The shutter often fails with new firmware

[KennethKwok]

It was perfect at Firmware V1.0

Then, after firmware V1.03
occasionally, the shutter would not fire.
As in Press the shutter button,
but the photo is not taken.

It's not just "focus" priority.

Also, with flash SB800, now
the camera would sometimes give
a totally dark photo.
It's lucky that I like to take a few photos
for the same shot.

I wish I hadn't upgraded the firmware.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
But I fixed it.

 

[Matt in FL]

the smallish things I was shooting in the sky. Think it bothered me so much that I went from 9 to 21 to 51, not 3d focus points in the dynamic mode. That seemed to fix it, but you are right, it is changed..

It IS more sure and faster now, I always did ok with 9 points before..Be interesting to see if anyone else noticed this...
Not so bad for me that I want the old FW back though.
good luck with yours
--
MATT in NE_FL

 

[M A R I A N]

I was shooting last weekend and three or four times shutter button didn't respond - either on body or the grip. I was shooting moving object (kid jumping on the bed, bright wall behind) and quick On/Off turn seemed to fix the problem, but still - it happened at least 3 times in 15 min.

I actually checked if I wasn't in single servo as it is set to focus priority, but

I was in Continuous , shutter priority, so white wall behind, or moving object shouldn't matter at all.

I hope it was only one time hiccup...

--
http://www.MariuszJeglinski.com

 

[morgoththebetrayer]

Haven't noticed any problems with the shutter not firing, but I have had several shots with the SB-800 turn out completely dark. Not sure exactly how they introduced that error into the firmware, but I hope they get it resolved soon.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/morgoththebetrayer/

 

[eppicphoto]

Since the upgrade, I've had many times in the studio where the synced flashes do not fire. I'll do 15 shots, then get 3 or 4 completely black ones. I thought it was my strobes not recharging fast enough but now I'm wondering if it's the camera...?

--
http://www.doneppphotography.com

 

[morgoththebetrayer]

I'm fairly sure it's not flash recharge time. I was running it from the hotshoe in master mode, and it was at least 10 seconds between shots to reposition my subject and I was still getting random black ones.

It's the first time I've ever seen that result with the SB-800 (although admittedly I don't use it that much), and it only started happening after the firmware update. Be interesting to see if anyone else is having the same issue.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/morgoththebetrayer/

 

[Erciro]

It was perfect at Firmware V1.0

Then, after firmware V1.03
occasionally, the shutter would not fire.
As in Press the shutter button, but the photo is not taken.

It's not just "focus" priority.

Also, with flash SB800, now the camera would sometimes give a totally dark photo. It's lucky that I like to take a few photos for the same shot.

I wish I hadn't upgraded the firmware.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
But I fixed it.

I see that you mention fw v.1.03 but the latest is the v.1.10. Why don't you try that and see if it fixes the problem.

--
Ahmet

---------

http://www.pbase.com/erciro
http://www.erciro.com

 

[KennethKwok]

Sorry... see how inconsistent I am.

The shutter starts to not fire after
firmware 1.0-> 1.03
When firmware 1.1 came, it is said to fix many other
problems that Nikon is too "embarrassed" to say exists.
I thought the shutter not firing is one of them.

So, I installed V1.1, the latest, after hearing praises
about it.

And then, the shutter not firing problem got worse.
And the flash problem giving totally dark photos is
a new problem that never existed before v1.1.

It was perfect at Firmware V1.0

Then, after firmware V1.03
occasionally, the shutter would not fire.
As in Press the shutter button, but the photo is not taken.

It's not just "focus" priority.

Also, with flash SB800, now the camera would sometimes give a totally dark photo. It's lucky that I like to take a few photos for the same shot.

I wish I hadn't upgraded the firmware.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
But I fixed it.

I see that you mention fw v.1.03 but the latest is the v.1.10. Why
don't you try that and see if it fixes the problem.

--
Ahmet

---------

http://www.pbase.com/erciro
http://www.erciro.com

 

[Gary Elliott]

Ken, the issue has spanned firmware updates and is not one I've heard much about from others. I think you have a camera issue. Time to pack it up and send to Nikon. Could be you simply have the initial symptoms of a failing button.

Gary

 

[Jim Fenton]

Ypu have the release set to FOCUS.

If the hot reticule isn't indicating focus, the camera will not fire.
--
Jim Fenton
My Wildlife Images at:
http://www.pbase.com/soonipi1957

 

[TOR8472]

I believe OP stated he has it set to RELEASE.

Now I have seen this issue once or twice myself and assumed it was becasuse I have my A1 setting to "Release+focus" or possibly the buffer being full. I'll have to do some more thorough testing of this. I have only ever used firmware 1.1 so can't compare previous.

