Nikon D810 Internal Memory Buffer Replacement & Upgrade

[donny1963]

Ok, i have this Nikon D810, and saw on Ebay some one was selling a broken smashed Nikon D5, Which that camera has a unreal FPS shooting rate, of like 12 FPS at full Image Quality in continuous shooting rate.. And one of the things that is needed for something like that is a huge high speed memory buffer..

Now My nikon D810 can do continuous shooting at like 5 to 6 fps and will do this until it reaches around 30 to 35 frames then the memory buffer gets full and has to slow down until it catches up..
How ever the Nikon D5 can do 12 FPS up to 200 Frames before it will start to slow down, basically it really n ever slows down until maybe a couple minutes of continuous shooting..

But i thought to myself once i reach around 30 frames, it starts to bog down in fps to catch up..
So i done some research and found out that, the memory buffer in the D810 is the same chip size and configuration meaning the number of connectors soldered in to the board as the D5 the only Difference is that the memory size and speed of the D5 is way lager and faster..

So i purchased this broken Nikon D5 for $150.00 for parts and then got my soldering iron to work.
I used a soldering suction unit that pulls solder that is melted when you heat it up by the press of a button, so this made it easy for me to remove the ships out of the board..

Then i went to work on my D810 and removed the chips from that, and replaced them with the memory from the D5,, Now this was a long shot i was not sure if the camera would even turn on and work after this, but low and behold yeah the camera turned on and worked fine..

Not only that, when i put the camera in continuous shooting mode and full raw image quality
for some reason the frames FPS rate increased to like 7 or 8 FPS not sure why that was effected but i'll take that.. and not only that, i was never able to over fill the buffer to make it start to bog down to catch up, i tested this holding the shutter button for over 4 minutes and it never slowed down one bit..
Now this was a major breakthrough for me, i was very pleased of the results, now i'm sure Nikon never expected some one to do this, because if they knew people may do this they would probably change the type of memory chip each camera takes, making it impossible to do..

Now i did check to see if Nikon would sell the Memory buffer chips for replacement parts, and see what this would cost, thinking to myself i could make some quick $$$ offering to upgrade peoples D810's to have this upgrade, how ever, sadly Nikon will not Sell any circuit board parts unless your a authorized repair dealer oh well.
the only parts they would sell is external parts like grip replacements eye piece, battery doors stuff like that..

So i share this with you if your able to get your hands on a Broken Nikon D5 that some one will sell for parts cheep and you got a Nikon D810 , and your feel comfortable working on circuit boards and can use a soldering iron, then you could turn your Nikon D810 to a camera that will do continuous shooting mode at around 7 to 8 FPS at an unlimited amount of shots with out slowing down..

this is really cool knowing that i can hold down the shutter button and not have to worry about running out of buffer, this is especially great if you want to do some TIMELAPSE shots at 1 frame per second and not have the camera crap out before your timelapse shots are done..

for me this was annoying when i wanted to capture 1 fps for 5 to 10 or even 20 min for a timelapse sequence but after like few seconds the damm buffer was filled up and would ruin my timelapse..
i would have to do it in JPEG at a medium quality,, I now can do this in RAW and if there is any work i want to do in lightroom i get full post options editing raw..
So this upgrade is really awesome..

BTW, this process to do this is quite difficult, unless you have taken camera's apart before and think you can put it back together with out ruining it, because in order to take this camera apart and you have to be careful of disconnecting the ribbon cables on the boards..

you need some tools and it takes about 1 hour to dismantle and another hour to put back together, so your total time if you know what your doing is about 2 and a half hours of work all said and done..

 

[astroNikon]

Do you have any pictures of the process.
Cameras are jammed pack with electronics.
I know many in the past wondered if something like this would work especially with the d7100.

The FPS buffer is amazing. I have a d500 now.

 

[Dave442]

Nice work. Not often I hear of people taking apart a perfectly good working camera, but it looks like it worked out for you.

