My D700 is taking great pictures. I have had the camera for years, but recently, I am getting odd behavior.

The battery was dead, so I put a fully recharged set in it and took pictures. Fine. Next morning, THAT battery was dead. Total. I put the first set (now fully recharged) back in. Shot photos, fine. Next morning, dead battery.

Now the only thing I notice, is that the little CF light comes off and on. Even when I TURN THE CAMERA OFF, the little green light sporadically comes on for a half second, then goes off.

Any ideas?

By the way, I swapped my compact flash out, with a brand new one. No difference.

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Sorry to hear about your issue.

Have you tried a different battery?

Normally the CF light comes on and off when a card is inserted or it is receiving an image, a battery is inserted with the camera off and when the camera is turned on. Are any of the pins in the socket for the CF card bent?

Does the battery run down overnight if the CF is removed?
Just a few ideas to try. I would almost bet on a bad battery. The D700 does use battery power when the camera is off. The remaing frame count is always visible when a charged battery is installed. The count goes blank with the battery removed.

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I would have guessed the CF card but since you've already tried another, get a flash light and look into the slot for a bent pin. You might also try leaving the camera overnight without a card installed. I would assume your battery would be fine the next morning but it is worth having that test point.
If there are no obviuos bent pins then I might get a brand new low speed cheapo card and give that a try because the next step is probably a trip to the shop.

Edit: I missed that the other card you tried was new so the last comment is probably not necessary.


Brian

Thanks for your input, guys.

I have two battery packs, with which I alternate, while the other is charging.

Today, I have alternated both battery packs.

I did look for bent pins, but my 59-year old eyes did not see anything bent.

Well, except my back.

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>Now the only thing I notice, is that the little CF light comes
>off and on. Even when I TURN THE CAMERA OFF, the little green
>light sporadically comes on for a half second, then goes off.

Just to clarify. When the camera is OFF, the green light sporadically comes on for half a second and goes off and this repeats all the while the camera is off. As opposed to the light coming on and off only during the process of turning the camera off.

Perhaps try removing the lens and see if the behavior changes. I know attaching and removing a lens will trigger the light so it might be worth a shot.
It seems like the camera has some unfinished business that it is trying to complete. You might also consider performing a reset.

Brian

The D700 has a way to check the condition of the battery in the menu system. You say you've had it for years, it could be that the batteries are are their limit and need to be replaced.

Menu/Set up menu (looks like a wrench)/Battery Info/


Anthony

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Do you hve the grip attached ? Is it aftermarket, some of them will discharge your battery.

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Don't have a grip attached.

It is sitting on a tripod, facing the back yard. Using a 500mm, and a flash.

I did another recheck of the pins. The best I could do without a microscope, is with a pair of strong reading glasses. I can just see no pins out.

I am trying something else, tonight. I tried to "rock the cf card", when I was seating it. Nothing major, I was just being sensitive about the solidness of seating the card, even though the buttons clicked out.

I looked on Internet by Googling "Nikon D700 cf light" and had a couple hits. No real solution, other than one person, who sent hers in, but problem was not resolved. Another got a new camera from Nikon, because it was under warranty.

Well, I guess we will wait until tomorrow....

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Prior to my retirement, I was a Field Service Engineer in electronics....telemetry systems and computers...all of my working life. That aside, the worst problems to isolate are caused by poor grounds, poor power source and corrision issues on contacts. About the only thing you can try at this point is cleaning your battery and lens contacts and trying a different lens. I certainly wouldn't reccomend that you go internal to the camera. Too many things to really foul up if you dont have the experience. It is very chancy, even with videos. I hate to say it, but if cleaning contacts doesn't help, you are probably looking at sending the D700 to Nikon or an authorized repair center (with the lens so they can recreate and verify the problem). Is your 5 year Nikon warranty still valid?

Best wishes and good luck

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Dan -- As recommended, check to ensure that your batteries still take a full charge. They do wear out, and you can check their status on your camera. If you bought them both at the same time and habitually altertnate them, that could be the problem -- they've just gotten "tired" at about the same time. Has this sort of emerged, or has it just happeend all of a sudden. If it was a sudden change, I'd suspect the camera. I know that's not very scientific, but the next level up is an authorized repair depot.

Alan
Waterloo, IL, USA
www.proimagingmidamerica.com

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Checked the batteries. They do show a full charge on the camera.

This has not been a slow process, but instead happened all at once.

Not sure if the cost would be worth it, or should I kiss it goodbye and head toward a new one. Of course, some people send the camera in and it is returned, with nothing wrong found.

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Hi Dan,

What does the Battery Life indicator under the % Charge display read: 1,2,3, or 4?

Best Regards,
Marty

Marty, my indicator on top of the camera, doesn't have a number, but shows the battery fully charged.

When I consult the battery status using MENU, it shows 94%, a 6 (whatever that is), and a picture of a battery, with a little arrow pointing to full.

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Hi Dan,

The Battery Info screen in the camera menu indicates:
Bat.meter..........94% - percent of charge remaining
Pic.meter...........6 - number of images captured since the last charge

Charging life
(0-4) .............. scale0, 1, 2, 3, or 4
0 = new or good 4 = replace
See page 340 in the D700 Users Manual.

Best Regards,
Marty

Dan,

Just to clarify, you said that in the Battery Status menu, the little arrow is pointing to Full. Is that zero (all the way left), or 4 (all the way right)? We normally think of right/larger number as "full" (like a gas gage). In this case, Nikon reverses that notation scheme. Zero/left is "new" condition, 4/right means Replace the battery.

Hope this helps.

Rich

If the little CF light comes off and on when the camera is off, it is telling you something is wrong. You don't need to leave it overnight to find the cause. All the above possibilities can be tried until the light stays off.

KenL

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Ken-

Indeed, the light comes on and off while the camera is turned off!

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Hi!

That suggests a faulty circuit somewhere. Except while it's recording the last image(s) taken just prior shutting down, the green led should not flash at all.

Sadly, it sounds like you're good for sending your camera to a service facility

Olivier Rychner
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I would invest in a new battery and see if that doesn't fix the problem.
Kim
Western burbs of Chicago

I had two batteries, one a Nikon and the other a newer off brand one do that. Two new batteries solved the problem. T

Tom Trujillo
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Dan,

Not sure if you have fixed your problem but you said that the camera sits on a tripod with a 500mm lens attached looking out back door have you tried a different lens and cleaned the contacts. I am new to the D700 but my D90 did weird things with dirty lens contacts and if your lens just stays attached you might have some corrosion on the contacts. If camera is off should not be a problem but someone mentioned camera might be looking for closure to turn off internally.

John

I just noticed this thread. Have you resolved this yet? I had the EXACT problem. See my recent thread about this. If you take out the CF card, this doesn't happen, correct? The CF blink rate is the same as the auto meter off delay. Change it to 4 seconds, and it will blink every four seconds.

I had to send it to Nikon for servicing. It cost about $230 and took less than a week. It is now as good as new.

(Sorry I didn't see this earlier.)

--ET

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