What happens when your camera shutter breaks?

Gareth

A recent post got me thinking about this. Has anyone had their shutter fail or break while shooting?

What exactly happened?

PB_PM

Digital, no. Film days yes. Shutter on the FE failed, it simply wouldn't reset after taking a shot.

Rx4Photo

My D800 is at the Nikon Service Center in New York at this very moment being looked at for a shutter issue that's come up twice in the last several months. I'll be shooting and shooting and all of a sudden I press the shutter button and I'll hear a spring-like boooiinnng, then the sound of a very sloppy shutter actuation - as though the parts aren't synchronized or they're loose, then an ERR message on the top screen. The resulting image that shows up is totally or partially white and black. After that, NO clicks with the press of the shutter button, just an ERR msg.

Oddly enough on both occasions, I'll give the camera a rest for a day and it works again the next day. I sent it in because after the last time it did that - a couple of weeks ago - the shutter just doesn't sound as clean as I thought it should although the pictures are normal. Even though it's beyond a year of owenship they e-mailed a notification that so far it will be handled as a warranty fix since I sent it in back in April after the first incident and complaint.

I assume they'll try to replicate the action but as we all know - it'll probably never happen in their hands. I just hope they closely examine the mirror as well as the curtain for issues before sending it back. Will follow up when I get more news.

Vipmediastar_JZ

This happened to me. The shutter locked and it stayed in the closed position using the 17-55 2.8. I was happy it opened up right after.

However shooting again with the sigma 150mm 2.8 it locked and never opened and this time I sent to nikon and they replaced the mechanism.

I'm not sure if weight had anything to do with anything but when I had those two heavy lens thats when the problems occured.

replaced under warranty and this time they didn't claim it was user error.

PB_PM

The shutter never has any physical contact with the lens, so I don't see how that would have anything to do with it.

NSXTypeR

I kind of asked about this before...

http://forum.nikonrumors.com/discussion/346/how-many-shutter-actuations-doesdid-your-camera-have#Item_29

My D40 shutter hasn't died, but some gear mechanism along those lines is not lubricated enough.

Vipmediastar_JZ

then it was coincidence with the heavy lens. Nikons general repair sheet usually says something general. Who knows what they replaced besides the shutter.

donaldejose

I spoke to a repair technician about this issue relative to a used D3s. He said he has replaced many shutters on D3s bodies at around 300,000 exposures. He said it is no big deal, rather easy to replace a shutter and costs about $300 to $400. So he said to go ahead and buy a D3s with 200,000 + exposures but just deduct about $300 to $400 from the price you would pay because you will soon have to replace the shutter. Now this cost is worth it on a D800 or a D4. At some point as you go don't the scale in camera value it makes more sense to simply replace the body (say a D3100) rather than pay to replace the shutter.

MikeGunter

Hi,

In my much older cameras, I've had my mirror and shutter curtains fail, likely due to extreme abuse and moisture. It's noisy and crunchy, and the pentaprism goes black or mostly black.

Naturally, none of this has a lot relevancy in digital cameras, except when take a photo the click is exceptionally noisy and crunchy and you can't see through the pentaprism, you probably have a problem and need to send the camera for service.

My best,

Mike

kyoshinikon

My D90 got a new shutter. I had sent it in for another repair but It had become slow due to overuse... Only Shutter Ive had go bad on me. My D7000 is overdue for one tho lol

Rx4Photo

Happy to say that I received my D800 back from the Nikon Service Center in Melville, NY yesterday. Nicely wrapped in plastic with a bright yellow sticker stating "Your Nikon product has been serviced and meets factory standards" among other things.

What was done:
RPL Aperture operation
CKD Shutter mechanism
CKD Communication
Firmware Upgrade
CLN CCD
General Check & Clean

So I'm glad that they found an issue to replace - that being the aperture operation. (It's always better to have a diagnosis than to keep guessing.) That could also explain the reason why the camera seemed to correct itself after I changed lenses following the problems described above. I haven't stuck a lens on it to try it out yet but I actually feel that I've got a "new" camera now. All at no charge to me other than shipping & insurance and beyond the usual 1 year warranty. Time to get back out there with it although I must say that the D7000 was right there when I needed it.

Strong work, Nikon Service.

Photobug

Thanks Rx4Photo. It's nice to her some positives about one of the Nikon Service Centers. Bet they put a new skin on the front and rear of the body. I swear that they always say upgrade firmware. The last time I sent a body to them they say they did that and I checked and it was the same as when I sent it to them.

Paperman

This is mostly how it goes .... A small band at the top that is on and off. Gets gradually worse and gets stuck in the end. It happened to my D300 unfortunately at a lower count of 74500. $299 + tax to fix ...

Gareth

^^^Thanks for that, it certainly looks obvious enough.

Did you hear noises as well before you started seeing the line?

Paperman

Nope, nothing. I thought my Cokin filter holder was in the way :-) . Then it became obvious. You could still take shots though - if you didn't mind cropping 3/4 of it !