 

[coastalconn]

Hmm, this seems somewhat suspicious. Could you share the link for the broken D5? I've seen smashed D4 sell for 1200 and I didn't see a completed D5 listing for $150

Now if this is really true, it really shows that Nikon is crippling it's cameras intentionally.. If the D810 was really capable of 8 FPS you would think Nikon would have upped the specs and sell it for more money. That would give the camera a throughput of 288 MP/S which would be moving more data than any other Nikon camera available. Have you done a timed test to see what the actual FPS is? Does it increase even more in 1.2x or DX mode?

 

[Destin]

Hmm, this seems somewhat suspicious. Could you share the link for the broken D5? I've seen smashed D4 sell for 1200 and I didn't see a completed D5 listing for $150

Now if this is really true, it really shows that Nikon is crippling it's cameras intentionally.. If the D810 was really capable of 8 FPS you would think Nikon would have upped the specs and sell it for more money. That would give the camera a throughput of 288 MP/S which would be moving more data than any other Nikon camera available. Have you done a timed test to see what the actual FPS is? Does it increase even more in 1.2x or DX mode?

My thoughts exactly. The math on this just doesn't add up or make sense. Until we see proof this seems hard to believe for a handful of reasons.

 

[Dave442]

I was hoping for the video of it being done and then tested.

 

[robbins.photo]

Hmm, this seems somewhat suspicious. Could you share the link for the broken D5? I've seen smashed D4 sell for 1200 and I didn't see a completed D5 listing for $150

Now if this is really true, it really shows that Nikon is crippling it's cameras intentionally.. If the D810 was really capable of 8 FPS you would think Nikon would have upped the specs and sell it for more money. That would give the camera a throughput of 288 MP/S which would be moving more data than any other Nikon camera available. Have you done a timed test to see what the actual FPS is? Does it increase even more in 1.2x or DX mode?

So you've never been tempted to take a working camera worth two grand, tear it all apart, desolder the main chip from the motherboard, solder a new one in it's place with no idea if it's even compatible or if the pin outs are the same just to see what would happen?

I mean sure odds of turning both of these expensive cameras into paperweights is pretty high, your violating whatever warranty you may have had an no reputable repair shop in it's right mind would try to fix this afterwards for almost any amount of money... but, on the upside...

Umm.. wait, there really isn't an upside here.

 

[donny1963]

Hmm, this seems somewhat suspicious. Could you share the link for the broken D5? I've seen smashed D4 sell for 1200 and I didn't see a completed D5 listing for $150

Now if this is really true, it really shows that Nikon is crippling it's cameras intentionally.. If the D810 was really capable of 8 FPS you would think Nikon would have upped the specs and sell it for more money. That would give the camera a throughput of 288 MP/S which would be moving more data than any other Nikon camera available. Have you done a timed test to see what the actual FPS is? Does it increase even more in 1.2x or DX mode?

No i don't have a link but this is true, don't forget the D5 that i bought, was cheap because it was smashed, it was ran over by a vehicle, so there was really nothing about it that was any good except the computer parts...
so it really had no value, because the external parts was not usable again..

And of course Nikon and every other camera manufacture cripple the camera's intentionally, it's called cost effective, they manufacture a product and use the same template from one model to another, but 99% of the time use the same internal parts, because it cost less to manufacture less number of parts, why go produce millions of parts for 1 model and then have to do the same for another model, why not use all the same parts of most of it, and killing 10 birds with one stone..

This is the main reason they do this, you will find in alot of products from model to model your getting the same thing from one model to another with just a few intentional modifications to enable and disable features that they want you to pay for ($$$)


It's all computers people, a camera is basically a computer with mechanical parts..
So the computer part they can disable specific features from one model and enable the others on another model..
here is an example, Cannon came out with the 50D, then they came out with the 60D, now they was more features on the 60D vs the 50D
for example the 60D did video the 50D didn't , or did it?

