Shutter release delay

Celebring · 16th June 2007

Hi,

I have a D50 and recently I've been experiencing some difficulties with it. At times when I press the shutter release, nothing appears to happen, or there is a delay in releasing the shutter. No, the self timer is not on.

This doesn't happen all the time, but mostly when I've just turned on the camera. After a while, there isn't any delay when I press the shutter release. It's happened in broad daylight too, so it may not be focus hunting.

So far I've noticed this happens with the following lenses, Nikkor 50 f1.8, Nikkor 18-70 DX, Tamron 90, but not so much with a Nikkor 70-300 VR.

From your experience, would you say my equipment is faulty or is it merely something else, like my shooting technique or dirt? Thanks in advance.

huggable · 16th June 2007

Is there any error message on the display? What is your shutter count?

vince123123 · 17th June 2007

Did you check to see if the Mirror Up Vibration Reduction mode is on?

Celebring · 17th June 2007

Thanks for your questions.

Originally Posted by huggable

Is there any error message on the display? What is your shutter count?

Shutter count is 5-6k. There's no error message displayed.

Originally Posted by vince123123

Did you check to see if the Mirror Up Vibration Reduction mode is on?

Pardon my ignorance, but does the D50 have a mirror up vibration reduction mode?

vince123123 · 17th June 2007

I have no idea hehe, I haven't used one. I do know that other cameras do have this and I also was a bit puzzled at the lag for my own D100 until I figured it out. However, if there is such a setting, it would be a constant lag, not an off and on one.

Originally Posted by Celebring

Pardon my ignorance, but does the D50 have a mirror up vibration reduction mode?

brian · 17th June 2007

No mirror-lockup for shooting on the D50.

Sorry can't help you celebring. If it was the D2 series camera it could be one of the 1000 settings on the camera, but shouldn't happen on the D50 other than self timer. Worst case, you might want to reset your settings (check manual) and try, and if its still the same, send it for checkup at the service centre.

Minus70 · 17th June 2007

Is your photo in focus? Guess the camera might sense it out of focus and cannot take a shots.

satz24 · 17th June 2007

following on from what Minus70 said...it sounds like a focus problem.

Even in bright light, the sensor still requires a certain amount contrast to be able to focus. So for example it will take time to focus on plain sky, or objects that don't have a clear dark/light area...

Then again in your case it might be nothing to do with focus!

good luck!

:-)

S

huggable · 17th June 2007

Did the shutter open, but take ages to close? If so, could be that your metering is faulty. Why not send the cam to NSC for checks?

satan_18349 · 17th June 2007

Are you shooting in low light conditions i.e low shutter speed?

Celebring · 17th June 2007

Thanks to those who have replied.

Originally Posted by Minus70

Is your photo in focus? Guess the camera might sense it out of focus and cannot take a shots.

Originally Posted by satz24

Even in bright light, the sensor still requires a certain amount contrast to be able to focus. So for example it will take time to focus on plain sky, or objects that don't have a clear dark/light area...

I was wondering if it was a focus problem, but it does happen when using both AF and MF, so that may not be the problem.

Originally Posted by huggable

Did the shutter open, but take ages to close? If so, could be that your metering is faulty. Why not send the cam to NSC for checks?

The shutter fails to open. Can still see through the view finder while futilely pressing the shutter release.

Originally Posted by satan_18349

Are you shooting in low light conditions i.e low shutter speed?

Seems to happen even in bright daylight.

To update you guys, I took the camera out this afternoon with an 18-70mm lens to see how it was. Light was good, in aperture priority mode it gave a shutter speed of 1/160 at f8. Experience the same problem.

Thought it might be a focus issue, but the same thing happens when the lens is in manual focus mode, though only tried a few times. Shutter release seemed completely unresponsive at times when half-pressing to focus or trying to shoot, maybe that's the problem. Guess I'll check it into NSC. A pity there's no more warranty.

lsisaxon · 18th June 2007

Originally Posted by Celebring

I was wondering if it was a focus problem, but it does happen when using both AF and MF, so that may not be the problem.

The shutter fails to open. Can still see through the view finder while futilely pressing the shutter release.

