EVF and monitor auto switch malfunction?

LateHunter · Oct 22, 2018

The first few days it worked well on my Z7. Then sometimes. Now it’s almost dead. For example, when I turn the camera on, monitor is off though it’s set to auto switch. Now I have to resort to only EVF, even for review. I’ve looked into the eye sensor, it’s clean, unobstructed. I vaguely recall someone else has also complained about it. Is there any setting/workaround? Thanks. (With 24-70S lens)

Alex Permit · Oct 22, 2018

LateHunter said:
The first few days it worked well on my Z7. Then sometimes. Now it’s almost dead. For example, when I turn the camera on, monitor is off though it’s set to auto switch. Now I have to resort to only EVF, even for review. I’ve looked into the eye sensor, it’s clean, unobstructed. I vaguely recall someone else has also complained about it. Is there any setting/workaround? Thanks. (With 24-70S lens)

Did you try to turn the monitor on manually by using the monitor mode button?

Fat Finger · Oct 22, 2018

As Alex said. Are you sure it’s not in viewfinder only or viewfinder priority mode?

bigconig · Oct 23, 2018

LateHunter said:
The first few days it worked well on my Z7. Then sometimes. Now it’s almost dead. For example, when I turn the camera on, monitor is off though it’s set to auto switch. Now I have to resort to only EVF, even for review. I’ve looked into the eye sensor, it’s clean, unobstructed. I vaguely recall someone else has also complained about it. Is there any setting/workaround? Thanks. (With 24-70S lens)

I adjusted the "Limit Monitor Mode Selection" in the setup menu and lost the back display for everything, couldn't get it back no matter how I set the options. I had to reset the menus to original to get it back. I haven't touched that setting since. I was going to wait and see if anyone else could shed some light on to what happened. If you've changed this you may want to try resetting all the camera settings to original

-

http://www.pbase.com/bigconig

cerj · Oct 23, 2018

Warranty

Russell Proulx · Oct 23, 2018

bigconig said:
I adjusted the "Limit Monitor Mode Selection" in the setup menu and lost the back display for everything, couldn't get it back no matter how I set the options. I had to reset the menus to original to get it back. I haven't touched that setting since. I was going to wait and see if anyone else could shed some light on to what happened. If you've changed this you may want to try resetting all the camera settings to original.

After selecting the viewing modes that will be cycled through did you then press the Monitor mode button on the left side of the eyepiece prism to cycle through them?

The "Limit Monitor Mode Selection" menu determines what modes can be used when pressing the Monitor mode button. If you deselect 'Monitor' in the "Limit Monitor Mode Selection" menu then it will not be used.

For my set up I enable Automatic display switch, Viewfinder only, Monitor only, and have Prioritize viewfinder disabled. That might change as I get more comfortable with the Z7.

Ninpou_Bunshinnojutsu · Oct 24, 2018

I don't see your problem exactly, but I think I am in the same neighborhood.

I was trying to optimize settings (including the monitor switch settings) when this occurred to me, but completely caught me by surprise, so I'm fuzzy on the details of what exactly I had done before the event occurred.

Weird problem with Nikon Z7 EVF

I only had it for about a day with very limited use. Good luck to you.

LateHunter · Oct 27, 2018

Russell Proulx said:
bigconig said:

I adjusted the "Limit Monitor Mode Selection" in the setup menu and lost the back display for everything, couldn't get it back no matter how I set the options. I had to reset the menus to original to get it back. I haven't touched that setting since. I was going to wait and see if anyone else could shed some light on to what happened. If you've changed this you may want to try resetting all the camera settings to original.

Click to expand...

After selecting the viewing modes that will be cycled through did you then press the Monitor mode button on the left side of the eyepiece prism to cycle through them?

The "Limit Monitor Mode Selection" menu determines what modes can be used when pressing the Monitor mode button. If you deselect 'Monitor' in the "Limit Monitor Mode Selection" menu then it will not be used.

For my set up I enable Automatic display switch, Viewfinder only, Monitor only, and have Prioritize viewfinder disabled. That might change as I get more comfortable with the Z7.

I cycled through all options. I think the problem is as bigconig described. Once I set the camera to original setting, the LCD came back up. Definitely a firmware bug there.

