A few weeks ago I posted a question regarding an operational problem of my D70 in cold weather and had a few valuable replies.
Mainly EVERYBODY agreed that the D70 can and will shoot under artic condition and thanks to those who commented and those who included some ‘cold’ pictures, meaning shot in the snow/ice.
I handed my camera back to the shop for an in-warranty check/repair. The fault description on the repair slip said: “Locks up in cold condition”.
I said I keep you posted and true to my promise here is the story.
The camera was send off to the repairer on the 21 07 05 and I was given several ‘return/completed’ dates which were not kept. Finally I was advised that a ‘spare part’ has to come from Japan (to Australia). I raised some concern about the long delay (I felt ‘naked, lonely and vulnerable’ without my D70) and was lend/given a Nikon D100 by our local shop so at least I could shoot some pictures – in the snow as it were. YES we do have show in Australia. As a side comment, while there is nothing wrong with the D100 of cause, it just felt like a ‘dinosaur’ compared to the D70 in terms of ‘clumsiness or awkwardness’ of operation/programming settings etc. while the operation and settings on the D70 are much more streamlined and sensible, I’ll guess it is a matter of getting used to it but I digress.
The D70 finally arrived back on the 31.08.05 (about 6 weeks later).
And the repair docket report states as follows and I quote:
‘Dismantled the camera replace the shutter, aperture and sequence motor, fine-tuned the auto focus. Clean the viewfinder and CCD. Reassemble and test the focus, communication and the image quality. Up-grade the firmware.’ End of quote.
Well there you have it, a whole array of problems for anybody to comment on.
The local shop guru tells me that this repair would have cost about $700 +, if out of warranty, which is about one third of the cost of the camera here in Australia.
So I’ll guess that I was lucky to have found a problem (at the very end of the warranty period as it were). And also that I bought the camera locally and not on line, and had to send it back (at my cost).
Seeing that I have read many reports on the web and in photo magazines praising the D70 (camera of the year 2005), was I unlucky?
How do you expect anyone to answer ?
Do you think we are mind readers?
Take the camera out in cold weather again , use it ,and you would have your answer wouldn`t you?
Look, Assuming the repair techs actually did all that work you oughta be happy and thankful.
Go out and use it and enjoy it instead of disecting the whole episode and then searching for reassurance that is impossible for anyone to give you.
John
I sure sounds to me like you had some condensation inside the camera which froze in the cold. Never bring a cold camera into a warm place without putting it in a sealed container!!! Pull a cold beer out of the 'fridge and imagine what happens to the outside of the can happenning to the inside of your camera and lens!
I use heavy-duty Ziplock storage bags, with a couple of silica-gel dessicant packs inside. The camera gear stays in the bag until it's at room temperature, which can take a long time. A real pain when trying to shoot both inside and outside in the winter.
Timm wrote:
I sure sounds to me like you had some condensation inside the camera which froze in the cold. Never bring a cold camera into a warm place without putting it in a sealed container!!! Pull a cold beer out of the 'fridge and imagine what happens to the outside of the can happenning to the inside of your camera and lens!
I use heavy-duty Ziplock storage bags, with a couple of silica-gel dessicant packs inside. The camera gear stays in the bag until it's at room temperature, which can take a long time. A real pain when trying to shoot both inside and outside in the winter.
Helmut: for the silica-gel packs, go to any camera, computer, or electronics stores. These places throw away dozens of packs a day. You can re-charge a dessicant pack by heating at "low" in a conventional oven for about twenty minutes, or CAREFULLY heating at a low pwoer setting in a microwave for about five minutes. If you use the microwave, place a layer or two of papaer towels under the packs. If you over-do it, the worst that happens is the pack melts. I do this every couple of outings.
The shutter, aperture and sequence motor is pretty much a one piece assembly.
If there was something wrong with the unit it would impact all three aspects of camera operation. As others have stated, it may have been due to condensation. Otherwise it was a faulty component to begin with.
I hoped somebody would say that it is conceivably to be a manufacturing fault.
Hey, nobody is perfect, not even Nikon. Even Mercedes, Porsche or BMW have recalls from time to time. Realising of course that a high performance car is somewhat more complicated than a camera or a Boing 747
In my humble opinion, I don’t consider that the temperature variations from 0 deg C (32 deg. F) at nighttime to about 25 deg C (about 80 deg F) were that significant or extreme. As a matter of routine, many cameras are exposed to much more severe temperature variations and need to have a lens change several times a day at varying temperatures.
What I am saying / suggesting is that freezing up in MY ‘insignificant’ situation does not sit well with me and a component failure, as rare as it might be seems more likely.
whisperer wrote:
I hoped somebody would say that it is conceivably to be a manufacturing fault.
Hey, nobody is perfect, not even Nikon. Even Mercedes, Porsche or BMW have recalls from time to time. Realising of course that a high performance car is somewhat more complicated than a camera or a Boing 747
In my humble opinion, I don’t consider that the temperature variations from 0 deg C (32 deg. F) at nighttime to about 25 deg C (about 80 deg F) were that significant or extreme. As a matter of routine, many cameras are exposed to much more severe temperaturevariations and need to have a lens change several times a day at varying temperatures.
What I am saying / suggesting is that freezing up in MY ‘insignificant’ situation does not sit well with me and a component failure, as rare as it might be seems more likely. ...Show more →
I agree. I have used the Nikon in much more exteme conditions than this and never a problem. My method involves going into the car and slowly opening the windows as I drive to the event - yes it gets cold but the slow drop is better then the quick one. I reverse the process when I get back in.....
I agree that a simple failure is a distinct possibility, and did not mean to lay the blame entirely on your doorstep.
However, condensation is a very real threat (why do you think there are all those lenses with "a little fungus" on E-bay?). I doubt that you could subject a camera to a rapid enough temeperature change in real-world conditions to seriously damage or kill it--if it were not for condensation. I've taken my D100 straight from a warm car out into sub-zero temps with no problems. Many times. Going the other way, it's back into the plastic bag.
Sorry to jump in late, but I don't think the silica packs are nessasary. I cold air outside is very dry, you get the condisation from the mosture in the warm house. So just putting the camera in the ziplock bag to warm up should be enough. Thanks for bringing this to my attention I would not have thought of it and my camera might be on it's way to Nikon for service.. Oh wait it is at Nikon for service. been there almost a month. The metering failed completely
in manual the meter would not even light up, and in any of the auto settings the pictures were so blow out they were usless. Well I guess I should give them a call.
Tim
Helmut, I do the ski photo thing for a living. First at Hotham then Buller and now Big White in BC Canada.
And I have D1's D2's D100's and D70's that I and my staff use at temps from +20c inside to -35c outside and we have never had an issue with the cold. In fact CCD's love the cold and are less noisy at -20 than +20
So I think you may have a dud. But remember Oz ski areas are humid compared to northern hemisphere resorts, so this can also cause problems with iceing up.
As for the hot to cold stuff, in 25 years I've never looked after a camera by putting it in a bag going from cold to worm or visa versa, so don't get to hung up on that crap.
If you get condensation (which you will) just either wait it out or find a hair dryer.
Oh and I love the D70 for some ski work, it's small and works, the 3fps and no continous focus thing is the killer for race or park work though.
Gav
