Has this happened to anyone before?

mwcfarms · Dec 12, 2011

Was out shooting yesterday and towards the end of the shoot my camera s tarted acting up. Like it was paused or something. It wasn't a buffer thing where I had shot in burst it just wouldn't actually focus or the shutter would not trigger. It was only -6 outside but it was snowing. I am wondering if it was a condensation thing or...... It was weird and more of a nuisance than anything, occasionally it would take about 8 to 10 seconds for it to start working again. I shot with my d700 and the 70-200.

tirediron · Dec 12, 2011

Any chance your battery was a bit low? Could well have been the cold affecting the battery performance.

MLeeK · Dec 12, 2011

Cold will suck down the battery if you were out for an extended period of time. That would be my guess.

Big Mike · Dec 12, 2011

Yup, my first guess would be a low battery as well. Even 'slightly cold' temps like that can affect battery performance pretty quickly.

o hey tyler · Dec 12, 2011

mwcfarms said:
Was out shooting yesterday and towards the end of the shoot my camera s tarted acting up. Like it was paused or something. It wasn't a buffer thing where I had shot in burst it just wouldn't actually focus or the shutter would not trigger. It was only -6 outside but it was snowing. I am wondering if it was a condensation thing or...... It was weird and more of a nuisance than anything, occasionally it would take about 8 to 10 seconds for it to start working again. I shot with my d700 and the 70-200.

My camera started to do the same thing yesterday. I was shooting a 5-10 shots in RAW format in quick succession and it was 32F (0C), supposedly within the normal operating range. Basically it would freeze as I was trying to take shots, but I seem to remember the AF still working. My battery was definitely affected by the cold, as when it warmed back up it showed that I had more battery life.

KmH · Dec 12, 2011

How long were you outside?

Condensation can only happen when going from cold - to hot and humid. In the winter, that's usually going from outside to inside. In summer, that's usually going from inside to outside.

mwcfarms · Dec 12, 2011

Hmm I guess that could have been it battery didn't show low charge at all though. My flash off camera was fine battery wise, I would have thought those would have been affected first. That's why I didn't even consider the battery. Thanks! Oh Keith I was out for about 2 hours and it started at about 1.75 or 2 hr mark.

mwcfarms · Dec 12, 2011

I meant to say 1.5 close to the 2 hr mark.

Trever1t · Dec 12, 2011

My D700 did the same thing Saturday, in "C"ontinious mode where shutter isn't dependant on focus it was inoperative for a few seconds but inconsistantly. I attribute it to a low battery because as soon as I swapped it stopped giving me problems. Weird.

Overread · Dec 12, 2011

I've had some power problems with batteries.

My typical experience is when I've got a battery grip attached and a lens with IS in use (my 70-200mm specifically). I find that when the batteries get very low the camera will focus and let me take a shot, but the whole unit will powerdown during the exposure (ie mirror remains up). This remains even if I turn the camera on or off, its completely locked down until I remove the batteries and reinsert them (by which point the mirror slaps down again, though the exposure is not recorded).

This only happens when the batteries are near dead (never when they are well charged or even half charged) and I assume it means that its the result of the camera budgeting for the shot, thinking it has enough power and then something like IS suddenly pulling away that power during the exposure causing it to run out of power and lockup.

Of course in the cold this problem will appear that much sooner as battery performance degrades due to the temperature.

mwcfarms · Dec 12, 2011

Thanks Guys for the answers. I'm going to guess that was the problem. I had never had a shoot that went that long outside winter time! So it was a first for me. Will try swapping out the battery next time.