Marc_W · Nov 23, 2018

Yes I've got exactly the same problem with mine .... so its a real and present bug

I've just had a look at the firmware updates (Version 1.03) ... and the instructions are unhelpful as I've no means of updating at XQD card save in the camera .... so how does one get around that

Marc
Marc_Wainwright

Matt12V · Nov 23, 2018

I had this bug happen to me too. The rear LCD would not come on once subject focus tracking was on. Power on off would not fix it. I missed a bunch of shots at an event because of it! I had to pull the battery to fix it!

j_photo · Nov 23, 2018

bigconig said:
LateHunter said:

The first few days it worked well on my Z7. Then sometimes. Now it’s almost dead. For example, when I turn the camera on, monitor is off though it’s set to auto switch. Now I have to resort to only EVF, even for review. I’ve looked into the eye sensor, it’s clean, unobstructed. I vaguely recall someone else has also complained about it. Is there any setting/workaround? Thanks. (With 24-70S lens)

Click to expand...

I adjusted the "Limit Monitor Mode Selection" in the setup menu and lost the back display for everything, couldn't get it back no matter how I set the options. I had to reset the menus to original to get it back. I haven't touched that setting since. I was going to wait and see if anyone else could shed some light on to what happened. If you've changed this you may want to try resetting all the camera settings to original

-

http://www.pbase.com/bigconig

I had problems after making changes to Limit Monitor Mode Selection. It occurred while I was out shooting and I couldn't really sort out if something wasn't working correctly or if I had confused the settings. For now, I've set it back to the default and all is well.

Fat Finger · Nov 23, 2018

I've found this happens on my Z7 if even a small piece of dust or similar settles on the evf sensor. A quick blow usually sorts it out. It seems quite sensitive

toddfong · Dec 17, 2018

This answer is absolutely correct in my opinion. I had the same problem and just wiggled the rubber eyepiece around near the EVF sensor and the problem has disappeared. Hopefully, this isn't a common thing that needs to be fixed often, but at least the answer is fairly simple.

Kunib39 · Dec 31, 2018

I lost the monitor when setting to the automatic display mode on the Z7. I had it sent to Nikon in Los Angelesfor reapair and it came back working. It worked for two days and the problem has now re-occurred - no display when setting it to that mode. Nikon didn't indicate that they had done any repair to the camera. The settings were set to ON on all four options. I tried to re-set the camera to the factory settings and installed the latest firmware but haven't had any luck. I am limited to using the button on the left of the viewfinder to set it to either viewfinder or monitor, but I have no autoswitch.

Kunib39 · Dec 31, 2018

LateHunter said:
Russell Proulx said:

bigconig said:

I adjusted the "Limit Monitor Mode Selection" in the setup menu and lost the back display for everything, couldn't get it back no matter how I set the options. I had to reset the menus to original to get it back. I haven't touched that setting since. I was going to wait and see if anyone else could shed some light on to what happened. If you've changed this you may want to try resetting all the camera settings to original.

Click to expand...

After selecting the viewing modes that will be cycled through did you then press the Monitor mode button on the left side of the eyepiece prism to cycle through them?

The "Limit Monitor Mode Selection" menu determines what modes can be used when pressing the Monitor mode button. If you deselect 'Monitor' in the "Limit Monitor Mode Selection" menu then it will not be used.

For my set up I enable Automatic display switch, Viewfinder only, Monitor only, and have Prioritize viewfinder disabled. That might change as I get more comfortable with the Z7.

Click to expand...

I cycled through all options. I think the problem is as bigconig described. Once I set the camera to original setting, the LCD came back up. Definitely a firmware bug there.

AZSeth · Jan 1, 2019

Kunib39 said:
I lost the monitor when setting to the automatic display mode on the Z7. I had it sent to Nikon in Los Angelesfor reapair and it came back working. It worked for two days and the problem has now re-occurred - no display when setting it to that mode. Nikon didn't indicate that they had done any repair to the camera. The settings were set to ON on all four options. I tried to re-set the camera to the factory settings and installed the latest firmware but haven't had any luck. I am limited to using the button on the left of the viewfinder to set it to either viewfinder or monitor, but I have no autoswitch.

I've had this happen in three scenarios.

1) Dust, a hair, our whatever lands on or is in front of the little sensor. My "immediate action" drill now for when the rear screen won't turn on includes looking at the sensor and blowing in it.

