Went to see a used D700 yesterday evening; looked like a beautiful beast.

(Boy would I luuuuuv to "upgrade" to youse guys's forum!!!)

When I tried the camera out, however, the shutter didn't close until about half a minute (perhaps even longer) after it opened. It didn't matter what program I used, or whether I set the shutter speed manually, or what shutter speed I set it at. The shutter just wouldn't close until what felt like an eternity after opening.

It goes without saying that the pictures were garbage. What was really and truly strange is that the pictures were all dark.

Has anyone heard of this? Is the camera defective, or am I missing something??? I ask not only on behalf of myself but also on behalf of the current owner. He'd rather not be selling something at all if it is indeed broken, but he can't easily afford to send it to Nikon to get it assessed.

— LaDonna

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Regarding the 30 seconds, was the camera set to mirror up mode (Mup)? If set to Mup pressing the shutter button raises the mirror (which may sound like the shutter opening, but is only just the mirror raising), but does not take a photo. If the shutter button is not pressed a second time, to actually take a photo, the camera will automatically take a photo and lower the mirror after 30 seconds. Basically Mup can be used as a 30 second timer.

Not sure about why the photos were dark unless (1) a lens cap was on or (2) all the messing with shutter speeds accidently resulted in severe underexposure.

Garrett

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>Regarding the 30 seconds, was the camera set to mirror up
>mode (Mup)? If set to Mup pressing the shutter button raises
>the mirror (which may sound like the shutter opening, but is
>only just the mirror raising), but does not take a photo. If
>the shutter button is not pressed a second time, to actually
>take a photo, the camera will automatically take a photo and
>lower the mirror after 30 seconds.

Thank you so much!!!!

Not only does this mean that I might actually get a D700, but also it's great to know that this might not be a faulty camera.

The man selling it isn't the owner. I'm not 100% sure, but it seems to be a gift someone gave to help contribute to the dowry of his 6-year-old daughter? He himself knows absolutely zilch about cameras. In addition he doesn't speak Dutch all that well (I'm in the Netherlands) so it would be really difficult, if not expensive, to try to figure this all out on his own. It will make him feel tons better; he was pretty shocked and unhappy about the whole thing.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

If anyone else has any ideas, I'd welcome your input as well.

— LaDonna

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Garrett

You are really good! I read the post and racked my brain, but the only possible solution that I could come up with was a full reset. Obviously, that wouldn't have worked if the camera was set to MUP. I'll bet that you have hit it right on the head.

jP

Thanks. Hopefully this is a Mup situation.

I learned years ago that using Mup as a poor man's timer/remote works well if you have the time and patience to sit through the 30 second delay. Alas, I have no patience and before long I plunked down the cash for a remote cable.

Garrett

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I'm also thinking mirror up mode, or perhaps possibly timer mode, which would delay both the shutter opening and closing but might be mistaken for a long shutter period.
make sure the dial on the left side is set to S for single exposure then repeat the test.
you might want to try a full camera reset then remove the battery, power switch on, and depress the shutter button for a few seconds to remove any stray voltage in camera, reinsert the battery and see how it performs.

Not having a sample image makes it tough to really diagnose issues be it a camera problem or just operator error. If possible use your own memory card so you can later upload an image complete with exif data.

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>timer mode, which would delay both the shutter opening and closing
>but might be mistaken for a long shutter period.
I clearly heard what I thought was the shutter opening. With timer mode you don't hear the shutter opening until it's time to take the picture, right? So even if the timer were set to 30 seconds, I'd first hear nothing (or beeps) and then after half a minute the shutter both opening and closing?


>you might want to try a full camera reset then remove the
>battery, power switch on, and depress the shutter button for a
>few seconds to remove any stray voltage in camera, reinsert
>the battery and see how it performs.
Will do. If it doesn't perform before I remove the stray voltage, but does perform afterwards, is that a good thing? Or does it mean that the camera is not handling its electricity well?


>Not having a sample image makes it tough to really diagnose
>issues be it a camera problem or just operator error. If
>possible use your own memory card so you can later upload an
>image complete with exif data.
Excellent suggestion. I've made an appointment to go back tomorrow, so I can try that as well in case it still doesn't work.


In any case, as I've said, I'll keep you posted!



— LaDonna, soooooooooo glad to be a Nikonian at times like these


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LaDonna
I guess the best way to discribe the reason for removal of the battery/switch on/depress the shutter is that any residual voltage left in the circuits has the potential to corrupt the camera's software settings. In essence the camera is nothing more than a computer that is being rebooted, and its best to remove all possible variables.

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>I guess the best way to discribe the reason for removal of the
>battery/switch on/depress the shutter is that any residual
>voltage left in the circuits has the potential to corrupt the
>camera's software settings. In essence the camera is nothing
>more than a computer that is being rebooted, and its best to
>remove all possible variables.

Thanks Charlie. I think I understand. It's like shutting down your computer and turning it on again, instead of always merely putting it to sleep?

— LaDonna

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>Thanks Charlie. I think I understand. It's like shutting down
>your computer and turning it on again, instead of always
>merely putting it to sleep?
>
>— LaDonna


thats a good comparison

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>thats a good comparison

Okay, thanks. I'm getting there!

— LaDonna

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He looks, he shoots, and he … S-C-O-R-E-S!!!! Garett Estep hits the target from beyoooond the 3-point line, and gets nothing but net. Swiiiiish! And the crowd is going W I L D ! ! ! ! ! ! 

(Sorry, been watching maybe the tiniest bit too much Olympics this week …

Garett was absolutely spot on. One look at the top dial confirmed it: the camera was set to Mup. I've never gone past the self-timer on my own camera, so even if I'd seen it the first time I wouldn't have known what it was.

Just to be sure that that was the only problem, I went through the other two things first: re-set, followed by dumping any excess charge. But after reading up on mirror-up in the D700 manual before I went to see the camera again I recognized the behavior exactly.

The reason the shots were so dark? In trying out the camera the first thing I did was insert a battery, turn it on, and press the shutter release. When it "acted up" so badly I never bothered to do anything but try to get a normal shutter speed — like, for example, mounting the flash, opening the aperture up (normally leads to still longer shutter speeds, and I was trying to get the shutter speed down), whatever.

The first trial was had been at 11 p.m. (don't ask … ), in my hosts living room, and of course the shots were dark. The shutter hadn't been open but for – at best – half a second or so. No light got in! Duh. And of course they were blurry. There wasn't enough light for the AF to work. But there was absolutely nothing wrong with the camera.

Many thanks to you who responded. I felt very confident going back, and very confident while running through the tests.

I didn't, however, get the camera. (Again, long story, don't ask … )

So after all that on all our parts, I'll still not yet be joining you! If y'all upgrade before I get here, you're tops, and may you fare well.

— LaDonna

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