Firmware upgrade on my D1H - I want to cry!

nicola · Mar 6, 2003

End of last year I asked Nikon HK to carry out the upgrade, which they did. But, I ended up with the well know problem to the batteries performance (reduced no. of shots per charge).

As anybody knows, there was no sign of warnings issued by Nikon about the possible limitations to the battery performance when they made the upgrade available. When the problem became apparent, Nikon HK said that the limitation to the battery was intentional by Nikon engineers to address a well know problem of "black frames" caused by the battery when near to full depleation.

I never had such a problem with my camera and I would like to learn for you D1H owners if you ever had a problem of missing a shot (getting a black frame instead of a good image) when your battery was about to be depleated.

On last Monday, after two people in Nikon HK told me over the phone that the firmware could have been downgraded, thus regaining the original battery perfomance, I took my camera in for the second time. They quoted approx 3 days turnaround.

This morning, Nikon HK called saying that they are having problems with the downgrading and that the battery performance will not improve. Reason? The upgrade is irreversible. And that if I really insist on the downgrade, they will have to negotaite it with their HQ in Japan and if they get the "go ahead" they will have to dismantle my camera body and change the whole circuit.

Pls tell me how would you feel? Would you accept that Nikon returned your camera after it was dismantled? What steps you may want to take?

I really don't know what to say or do. Is it fair to ask for the whole camera to be replaced?
Let me know what you think!
Meanwhile, I'll be in sorrow while I wait for the events to unfold on me.
Bloody Nikon!
--
Nicola (mr)
(Amateur Photographer)
http://www.pbase.com/nicola/galleries

Moon · Mar 6, 2003

Nicola,

When I owned an Olympus, I had to send it off for major repairs. Part of Olympus policy on repaires was to re-warranty the camera for 6 mos. or so. I do not know if this is a Nikon Policy, but it might be worth checking out. If your D1H is out of warranty, this might be a good way to squeeze it back in...just a thought.

At any rate, if I were in your situation, I would let them do it. Maybe they will end up replacing your unit all together. This is precisely the reason I have not sent in my D1X. I want the buffer upgrade, but not at the cost of this battery fault.

Good luck.

nicola said:
End of last year I asked Nikon HK to carry out the upgrade, which
they did. But, I ended up with the well know problem to the
batteries performance (reduced no. of shots per charge).
As anybody knows, there was no sign of warnings issued by Nikon
about the possible limitations to the battery performance when they
made the upgrade available. When the problem became apparent, Nikon
HK said that the limitation to the battery was intentional by Nikon
engineers to address a well know problem of "black frames" caused
by the battery when near to full depleation.
I never had such a problem with my camera and I would like to learn
for you D1H owners if you ever had a problem of missing a shot
(getting a black frame instead of a good image) when your battery
was about to be depleated.
On last Monday, after two people in Nikon HK told me over the phone
that the firmware could have been downgraded, thus regaining the
original battery perfomance, I took my camera in for the second
time. They quoted approx 3 days turnaround.
This morning, Nikon HK called saying that they are having problems
with the downgrading and that the battery performance will not
improve. Reason? The upgrade is irreversible. And that if I really
insist on the downgrade, they will have to negotaite it with their
HQ in Japan and if they get the "go ahead" they will have to
dismantle my camera body and change the whole circuit.
Pls tell me how would you feel? Would you accept that Nikon
returned your camera after it was dismantled? What steps you may
want to take?
I really don't know what to say or do. Is it fair to ask for the
whole camera to be replaced?
Let me know what you think!
Meanwhile, I'll be in sorrow while I wait for the events to unfold
on me.
Bloody Nikon!
--
Nicola (mr)
(Amateur Photographer)
http://www.pbase.com/nicola/galleries

FunD2h · Mar 6, 2003

I guess I am feelling lucky I didn't send mine in Nicola! I knew you were having problems with the battery. I would be quite upset also! I think I would let them do what ever it took to get it back to the place it was before upgrading. I would think then if you still had problems they would give you another to replace it. But....I wonder if the new "H"s they are sellilng off the shelf have the upgrade or not????? I would think Nikon has a big problem, unless yours is unique to the downgrade problem. Keep us updated on your camera!
take care,
Ken

nicola · Mar 7, 2003

Hi Ken,

Tks! You've been wiser than me by not sending yours in for the upgrade. I should have known better.