2) I try to hold the camera down in front of my chest with the screen flipped out so I can look down and shoot videos or photo of people from lower than eye level. Seems that 5-6" it's about as close as I can get before the screen blanks out and I have to tilt it up towards the sky to get it back, then hold it further from my body. Nikon really should add a setting for user-adjustable eyepiece sensitivity; I don't want it switching off the back screen until my eyebrow is touching the rubber cup. Turning it off because my chest is 5" away is bogus, especially when the screen is flipped down and my eye can't possibly be at the EVF.

3) it's cold outside. I wish I were kidding, but I'm not. The eye-to-EVF detector is fooled by the cold. This never happens inside or outside on a warmish day. When it's a cold day or I'm outside in the evening when it's always cold my monitor will often refuse to come on while chimping, changing a menu, or taking video while using the back screen. It's amazing to me that Nikon apparently never tested the camera in cold weather; either that or I have a defective eyepiece sensor that still works when it's warm but not while cold.

From the sound of things with others having trouble with monitor autodetect sometimes, I'm betting this sensor just doesn't like the cold, and Nikon failed to catch this and fix it.

The Ron Guy · Feb 17, 2019

LateHunter said:
The first few days it worked well on my Z7. Then sometimes. Now it’s almost dead. For example, when I turn the camera on, monitor is off though it’s set to auto switch. Now I have to resort to only EVF, even for review. I’ve looked into the eye sensor, it’s clean, unobstructed. I vaguely recall someone else has also complained about it. Is there any setting/workaround? Thanks. (With 24-70S lens)

Same thing happened to me with the Z6. Returning it under warranty for an exchange. Don't mess with a work-around or a reset. It's defective.

TimGCC69 · Feb 17, 2019

LateHunter said:
The first few days it worked well on my Z7. Then sometimes. Now it’s almost dead. For example, when I turn the camera on, monitor is off though it’s set to auto switch. Now I have to resort to only EVF, even for review. I’ve looked into the eye sensor, it’s clean, unobstructed. I vaguely recall someone else has also complained about it. Is there any setting/workaround? Thanks. (With 24-70S lens)

My issue is a bit different but appears it's under somewhat the same umbrella. Since I purchased my Z6 one month ago, Monitor Mode has been set to Prioritize Viewfinder. (I have not unchecked any of the selections in Setup Menu > Limit Monitor Mode Selection.) This afternoon I noticed that Viewfinder did not turn off after I removed the camera from my eye. Viewfinder stayed on until camera timed out or was turned off. I am certain that has not been the case prior to today. I have read about the sensitivity of the the Eye Sensor so I wiped the Eye Sensor and Viewfinder as well with a dry piece of lens paper. Problem disappeared. Interested if this story connects to a bigger Z6/Z7 viewfinder issue.

AZSeth · Feb 17, 2019

Just a quick additional comment. The cold weather thing is real, and often my "immediate action" drill of blowing on the sensor, just a quick, sharp puff of air, is enough to get the rear screen to come on when I'm outside shooting in cold weather. Since it's pretty cold here during winter where I'm currently at, this is most of the time I'm outside shooting now.

I've also gotten quick with my left hand just hitting the little button on the left side of the EVF housing that cycles through the monitor display modes. I have it set to cycle between "automatic" switching and "monitor only" modes, so just one push will put force the monitor to display, then the next time I want to put the camera up to my eye to shoot some stills I push it again and put it back in automatic mode, and it'll switch to EVF when I put my eye up to it.

Yes, it's a minor annoyance, but not the end of the world. I haven't lost any shots since I understood this and pushing that button as needed became a reflexive action.

But yeah, Nikon, your auto viewfinder switching sensor is fooled by trivial amounts of dust and by cold weather, of all things. That's pretty dumb. I still think that Nikon should introduce a firmware setting allowing the user to adjust the sensitivity of the sensor. I'd like the sensor to only switch to EVF mode when my eye is literally right up to the viewfinder. Right now, even in warm weather it'll switch if I have almost anything at all within five or six inches of the viewfinder, such as my chest when I'm holding the camera right in front of me, rear screen folded out horizonally, recording some video. That's really kind of dumb.

Still love the camera, of course.

galetter · Mar 5, 2019

Hey guys. Same issue here. I noticed it probably 1 or 2 times inside but two days ago i was in -5 (Celsius) weather for a couple hours and it was TERRIBLE. Couldn't get the auto switch to work for the life of me.

I literally have 2 days to decide whether I should return it to Amazon Refurb or not.

Now that I'm thinking of returning it, of course it's working amazingly....

My guess is it's more of a firmware thing but what are your thoughts?

G

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