D3 R.I.P.

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Archive 2009 · D3 R.I.P.

gugs
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p.1 #1 · D3 R.I.P.

I got a serious problem during an assignment (those things always happen during an important assignment). I was shooting with flash, first pic ok, second severely underexposed while the flash fired properly, and third one black (again with flash firing)) and then nothing, err on my display, and impossible to get anything else than a black picture. I tried to remove the battery, change lenses, clean the contacts, nothing... and then I tried the mirror lock up for cleaning option and the problem is clear: the shutter does not open anymore....

I would assume that the D3 is due for service... not exactly at the right moment for me.

As far as the assignment is concerned, I usually work with the D3/D2x combo and I must have had a kind of premonition, I had the D200+grip in my bag, and could continue and finish with the D2x/D200, not exactly what I had expected, but I could do some damage control...

Guy

Nov 22, 2009 at 07:52 PM

luminosity
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p.1 #2 · D3 R.I.P.

Bummer. Better than being caught with your pants down and having nothing else on you, at least.

Nov 22, 2009 at 07:55 PM

Chris Dees
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p.1 #3 · D3 R.I.P.

Pff, good you have enough back gear with you.
I guess your D3 shutter actuations are way below 300.000
Hopefully it's a warranty repair.

Nov 22, 2009 at 08:02 PM

dj dunzie
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p.1 #4 · D3 R.I.P.

Keep us posted Guy. And any idea on your current shutter count?

Bummer is right... here's wishing her a speedy recovery, and one financed by the great folks at Nikon repair near you!

Nov 22, 2009 at 10:40 PM

NightOwl Cat
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p.1 #5 · D3 R.I.P.

Bummer Guy, but really glad you had your backup plan with you, to give Murphy (Murphy's Law) a poke in the eye.

Nov 23, 2009 at 01:17 AM

jmcfadden
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p.1 #6 · D3 R.I.P.

yes it is Murphy in action again

but you being a good boy scout were prepared !

let us know the results of the autopsy

Nov 23, 2009 at 01:47 AM

Andre Labonte
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p.1 #7 · D3 R.I.P.

My uncle's last name is Murphy, so Murphy is my uncle, litterally!

......

Sorry to hear that Guy. Keep us posted on the fix.

Nov 23, 2009 at 01:58 PM

Derek
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p.1 #8 · D3 R.I.P.

Sounds like a dead shutter, one of mine died at a measly 50,000 shots on the D3

Nov 23, 2009 at 06:03 PM

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p.1 #9 · D3 R.I.P.

Same thing happened with my D3 on Canada Day.. Not the best timing for me either. They replaced the "aperture mechinism" under warranty and had my camera back in less the 7 days.

Good luck,

Darren

Nov 23, 2009 at 09:03 PM

DavidWEGS
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p.1 #10 · D3 R.I.P.

Ugh.

Hope you get it fixed.... without too much $$$ spent.

Nov 24, 2009 at 07:43 PM

gugs
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p.1 #11 · D3 R.I.P.

Just a short update:
my D3 is back from the service, shutter has been replaced, rubber parts have been replaced and the camera has been cleaned...
The total turnaround time was 5 days... an impressive performance (in Germany BTW) since a lot of friends had to wait more than a month, up to 6 weeks to get stuff repaired. My dealer told me that even without an NPS card, when you own a lot of professional stuff and send a D3, D700, or similar body for repair, they are very fast (maximum a week turnaround time), this is NOT the case for consumer level stuff...
Everything for free BTW, in most European countries, we have two years warranty by law... and the D3 was just 23 months old

Anyway, I am a happy user again... just shot a small assignment with the "brand new" camera...

Guy

Dec 05, 2009 at 07:56 PM

dj dunzie
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p.1 #12 · D3 R.I.P.

Wow great stuff Guy... glad to hear they took such good care of you.

Dec 05, 2009 at 08:00 PM

Shutterslam
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p.1 #13 · D3 R.I.P.

Great to hear the good news Gugs.

Just out of curiosity - does the shutter actuation counter reset to zero when they install a new shutter?

ss

Dec 05, 2009 at 08:08 PM

papageno
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p.1 #14 · D3 R.I.P.

Glad you got a quick fix at no charge.

Why do you not have another D3 as backup (or two D700s if the cost is an issue)? It makes so much sense to switch to the same camera for backup; no mental games that might accompany going to a different sensor size and setup..........

Dec 05, 2009 at 08:37 PM

EB-1
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p.1 #15 · D3 R.I.P.

That's hardly an RIP. RIP is when some bozo drops your F4s to the bottom of the Pacific.

EBH

Dec 05, 2009 at 08:43 PM

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p.1 #16 · D3 R.I.P.

Glad to know your D3 is back in circulation.

And also the 2 year warranty.

Sadly Nikon UK dont allow a second user to take on the remaining warranty. The remaining warranty is an asset lost. Just wondered if there is a good reason for this.

gugs wrote:

my D3 is back from the service, shutter has been replaced, rubber parts have been replaced and the camera has been cleaned...

Everything for free BTW, in most European countries, we have two years warranty by law... and the D3 was just 23 months old

Guy

Dec 05, 2009 at 08:46 PM

gugs
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p.1 #17 · D3 R.I.P.

Shutterslam wrote:
Great to hear the good news Gugs.

Just out of curiosity - does the shutter actuation counter reset to zero when they install a new shutter?

ss
this is an interesting question: I just checked, the shutter releases count did NOT change...

Guy

Dec 05, 2009 at 08:52 PM

Gaylon Holmes
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p.1 #18 · D3 R.I.P.

gugs wrote:
this is an interesting question: I just checked, the shutter releases count did NOT change...

That is weird. When I had a shutter replaced the actuation count was reset and reflected only a few actuations made by the technician.

Dec 05, 2009 at 09:30 PM

Jammy Straub
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p.1 #19 · D3 R.I.P.

Glad to see there was an amiable solution. I envy your 24month warranty.

Dec 06, 2009 at 05:16 AM

Heatseeker99
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p.1 #20 · D3 R.I.P.

How do you check shutter count yourself?

Dec 06, 2009 at 01:30 PM

gugs
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p.1 #21 · D3 R.I.P.

Heatseeker99 wrote:
How do you check shutter count yourself?
the shutter count is in the exif, you can see it with a number of exif tools...
I am using opanda, among others

http://www.opanda.com/en/iexif/index.html

Guy

Dec 06, 2009 at 01:33 PM

NightOwl Cat
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p.1 #22 · D3 R.I.P.

Guy, glad that extra year of warranty in Europe saved you some expense and headache. For my new camera, I popped for an extended 4 yr warranty from the Base Exchange, just in case.

-----
For Heatseeker, here's three that will give you that info, including Opanda, that are free to download:

Opanda
http://www.opanda.com/en/download/index.html
scroll down for the freeware version

In the column heading of Entry, make the column wide enough to see the whole listing and look for "Total Number of Shutter Releases for Camera"

Kuso Exif Viewer <-- also reads from NEF
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Graphic/Digital-Photo-Tools/KUSO-Exif-Viewer.shtml

Column marked Item, look for "ShutterCount"

Simple EXIF Viewer for Mac OS X
http://homepage.mac.com/aozer/EV/index.html

Look for "Camera Actuations"

Dec 06, 2009 at 05:58 PM

Andre Labonte
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p.1 #23 · D3 R.I.P.

Glad to hear it Guy. Thanks for the update.

Dec 06, 2009 at 06:14 PM


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