Well turns out some one made a hack called magic lantern that would access the
main board of the 50D and be able to enable the video features of the camera, where out of the box you could not.
the 50D and the 60D was basically the same camera inside with a couple minor differences.

And right now with some help i'm researching about the Nikon D5 and the Nikon D810 and checking out to see if the D810 is capable of shooting at
12 FPS like the D5 just by hacking into the main board and enabling it to do that..

I'm sure it would be possible because when i opened the D5 up and then the D810 the shutter system was identical mechanically any way..
so i will let you all know when and if i'm able to figure this out..

If it's true what i suspect, then i'll have a Nikon D810 that is capable of shooting 12 FPS
After all, it now has the buffer memory for it Thanks to my research..

Right now i believe i'm the only one who has a Nikon D810 that can do continuous shooting at full quality with out it running out of buffer.,
I'm sure if Nikon Corp knew about this they would not be very happy, and probably might even try to take me to court for braking some sort of terms of use of their product, You never know Greed can cause people to do drastic things, but i say good luck to them with that..

They are many products that are capable of this type of thing..
Back in 2013 i had a Nvidia GTX 690, which was a good card, i use to do alot of gaming, and i had a friend who shelled out the bucks for a Nvidia Quadro K5000, his graphics card was close to $800.00 more then my card was, and one thing we noticed the cards looked nearly the same.
So we did our research and with the help of another friend of mine who is an electrical engineer we figured out the slight differences between the two cards..
And it was basically just a couple of things..
It turns out that the card responds to a device ID as assigned by a series of analog values,
these can be tweaked by swapping resistors in just the right places..
Once you did this all you had to do is re-install the drivers for the K5000 model and it would accept it because the software drivers wasn't able to distinguish the difference between the GTX 690 and the K5000, in fact it thought the K5000 was the unit plugged in the slot of the computer lol
So after the new driver install, yes i had a Nvidia Quadro K5000 but only paid for a Nvidia GTX 690.

Till this day Nvidia still manufactures their graphics card products the same way,
if you have any electrical background you can turn your lesser costing card to the more expensive one..
WHY?? well because electronic corporations are greedy and want to save money,
so they template all thier models of their products the same just intentionally disable the goodies they want you to pay for..
This is how it works people, it's all about the dollar.. $$$$$

chances are if you walk into BEST BUY and look at computer monitors and you see 2 monitors side by side made by the same manufacture, only one of them cost $150.00 and the other cost $600.00 Chances are you can buy the $150.00 and get all the wonderful features and performance of the $600.00 model, that is if they are both the same size and same everything but one says it is a faster sync and better picture quality,
chances are in alot of cases that they are the same, with only just a couple of technical adjustments..
Now of course this is possible because HP , OR NEC knows most people
don't have the education or balls to do this on their own and take advantage of it..

Many of you people got a less expensive camera, that is capable of giving you the features
of the camera of your dreams that you always wish you could afford,
and you actually have it in your hands and don't even know it,, The only trick is you need
to have a bit of education background in electronics and the balls to take it

Don't look so surprised this type of thing has existed for many generations..

Donny

 

[donny1963]

Hmm, this seems somewhat suspicious. Could you share the link for the broken D5? I've seen smashed D4 sell for 1200 and I didn't see a completed D5 listing for $150

Now if this is really true, it really shows that Nikon is crippling it's cameras intentionally.. If the D810 was really capable of 8 FPS you would think Nikon would have upped the specs and sell it for more money. That would give the camera a throughput of 288 MP/S which would be moving more data than any other Nikon camera available. Have you done a timed test to see what the actual FPS is? Does it increase even more in 1.2x or DX mode?

So you've never been tempted to take a working camera worth two grand, tear it all apart, desolder the main chip from the motherboard, solder a new one in it's place with no idea if it's even compatible or if the pin outs are the same just to see what would happen?