I've seen one SB800 dark photo also and once my SB800 wasn't emitting its AF assist light. I assumed it was my flash having issues. I'll be looking very carefully at that also.

Ypu have the release set to FOCUS.

If the hot reticule isn't indicating focus, the camera will not fire.
--

 

[Steve Botelho]

After the last firmware up date I notice that when I take a photo using the on camera flash that I have to press the shutter button harder for it to release. I just passed it off as my imagination, but maybe it is harder now. It's fine with out the flash.

 

[SteveL54]

It's hard to say if it's the new firmware (1.10), but I had about four or five occasions today while shooting an event where the camera refused to focus in AF/S mode. Hence it refused to release the shutter. Target contrast was fine. On three of those occasions I had to cycle power on the D300 in order to resume operations.

I also encountered a case where the SB-800 refused to fire or fired very very low output for three succesive shots. Plenty of time between shots for recycle. (I tried to figure out between shots why the flash wasn't firing.) But after that it resumed working just fine.

These happened among 180 or so photos taken at the event.

On Sunday I took the camera on a family outing with FW 1.10 installed. I did not encounter any such issues among 200+ photos.

My camera is just now one year old. (Got it on release date)

Steve

 

[Mariette G]

A few weeks ago I had the same problem. Nothing happened when pressing the shutter button. Strangely enough the camera worked fine on the cable.

I did not have any trouble since, and I updated the firmware with both versions and use 1.1 now. Since the problem I shot approx 6000 frames without any problem.

I HOPE it stays this way but I had already told Nikon about the problem on the first occasion.

I don't think it is the firmware to be honest

--
Mariette
++++++++++++++
Please visit my album at http://www.mydigishots.com

 

[Neil K. Wollpert]

We need new firmware to fix the firmware.
--
Neil.K. Wollpert

 

[KennethKwok]

Many thanks for all the responses.

(1) I really like my D300. Just to pick it up, and hold
the rubber-covered Magnesium alloy makes me happy.

(2) If the shutter only works some of the times, it is not
fun.
Over 20 years ago, I used to use a film SLR Minolta XG2,
and it never fails to fire the shutter.
And I don't think much cheaper current Digicams, point
and shoot cameras, do this.
And it does hurt my feelings when my super D300 is
not as reliable as a point and shoot.

(3) I hope it's the shutter button failing... I would
take it back to Nikon Customer Service and see what
they say.

(4)I still want to say that I appreciate Nikon building
a nice camera like D300.
I looked at the photos of the Canon cameras. It's personal,
but to me, I think the Nikon camera looks much nicer.
And I really like the 51 point AF that I can put my focus
point everywhere. I never had a Canon, but I don't think
their AF points are as "widespread".

 

[SteveL54]

I don't think it is the firmware to be honest

Yeah, that's my thought as well. There would be a lot more folks complaining about the same symptoms following their upgrade to FW 1.10.

But I'd rather my recent AF failures be caused by a FW problem. Instead I'm afraid it's a developing hardware problem.

I'll try cleaning the lens contacts to see if that helps any.

Steve

 

[jsa]

I have experienced the non responsive shutter with F/W 1.03 and 1.10, but only after fitting the 28mm F/1.4 AFD while the camera remained on. I blame me for being a clot in these instances, YMMV. Removing the lens turning off the camera and refitting the lens returned my D300 to normal opration.

Never experienced this though with the D200, so firmware can likely be configured to overcome the limitations of the organic actuator ; ).

I've not experienced the flash problem.

 

[rmilessr]

The only times I have encountered weird focusing issues with my D300 while using the SB800 is when the batteries in the SB800 are getting weak. I get all sorts of exposure issues weird focusing issues and replacing the batteries in the SB800 clears it up. Too bad the SB800 does not have a low battery indicator.

 

[DougR24]

It's ironic - I saw this post and I was about to chime in with "hey, that's happened to me, too after the 1.10 update!", when I read a post that mentioned AF-C and Release+Focus priority.

I just remembered that I recently changed my AF-C from the default "Focus" to "Release+Focus". I rarely uses AF-C as the majority of pictures I take are still portraits, but I'd switched to AF-C for a session recently where I was taking pictures of my newborn baby nephew (hoping to avoid out of focus shots doing close-ups while people were holding him). I ran into the shutter-not-releasing behaviour 2-3 times and in my frustration, I assumed "it must be that new #@%$! firmware!!". Then I remembered changing that setting shortly after the 1.10 update. Chalk it up to a bout of "early Alzheimer's".

Point of the story: the shutter-not-releasing issue(s) was/were a result of user error in my case. Individual results may vary.

(OT: What types of foods are supposed to help with memory? I can't remember... )
--
-DougR
Snoqualmie, WA
Photos: http://www.pbase.com/dougr24
Videos: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=SpeedDemon46