D200 random flat battery.

Crispin

Hi All,

I wonder if anyone else has had this with their D200.
I have had it (my second one) for about 2-3 months now and it has worked perfectly with a lot of use.
I have been using a MB-D200 grip on it for most of the time.

of late, it randomly tells me the battery(s) is flat and disables the shutter.
Turning off and on again sorts it out for another couple pics then same story.

Going into the menu, the batteries are 84% and 92%. Removing the grip and using either battery has the same effect.

it is totally random and sometimes happens after the first shot (Never before the first shot) and sometimes after 5-10 minutes.

Mostly I have the 70-200mm VR on but it happens with the 18-200VR as well.
The meter says it's full, AF comes on and the VR starts working. Then you hear the VR clunk back into place and the AF is disabled as is the shutter.


Anyone else had anything like this?

Hate the thought of sending it back to the shop.

This had not happened in the year+ that I had the first one.

hgernhardtjr

Are you using the genuine EN-EL3e rechargeable lithium-ion battery? A friend had the same problem ... he had purchased a non-brand, "identical" battery that was not so identical and was not producing the current needed when he used his larger lenses. Paid $17 instead of $45. He solved the problem by purchasing a Nikon brand battery from B&H. You might check by trying a new battery if you can borrow one from a friend. Or if you still have the holder, stick 6 FRESH/NEW AA's into the MB-D200 and see if it still gives you problems. If it does, then perhaps the shop just might need to see it.

Crispin

hgernhardtjr wrote:

Are you using the genuine EN-EL3e rechargeable lithium-ion battery? A friend had the same problem ... he had purchased a non-brand, "identical" battery that was not so identical and was not producing the current needed when he used his larger lenses. Paid $17 instead of $45. He solved the problem by purchasing a Nikon brand battery from B&H. You might check by trying a new battery if you can borrow one from a friend.

Sorry, should have said: Yes, everything is genuine Nikon.
Wish we could pay $45 for a battery. They £50 here in Ripp Off UK. = $100.

hgernhardtjr

Crispin wrote:

Sorry, should have said: Yes, everything is genuine Nikon.
Wish we could pay $45 for a battery. They £50 here in Ripp Off UK. = $100.

UGH! That is a lot of Dinars! I was editing my reply when you replied ... try the AA holder and FRESH batteries and see if it fixes the problem. If not, and no one else has an idea, I guess it is the shop.

Seymore

As far as troubleshooting goes... you may also want to remove the base and try shooting (for a short time) with your newest freshly charged battery. This could eliminate if it an issue with the base.

I would also ask the following:
- How old are the components on this rig? Batteries? Base? Body? Lenses?
- How many batteries do you have? 2? 3? 4?
- How many times (cycles) have the batteries been charged? (approx)
- Any chance the batteries have been put under duress? (heat, cold or wet)
- What about duress on the body? Left out in the sun or on the dash of an auto for a long time? (again...heat, cold or wet)

Just let us know...

Crispin

Hi,

Nope to all your answers

I got the camera, as a replacement, mid April. I then used it on a two week trip to Italy where I took about 1000 pics. I had to charge the batteries at least once every two days as I was using a GPS unit. This causes some extra drain as the camera does not go into standby. So basically, I would drain both batteries in the grip in two days. So batteries been charged around 20 times for both (About ten times each)

Other than that, it's like a child to me. No shocks, no wet, not heat but lots of shouting Italians if that makes a difference.

I've got two batteries, the camera does the same thing with either of them, be it in the body or when using the MB-D200...

As for trying to shoot without the grip, same thing. When it does stop working, it stops after the first shot.

I have just got a response from Nikon regarding this: Please try reset it. Microsoft and Nikon must share their support people In fairness, I guess it is a start.

Will see what happens next. (Reset it and it has not yet played up but as I said, is very random)

Seymore

OK... Thanks for all the answers. You said "replacement". What do you mean by this? Did you have a D200 the died or had problems? Or it this replacing something else? Please explain...

Crispin wrote:

Other than that, it's like a child to me. No shocks, no wet, not heat but lots of shouting Italians if that makes a difference.

Heeee... Heee... Hopefully you didn't come across as an Italian mother yelling at her kids. You could be giving your cam a complex and it could need "more help" sometime down the road!


But seriously, please let us know what you discover, if anything...

Crispin

No joy. Reset did not seem to help, Has done it twice now with the grip on, not yet without but as it is so random, I'll keep trying.

While on holiday, my whole bag was stolen. Every piece of equipment I owned, down to the lens cloth, was gone. D200, 70-200VR, 18-200VR etc etc. All gone. (To the f*&$^"£er who is now using my cam, with all my holiday pics on - :boid)

This is the new puppy.

Will continue to play with it and see if I can get it to "break".
What worries me is that if I do send it back, it's going to be a nightmare for Nikon to recreate the problem...

Seymore

Bummmmmmmmmmmer!!! ...on the reset and the loss! :cry

OK... What about taking it back to the place of purchase, duplicating the problem for them (if you can) and getting an exchange there? This way another human can see the problem as it happens. Think this is an option?

Crispin

OK, so I got a reply from Nikon. In a nut shell, Put it in a box and send it back. ARRRGGGGHHHHH.

Gray's Of Westminster, where I bought it, have said the same thinig. I should bring it in. I have no doubt, they will then send it away...

Red Bull air race coming up so I guess I'll be taking one photo at a time and send it in afterwards.


Sucks.

ziggy53

hgernhardtjr wrote:

... try the AA holder and FRESH batteries and see if it fixes the problem. If not, and no one else has an idea, I guess it is the shop.

Did you try the AA battery sled and fresh batteries?

Crispin

Not yet - they all in the charger now. Will try tonight when I get home.

What I did forget to mention was...

it seems a lot less frequent without the MB-D200 on. The problem arises more often with the grip than without it. Wonder if it could be a dodgy connection in the camera where the battery / grip makes contact. Allows enough juice to power the camera but the extra drain of the AF, card writing etc, camera thinks the battery is dead.

This might explain why it works for one shot then stops. Has enough juice to fire the shutter but then not.
Will take a peek at the contacts and see if one is slightly bent.

Lex

I think there was a recall on some Nikon batteries at one time, I swear I cannot remember which ones though.

Crispin

Lex wrote:

I think there was a recall on some Nikon batteries at one time, I swear I cannot remember which ones though.

Yup, was the EN-EL3
The D200 uses the all new all expensive EN-EL3e which, so far, has no recall on them.

Crispin

Right, so I tried with the battery holder and some fresh batteries. Worked fine. It said the batteries full, then, on rapid fire, while the shutter is chattering, the battery would show 3/4 full. As soon as the shutter would stop, 1/1 again. Batteries are 2500mah Ni-MH.

Put the EN-EL3e batteries back into the grip and nudda. Could not get it to act up in around 500 photos.

Oh well, I'll leave it till it gets worse and easily recreateable...