I mean sure odds of turning both of these expensive cameras into paperweights is pretty high, your violating whatever warranty you may have had an no reputable repair shop in it's right mind would try to fix this afterwards for almost any amount of money... but, on the upside...

Umm.. wait, there really isn't an upside here.

Sure there is, first off, i'm not just some retard who doesn't have any background in electronics, i use to work for company called flextronics, they was a contracting company for many brand computer names that assembled computer boards..
So i have a background in soldering, and working with IC's and computer chips...

So really the risk was low, of course it was possible that i might have ruined something in fact administering a high enough tempture to melt solder, it is possible to burn out a memory chip, yes that thought has crossed my mind and it was a slight chance..
How ever my education and efforts paid off and i was successful.. so there was total UPSIDE to it all!!!!!!
So in fact i gained everything and lost really nothing, well i did lose $150.00 , which i was very happy to pay for the upgrade that i gained, and
if anything ever happens to my camera it would not be because of the memory upgrade thus would not effect my warranty, in fact no technician would probably even know what i done..
Oh and the kicker about this nikon d810 i have i didn't pay two grand for it lol i paid $200.00 for it some idiot who was married to a guy who died, decided out of greed to sell all his photography gear out in a yard sale on the front lawn, who was a very selfish nasty person i might add, didn't know the value of this Nikon D810 and sold it to me for only $200.00 about 10 months ago lol i also picked up a couple of lenses cheap as well..

Eh some people got all the luck lol

Donny

 

[donny1963]

Hmm, this seems somewhat suspicious. Could you share the link for the broken D5? I've seen smashed D4 sell for 1200 and I didn't see a completed D5 listing for $150

Now if this is really true, it really shows that Nikon is crippling it's cameras intentionally.. If the D810 was really capable of 8 FPS you would think Nikon would have upped the specs and sell it for more money. That would give the camera a throughput of 288 MP/S which would be moving more data than any other Nikon camera available. Have you done a timed test to see what the actual FPS is? Does it increase even more in 1.2x or DX mode?

My thoughts exactly. The math on this just doesn't add up or make sense. Until we see proof this seems hard to believe for a handful of reasons.

I don't need to hand off proof, i really don't care if you believe it or not i was just sharing the experience of it, and maybe you might be able to use this information if you ever wanted to do the same thing..

 

[donny1963]

I was hoping for the video of it being done and then tested.

I'll tell ya what when and if i do the research on seeing if i can get the D810 to do 12 FPS like the D5 does, i'll make sure i record a video..

Donny

 

[robbins.photo]

Hmm, this seems somewhat suspicious. Could you share the link for the broken D5? I've seen smashed D4 sell for 1200 and I didn't see a completed D5 listing for $150

Now if this is really true, it really shows that Nikon is crippling it's cameras intentionally.. If the D810 was really capable of 8 FPS you would think Nikon would have upped the specs and sell it for more money. That would give the camera a throughput of 288 MP/S which would be moving more data than any other Nikon camera available. Have you done a timed test to see what the actual FPS is? Does it increase even more in 1.2x or DX mode?

So you've never been tempted to take a working camera worth two grand, tear it all apart, desolder the main chip from the motherboard, solder a new one in it's place with no idea if it's even compatible or if the pin outs are the same just to see what would happen?

I mean sure odds of turning both of these expensive cameras into paperweights is pretty high, your violating whatever warranty you may have had an no reputable repair shop in it's right mind would try to fix this afterwards for almost any amount of money... but, on the upside...

Umm.. wait, there really isn't an upside here.

Sure there is, first off, i'm not just some retard who doesn't have any background in electronics, i use to work for company called flextronics, they was a contracting company for many brand computer names that assembled computer boards..
So i have a background in soldering, and working with IC's and computer chips...

