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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
D700 AF going out?
Nic Coury, Photographer
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Monterey | CA | | Posted: 9:17 PM on 04.25.10 |
->> So the last two weekends, like clockwork, the AF on my D700 has gone out. Both while shooting sports. This morning was most frustrating as it was the only body I brought.
Both instances (and multiple times each day) I would focus like normal, then both opposing triangles would light up and nothing would work.
If I manually over-rode the AF with AF-s lenses and snapped a bunch of pictures, it would focus fine for a few more photos, then go out again.
I sent the camera back to NPS in Feb and I've never had this problem before.
I took lenses off and tried others and took the battery out for a bit.
Is this happening to anyone else?
Thanks,
~ nic |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 9:55 AM on 04.26.10 |
->> Nic bad or loose contact on the body's mount. I had the same thing happen on a different body and anytime I would have the body on a long lens and a monopod the slightest pressure on the body would cause the contacts to slip enough for the lens to d/c from the body.
You can try a good cleaning of the contacts and check/tighten the screws that hold the contact block to the body. If that doesn't fix it NPS is probably your only fix.
Does it happen with small light lenses? |
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Matthew Hinton, Photographer, Assistant
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New Orleans | LA | USA | Posted: 10:57 AM on 04.26.10 |
->> The good cleaning can be done with a pencil eraser, it was actually recommended to me by a repair person. Rub the CPU contacts on the lens and in the camera with the eraser. Be gentle though on the contacts that stick out on the lens, because they can come loose.
Also check the contacts on the lens you might have one that is missing or loose. Nikon lenses do occasionally lose their contact points because they stick out.
You can also try tightening the screws on the lens mount and camera mount. |
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Nic Coury, Photographer
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Monterey | CA | | Posted: 1:27 PM on 04.26.10 |
->> @Eric, not so much. my 50 and 85 focus fine, although slow.
It's mostly with my 17-35 and 70-200.
@Matthew Thanks, I'll try an eraser. |
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Ronal Taniwaki, Photographer
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Denver | CO | | Posted: 1:42 PM on 04.26.10 |
| ->> NO, NO,NO, do NOT use a pencil eraser to clean the body contacts. You will leave rubber fragments in the mirror box which will eventually end up on the sensor. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 2:05 PM on 04.26.10 |
->> Denatured alcohol on a toothpick or other such implement which you have wound some lens tissue is a much better bet than the eraser. Erasers were (are) popular for cleaning contacts on lots of things. I would avoid using one on high end electronics however.
Aside from the mess of rubber fragments you will also be rubbing the gold plating off the contacts. One or 2 times won't strip off the gold but if you regularly clean gold plated contacts with an eraser you will eventually rub off the gold or create scratches that will allow the underlying metal to oxidize and the gold to flake off. Gold is used for the very reason that it won't readily oxidize. What does happen over time is that the surface will become contaminated with oils and airborne crap and cause contact failure. A good cleaning with alcohol will dissolve the crud without harming the contacts.
The 70-200 makes sense as it was just long and heavy enough to be a problem on my failing D2x. The 17-35 I don;t know about but I had an older 28-70 that was a little more power hungry than the other lenses in my bag and would also act up on the body in question.
Good luck. |
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Matthew Hinton, Photographer, Assistant
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New Orleans | LA | USA | Posted: 2:26 PM on 04.26.10 |
| ->> The cotton on a q-tip or lens tissue will also leave residue that could also end up on the sensor. I don't think Nikon lenses uses gold on their contacts maybe you are thinking of Canon. |
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Nic Coury, Photographer
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Monterey | CA | | Posted: 2:26 PM on 04.26.10 |
->> Yeah, I just sat down at my desk for about 20 min and wiped down my contacts on all my lenses and body and the AF seems to have improved vastly and doesn't "hunt" so much.
Unfort. I didn't get back to this thread before I tried the eraser trick, but I'll refrain on it in the future.
Both weekends I was shooting sports in high-contact outside blowing winds (mtn bike racing and a marathon on the coast) and changing lenses didn't help.
Gotta clean more than my sensors I guess...
Thanks for all the help. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 4:36 PM on 04.26.10 |
->> Matthew if lens tissues left residues you would be chasing the residues on lens elements. I do not recommend "Q-Tips" as the cotton can leave fibers and lint behind. The stick and tissue method is what I observed while watching Nikon techs cleaning a pile of bodies at a Nikon event.
As to the metal plating of the contacts, you are correct I was looking at an old Canon body that I have as a paperweight (no disrespect to the Canon folk) I just pulled a lens off a D3 and the contacts are in fact NOT gold plated. My error. |
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Nic Coury, Photographer
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Monterey | CA | | Posted: 5:24 PM on 04.26.10 |
->> well after a handful of more missed photos at an assignment just now, looks like this body is headed to NPS in the morning.
so not cool. |
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