Strange noise inside Nikon D80 body (maybe D70 and others too)

J.T.

I've had a Nikon D80 for almost a year now and recently heard what sounds like a tiny loose screw rolling around inside the body. I never heard it before and everything seems normal, so far. Nikon checked it out and they said it's normal; just the pendulum stabilizing when the camera orients itself from portrait to panoramic shooting style. But the noise occurs when I have it in any orientation and I just move the camera a bit and wiggle it close to my ear. What bothers me is that I never heard until recently. Why would it come up now? Most importantly, should I be worried about this sound? A local Ritz Camera shop never heard it and don't hear it in any of their cameras, including one of the manager's own D200. Anybody else out there had this occur for them? :scratch

RedTownCats

It is (probably) the ball switch that tells the camera whether it is in portrait or landscape.

Briggie

J.T. wrote:

I've had a Nikon D80 for almost a year now and recently heard what sounds like a tiny loose screw rolling around inside the body. I never heard it before and everything seems normal, so far. Nikon checked it out and they said it's normal; just the pendulum stabilizing when the camera orients itself from portrait to panoramic shooting style. But the noise occurs when I have it in any orientation and I just move the camera a bit and wiggle it close to my ear. What bothers me is that I never heard until recently. Why would it come up now? Most importantly, should I be worried about this sound? A local Ritz Camera shop never heard it and don't hear it in any of their cameras, including one of the manager's own D200. Anybody else out there had this occur for them?

I've had my D50 for a year now, and i hear the same thing...very good description of the sound, BTW! Haven't had a problem with the body yet!

Giphsub

Been using a D70 for about 4 years now and have had that noise since the beginning. No probs at all. Didn't know what it was though, but now I do! Thanks.:D

J.T.

Thanks for the replies. Someone else from Nikon expained it a little better to me. It is perfectly normal, but not all Nikons have this sound. It's a ball bearing that moves around inside and tells the camera whether it is in portrait or landscape mode, and not a pendulum per se. I guess it has always been there, just never been able to hear it. Maybe Nikon should put a little side note in their Nikon user manuals because it seems that Nikon gets a lot of worried owners calling them too.

Chrissiebeez_NL

it could also be the hinge of the pop up flash, i hear the 'rattling' when i shake my 400d around.