME DSLR? damn thing kept blowning up!) and the no matter how many FF miles i rack up, whenever i find myself sky-high, they drop me like a rock.

i still do get the free shipping, so ACME it is.

i can't tell you how many $300 ACME 16MB CF cards it takes just to capture a single freaking photo for that damn bird!

but even with that VR lens, so far i don't have one photo in focus.