So really the risk was low, of course it was possible that i might have ruined something in fact administering a high enough tempture to melt solder, it is possible to burn out a memory chip, yes that thought has crossed my mind and it was a slight chance..
How ever my education and efforts paid off and i was successful.. so there was total UPSIDE to it all!!!!!!
So in fact i gained everything and lost really nothing, well i did lose $150.00 , which i was very happy to pay for the upgrade that i gained, and
if anything ever happens to my camera it would not be because of the memory upgrade thus would not effect my warranty, in fact no technician would probably even know what i done..
Oh and the kicker about this nikon d810 i have i didn't pay two grand for it lol i paid $200.00 for it some idiot who was married to a guy who died, decided out of greed to sell all his photography gear out in a yard sale on the front lawn, who was a very selfish nasty person i might add, didn't know the value of this Nikon D810 and sold it to me for only $200.00 about 10 months ago lol i also picked up a couple of lenses cheap as well..

Eh some people got all the luck lol

Donny

I guess you and I view upside differently. See, assuming what you stated is the truth you've now got a D810 that has pretty much no resell value. I sure wouldn't buy something like this from someone who admits that they modified the camera's internal systems by themselves at home. Most repair depots are not likely to want to work on this thing as a result, so if I were to need to have the camera serviced that might either become an extremely expensive proposition or simply not be possible, at all. So nobody in their right mind would buy this camera now that it's been messed with to such an extent.

I'll also admit I'm extremely skeptical of the prices your quoting here - $200 for a D810? $150 for a D5? Even one that isn't in operable condition? Sorry but that just seems really, really far fetched. A once in a lifetime deal is just that.. once in a lifetime. And the prices your quoting? Go well, well beyond that.

 

[astroNikon]

... or a video of the new upgrade in action ...

 

[donny1963]

Donny[/QUOTE]

I guess you and I view upside differently. See, assuming what you stated is the truth you've now got a D810 that has pretty much no resell value. I sure wouldn't buy something like this from someone who admits that they modified the camera's internal systems by themselves at home. Most repair depots are not likely to want to work on this thing as a result, so if I were to need to have the camera serviced that might either become an extremely expensive proposition or simply not be possible, at all. So nobody in their right mind would buy this camera now that it's been messed with to such an extent.

I'll also admit I'm extremely skeptical of the prices your quoting here - $200 for a D810? $150 for a D5? Even one that isn't in operable condition? Sorry but that just seems really, really far fetched. A once in a lifetime deal is just that.. once in a lifetime. And the prices your quoting? Go well, well beyond that.[/QUOTE]


Who says it has no resell value? just because you wouldn't buy it doesn't meany any one else would not..
Who says i want to sell it? LOL

And as far as what i did to the camera, that doesn't make it unstable because of what i did, Maybe because you have no experience or education in this field you think that automatically the camera is now no good lol..
I worked on main boards for a living, a camera is nothing but a computer with mechanical parts that's all it is, it has a main processor, a graphics processor, a bios, firmware on it, memory, hell your smart phone is nothing but a mini computer that can make phone calls, but hey now tablets and computers can do that to..
Your tablet is nothing more then a oversized smart phone,, with calling features on it lol
when you take your camera to be repaired who do you think does the work on it? people like me and other's like me.
They don't send it to special people who have superpowers .LOL

where do you think these people that work on your camera come from?
They don't fall from the sky, they don't pass though a membrane from another reality.
and about you believing what i paid for the camera's well i don't care if you believe it or not, hey when i got the D810 i talked about it about a year ago..
here is the proof..
WOW Nikon D810

Oh wait Yes maybe just maybe i posted that a year ago planing to a year later to make up a conspiracy lie of how i got D810 for $150.00 yes, that must be it, to corroborate a future lie that i didn't even think up yet!!! LOL

You don't happen to wear aluminum foil around your head to protect your mind from being peeked into do you?? LOL

 

[Frank F.]

I took the fredom to post this claim to a place where people do some really nerdy things with Nikon cameras and lenses, lots of scientists and engineers, always well documented with photos. If someone can testify or debunk this, it will be the Nikongear people. What the Nerds Do