Anyway, I gave them the OK to procede with the circuit replacement and I will only know something by end of next week. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
I shall keep you inf'd.

I hope I am not going to start hating my H because I will definitely start hating Nikon due to an increasing feeling of lack of confidence towards them. They don't seem to be able to get their acts together!?!?

But, I guess there is worse in life than this. So, let's stop farting about their skill (or lack thereof) and hope for the best.

Hei, how was your son's game last weekend? Did they win? I had checked yr gallery a couple of days ago and there was nothing new.
Hope they won and that the snow let you through to your way to the game!
Did you get my last email on last Friday night (HK time)?
Take care my friend.

Ken Seal said:
I guess I am feelling lucky I didn't send mine in Nicola! I knew
you were having problems with the battery. I would be quite upset
also! I think I would let them do what ever it took to get it back
to the place it was before upgrading. I would think then if you
still had problems they would give you another to replace it.
But....I wonder if the new "H"s they are sellilng off the shelf
have the upgrade or not????? I would think Nikon has a big problem,
unless yours is unique to the downgrade problem. Keep us updated on
your camera!
take care,
Ken

--
Nicola (mr)
(Amateur Photographer)
http://www.pbase.com/nicola/galleries

nicola · Mar 7, 2003

Hi Moon,

My warranty expires mid (or end?) May and here in HK they grant 3 months only (another discrepancy in their system) extended warranty on the repair carried out. So, I will only benefit a couple of weeks on that.
Anyway, I gave the OK to go ahead hoping for the best!
Thank You! ;-))

Moon said:
When I owned an Olympus, I had to send it off for major repairs.
Part of Olympus policy on repaires was to re-warranty the camera
for 6 mos. or so. I do not know if this is a Nikon Policy, but it
might be worth checking out. If your D1H is out of warranty, this
might be a good way to squeeze it back in...just a thought.

At any rate, if I were in your situation, I would let them do it.
Maybe they will end up replacing your unit all together. This is
precisely the reason I have not sent in my D1X. I want the buffer
upgrade, but not at the cost of this battery fault.

Good luck.

nicola said:

End of last year I asked Nikon HK to carry out the upgrade, which
they did. But, I ended up with the well know problem to the
batteries performance (reduced no. of shots per charge).
As anybody knows, there was no sign of warnings issued by Nikon
about the possible limitations to the battery performance when they
made the upgrade available. When the problem became apparent, Nikon
HK said that the limitation to the battery was intentional by Nikon
engineers to address a well know problem of "black frames" caused
by the battery when near to full depleation.
I never had such a problem with my camera and I would like to learn
for you D1H owners if you ever had a problem of missing a shot
(getting a black frame instead of a good image) when your battery
was about to be depleated.
On last Monday, after two people in Nikon HK told me over the phone
that the firmware could have been downgraded, thus regaining the
original battery perfomance, I took my camera in for the second
time. They quoted approx 3 days turnaround.
This morning, Nikon HK called saying that they are having problems
with the downgrading and that the battery performance will not
improve. Reason? The upgrade is irreversible. And that if I really
insist on the downgrade, they will have to negotaite it with their
HQ in Japan and if they get the "go ahead" they will have to
dismantle my camera body and change the whole circuit.
Pls tell me how would you feel? Would you accept that Nikon
returned your camera after it was dismantled? What steps you may
want to take?
I really don't know what to say or do. Is it fair to ask for the
whole camera to be replaced?
Let me know what you think!
Meanwhile, I'll be in sorrow while I wait for the events to unfold
on me.
Bloody Nikon!
--
Nicola (mr)
(Amateur Photographer)
http://www.pbase.com/nicola/galleries

Click to expand...

--
Nicola (mr)
(Amateur Photographer)
http://www.pbase.com/nicola/galleries

JoseMaza · Mar 7, 2003

Nicola:

I can't help you but I can tel tou my experience:

When I send my D1H to the tech. service to change the rubber "skin", they return It to me with the upgrade done. (tanks ..?)

