Nikon D80 Errors

Joe Dukovac

Hi everyone,

I am having a bit of a problem. I have a Nikon D80 and it has worked great since I bought it. I purchased the Nikkor 70-200mm VR F/2.8 lens and LOVE it, however, recently (the past month or so), every once in a while the camera will lock up and the display will either show a flashing battery and that's it, or in rare occasions will show the --ERR-- message. The other weird thing is that every once in a while, the VR jumps or vibrates instead of stabilizing. I was wondering whether or not anyone else has experienced this problem and if so, what the outcome was to correct the problem.

I called Nikon today, and the rep told me to try the lens on another camera, but I think that at $1800.00, they should simply take the lens in an work on it. The problem is that the problem is sporadic.

Any ideas???
:scratch

Shane422

Take a look at this thread at the Nikonians.org.

jww

Joe Dukovac wrote:

Hi everyone,

I am having a bit of a problem. I have a Nikon D80 and it has worked great since I bought it. I purchased the Nikkor 70-200mm VR F/2.8 lens and LOVE it, however, recently (the past month or so), every once in a while the camera will lock up and the display will either show a flashing battery and that's it, or in rare occasions will show the --ERR-- message. The other weird thing is that every once in a while, the VR jumps or vibrates instead of stabilizing. I was wondering whether or not anyone else has experienced this problem and if so, what the outcome was to correct the problem.

I called Nikon today, and the rep told me to try the lens on another camera, but I think that at $1800.00, they should simply take the lens in an work on it. The problem is that the problem is sporadic.

Any ideas???

Yup.. I have had that same problem... horrible sick feeling when the VR flutters like that. When it screws up.. you usually get either the flutter or possibly just blank frames. If you do find blank frames you will find the exif will show f 0. This was my hint that the lens contacts were not seated properly. I even had the err message flash and at the same time the cf card become instantly unusable. It reported saying not formatted on both the camera and an Epson P3000. I just set it aside and was able to recover everything as well repair the card later that evening.

(note - Never had the empty battery problem reported on the other link... but I don't have a D80.)

.. however in my case I found it was due to my TC 1.7 had gained a very minor bit of slop (not just rotational) on my 70-200 VR. The first time it happened, cleaning the contacts helped as well as simply removing and reconnecting the lens and thought that I had it cured it for a time. I finally realized that I could easily get it to happen if I rotated like I was removing it as well as a minor wiggle. So yeah.. I agree with that other link, but in my case it was due to the pins becoming disconnected and reconnected in a very sudden pattern. I could easily eliminate the issue by insuring that I had it held solidly and twisted towards full lock and pulled together... yeah.. not a great band-aid while attempting pan shots huh?

..I haven't sent the TC back to Nikon as I picked up a 200-400 VR and started using the 70 - 200 VR by itself on a 2nd body as I wasn't that thrilled with the TC anyway.... and both lenses are just so darn sharp that I felt it a sin to use a TC at all..

Without the TC.. the 70-200 vr connects rock solid like it 'sposed to. Haven't had the issue since.. even after some 30,000 shots across either of my D2hs bodies.

So in your case, I am not sure if it is the lens.. or the camera mount that is giving you a problem.

Hope this helps... and good luck!!

Joe Dukovac

Well, I tried something last night. I wriggled the lens a bit last night, and found that I can reproduce the error that has been happening. There is slight play on the mount that allows the lens to rotate ever so slightly. I am assuming that the lens mount is the culprit, however, could the lens be the problem?

Joe

jww

Joe Dukovac wrote:

Well, I tried something last night. I wriggled the lens a bit last night, and found that I can reproduce the error that has been happening. There is slight play on the mount that allows the lens to rotate ever so slightly. I am assuming that the lens mount is the culprit, however, could the lens be the problem?

Joe

..possible. Is there the same amount of play on another body? Do other lenses fit the D80 snug?

dadwtwins

I would also check the condition of the contacts to make sure they are clean and/or damaged. If you have a pin bent or a build up of dirt or oxydation on the contacts, your problem will be intermittent and very frustrating to troubleshoot.

Get a good magnyfing glass like a 10x and check both the lens contacts as well as the camera body contacts