I think it might be a shutter problem because if on MF mode, it should fire immediately. There should be a tiny hole in at the bottom to do a camera reset. Maybe you can try that first to see if the problem persists. If it's still the same then you can send it down for repair or upgrade to D80.

Celebring · 18th June 2007

Originally Posted by lsisaxon

I think it might be a shutter problem because if on MF mode, it should fire immediately. There should be a tiny hole in at the bottom to do a camera reset. Maybe you can try that first to see if the problem persists. If it's still the same then you can send it down for repair or upgrade to D80.

Thanks, that sounds like something to try. I'll look into it when I get home.

calebk · 19th June 2007

It could also be a contact problem at the shutter release button.

Recently, a brother over at the Canon side encountered it with his 20D, so it might be something similar. Do keep us posted.

Celebring · 19th June 2007

Originally Posted by calebk

It could also be a contact problem at the shutter release button.

Recently, a brother over at the Canon side encountered it with his 20D, so it might be something similar. Do keep us posted.

Thanks for suggesting another possible line of enquiry. I hope no one was anxiously waiting for the results. I wasn't able to spend time with the camera yesterday, and I don't think I'll time for the next few nights. I'll definitely keep you all updated.

It's troubling me somewhat that I can't consistently replicate the problem. Just to check that it's not my technique, does the shutter release button activate if you press it at an angle rather than straight down? I find that when the shutter release fails to act, shifting my finger around a little and pressing again does the trick, but when I adjust my finger to the position it was before, there's no problem activating.

lizzy · 19th June 2007

looks like the shutter release button faulty?

16th June 2007	#1
Celebring Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 270	Shutter release delay Hi, I have a D50 and recently I've been experiencing some difficulties with it. At times when I press the shutter release, nothing appears to happen, or there is a delay in releasing the shutter. No, the self timer is not on. This doesn't happen all the time, but mostly when I've just turned on the camera. After a while, there isn't any delay when I press the shutter release. It's happened in broad daylight too, so it may not be focus hunting. So far I've noticed this happens with the following lenses, Nikkor 50 f1.8, Nikkor 18-70 DX, Tamron 90, but not so much with a Nikkor 70-300 VR. From your experience, would you say my equipment is faulty or is it merely something else, like my shooting technique or dirt? Thanks in advance.

16th June 2007	#2
huggable Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: East side Posts: 3,030	Re: Shutter release delay Is there any error message on the display? What is your shutter count?

17th June 2007	#3
vince123123 Deregistered Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: West Posts: 6,689	Re: Shutter release delay Did you check to see if the Mirror Up Vibration Reduction mode is on?

17th June 2007	#6
brian Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Shanghai, China Posts: 388	Re: Shutter release delay No mirror-lockup for shooting on the D50. Sorry can't help you celebring. If it was the D2 series camera it could be one of the 1000 settings on the camera, but shouldn't happen on the D50 other than self timer. Worst case, you might want to reset your settings (check manual) and try, and if its still the same, send it for checkup at the service centre.

17th June 2007	#7
Minus70 Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Infront of Computer Posts: 137	Re: Shutter release delay Is your photo in focus? Guess the camera might sense it out of focus and cannot take a shots.

17th June 2007	#8
satz24 Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 63	Re: Shutter release delay following on from what Minus70 said...it sounds like a focus problem. Even in bright light, the sensor still requires a certain amount contrast to be able to focus. So for example it will take time to focus on plain sky, or objects that don't have a clear dark/light area... Then again in your case it might be nothing to do with focus! good luck! :-) S

17th June 2007	#9
huggable Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: East side Posts: 3,030	Re: Shutter release delay Did the shutter open, but take ages to close? If so, could be that your metering is faulty. Why not send the cam to NSC for checks?

17th June 2007	#10
satan_18349 Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: hell 極樂世& Posts: 1,505	Re: Shutter release delay Are you shooting in low light conditions i.e low shutter speed?

19th June 2007	#14
calebk Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Clementi Posts: 10,476	Re: Shutter release delay It could also be a contact problem at the shutter release button. Recently, a brother over at the Canon side encountered it with his 20D, so it might be something similar. Do keep us posted. __________________ deviantART \| fotologue

19th June 2007	#16
lizzy Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 247	Re: Shutter release delay looks like the shutter release button faulty? Last edited by lizzy; 19th June 2007 at 11:17 AM.