In my case I didn't percive any change about the batteries life:

I have two: One of them (7 months old), was and is K.O. (about 35-40 frames plus the black one,). The same before and after the firmware update.

The other one is O.K ? (300 shots...) The same before and after the firmware update.

Because of this I think, (In my case), my batteries problems are ONLY because of the batteries.

When I told this to the salesman who sells me my D1H, he told me that the batteries are not in warranty, BUT, because the first battery comes with the camera, and with the charger, the warranty of the charger could be applicable to the battery (¡!) I’m waiting the answer of Nikon, here in Spain ....

Regards

Jose

GoldenHammer · Mar 7, 2003

just working perfectly well after the firmware update. It is faster, and stilll have very nice battery life performance.....

GH

nicola said:
End of last year I asked Nikon HK to carry out the upgrade, which
they did. But, I ended up with the well know problem to the
batteries performance (reduced no. of shots per charge).
As anybody knows, there was no sign of warnings issued by Nikon
about the possible limitations to the battery performance when they
made the upgrade available. When the problem became apparent, Nikon
HK said that the limitation to the battery was intentional by Nikon
engineers to address a well know problem of "black frames" caused
by the battery when near to full depleation.
I never had such a problem with my camera and I would like to learn
for you D1H owners if you ever had a problem of missing a shot
(getting a black frame instead of a good image) when your battery
was about to be depleated.
On last Monday, after two people in Nikon HK told me over the phone
that the firmware could have been downgraded, thus regaining the
original battery perfomance, I took my camera in for the second
time. They quoted approx 3 days turnaround.
This morning, Nikon HK called saying that they are having problems
with the downgrading and that the battery performance will not
improve. Reason? The upgrade is irreversible. And that if I really
insist on the downgrade, they will have to negotaite it with their
HQ in Japan and if they get the "go ahead" they will have to
dismantle my camera body and change the whole circuit.
Pls tell me how would you feel? Would you accept that Nikon
returned your camera after it was dismantled? What steps you may
want to take?
I really don't know what to say or do. Is it fair to ask for the
whole camera to be replaced?
Let me know what you think!
Meanwhile, I'll be in sorrow while I wait for the events to unfold
on me.
Bloody Nikon!
--
Nicola (mr)
(Amateur Photographer)
http://www.pbase.com/nicola/galleries

--

http://www.digital-life-21.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=710
Nikon D1x, Nikon FM3A, Canon S45

Ger Bee · Mar 7, 2003

... type of story.

And just a few stories like Golden Hammer’s.

It just shows that Nikon are not organised and don't have a common approach, probably due to the underpinned technology and reveals their assembly parts approach and not the well planned and custom built machines we all thought we were buying.

They should all work the same way and react the same way after surgery; your story and others show clearly that this is just not the case.

It’s showing a patchwork approach to many aspects of the machine’s assembly and an equally inefficient patchwork support worldwide whereby we have some reporting a new machine and a fantastic response, BTW a few I challenged on their performance increases failed to back up their initial reports, and we have a few horror stories like yours ~~but the scary part and the final straw for me is Nikon now want YOU to pick up the pieces ~ literally and (insert expletive here)!~~

Nikon have been showing signs of clutching at straws recently accompanied by an uncharacteristic bungling and even babbling.

Very sorry to hear of your problem, I’ve been through similar with Nikon and it is totally frustrating I have to think of the £7,500 (old Irish punts) that I spent on it to avoid becoming irrational with it.

Demand a new kit. Good luck.

nicola said:
End of last year I asked Nikon HK to carry out the upgrade,

dpluess · Mar 7, 2003

The firmware battery problem is only on the D1H. Don't do the upgrade!
I'm so happy that I still have 1.00. Everything works and I've got the felling
to be able to take all power out of a charged EN-4.

Ger Bee · Mar 7, 2003

................. just gather a few of the posts from this forum and threaten to send them to your solicitor, and the office of consumer affairs.

I posted details about 12 months ago on the battery warranty situation along with the email responses from Nikon.

You will get your battery, but only individually, there is no law in “the battery has no warranties!” by actually making this statement they are breaking the law themselves.

In the greater EU now, all goods must have 12 months with specific exceptions, however, no exception is for no warranty at all.

Go get ‘em!!!

FunD2h · Mar 7, 2003

Yes I got your email....I'll get with you soon!
Ken

GoldenHammer · Mar 7, 2003

Probably the new circult would give better performance.

Good Luck.
GH

nicola said:
End of last year I asked Nikon HK to carry out the upgrade, which
they did. But, I ended up with the well know problem to the
batteries performance (reduced no. of shots per charge).
As anybody knows, there was no sign of warnings issued by Nikon
about the possible limitations to the battery performance when they
made the upgrade available. When the problem became apparent, Nikon
HK said that the limitation to the battery was intentional by Nikon
engineers to address a well know problem of "black frames" caused
by the battery when near to full depleation.
I never had such a problem with my camera and I would like to learn
for you D1H owners if you ever had a problem of missing a shot
(getting a black frame instead of a good image) when your battery
was about to be depleated.
On last Monday, after two people in Nikon HK told me over the phone
that the firmware could have been downgraded, thus regaining the
original battery perfomance, I took my camera in for the second
time. They quoted approx 3 days turnaround.
This morning, Nikon HK called saying that they are having problems
with the downgrading and that the battery performance will not
improve. Reason? The upgrade is irreversible. And that if I really
insist on the downgrade, they will have to negotaite it with their
HQ in Japan and if they get the "go ahead" they will have to
dismantle my camera body and change the whole circuit.
Pls tell me how would you feel? Would you accept that Nikon
returned your camera after it was dismantled? What steps you may
want to take?
I really don't know what to say or do. Is it fair to ask for the
whole camera to be replaced?
Let me know what you think!
Meanwhile, I'll be in sorrow while I wait for the events to unfold
on me.
Bloody Nikon!
--
Nicola (mr)
(Amateur Photographer)
http://www.pbase.com/nicola/galleries

--

http://www.digital-life-21.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=710
Nikon D1x, Nikon FM3A, Canon S45

nicola · Mar 7, 2003

GoldenHammer said:
Good Luck.
GH

nicola said:

End of last year I asked Nikon HK to carry out the upgrade, which
they did. But, I ended up with the well know problem to the
batteries performance (reduced no. of shots per charge).
As anybody knows, there was no sign of warnings issued by Nikon
about the possible limitations to the battery performance when they
made the upgrade available. When the problem became apparent, Nikon
HK said that the limitation to the battery was intentional by Nikon
engineers to address a well know problem of "black frames" caused
by the battery when near to full depleation.
I never had such a problem with my camera and I would like to learn
for you D1H owners if you ever had a problem of missing a shot
(getting a black frame instead of a good image) when your battery
was about to be depleated.
On last Monday, after two people in Nikon HK told me over the phone
that the firmware could have been downgraded, thus regaining the
original battery perfomance, I took my camera in for the second
time. They quoted approx 3 days turnaround.
This morning, Nikon HK called saying that they are having problems
with the downgrading and that the battery performance will not
improve. Reason? The upgrade is irreversible. And that if I really
insist on the downgrade, they will have to negotaite it with their
HQ in Japan and if they get the "go ahead" they will have to
dismantle my camera body and change the whole circuit.
Pls tell me how would you feel? Would you accept that Nikon
returned your camera after it was dismantled? What steps you may
want to take?
I really don't know what to say or do. Is it fair to ask for the
whole camera to be replaced?
Let me know what you think!
Meanwhile, I'll be in sorrow while I wait for the events to unfold
on me.
Bloody Nikon!
--
Nicola (mr)
(Amateur Photographer)
http://www.pbase.com/nicola/galleries

Click to expand...

--

http://www.digital-life-21.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=710
Nikon D1x, Nikon FM3A, Canon S45

--
Nicola (mr)
(Amateur Photographer)
http://www.pbase.com/nicola/galleries

nicola · Mar 7, 2003

... I feel at home here with you guys ;-))

--
Nicola (mr)
(Amateur Photographer)
http://www.pbase.com/nicola/galleries

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Firmware upgrade on my D1H - I want to cry!

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