err on nikon d90

[matilda]

while using my camera yesterday afternoon (was working fine in the morning).

the shutter got stuck mid shot. I've gone over the manual, and have had a look online, but nothing suggested has solved the problem.

so I thought I would ask here.

Err is the code, and it says there there it's a lens issue with the shutter, well I've changed the lens', cleaned the contacts, taken the battery out etc, and it's still stuck (like if you were doing a long exposure).

so help would be great.

I've lodged a claim with my insurer (on extra's cover that I have), but I still have to get a repairers report.

If I can get it fixed myself it would be very handy as a single mum i don't have a lot of $$$ lying around.

[arthurking83]

Oh!

So with the lens off the camera and looking straight into the mirrorbox what do you see?

You should see one of three things:

1. a mirror with very fine lines running across it

2. no mirror, but a blackened back panel

3. no mirror, no black panel, just a greenish looking shiny surface, which is the sensor itself.

If you can see the mirror, maybe it can eventually come good. Is the battery charged. All I supose you can do is keep trying.
If the mirror is stuck in the up posi, and you see the blackened panel at the back of the cameras inside it could be stuck in semi liveview mode or something.
If the greenish shiny sensor is exposed, you may have a problem, or you could be in liveview mode and it's stuck.

I once had this problem with my D70s and all it took to fix was a dismount and remount of the lens that was on the body at the time.

Are you in manual mode, Aperture priority, etc...???

at least keep the camera in manual mode. If it's in manual mode, even if there is no lens the 'err' code is most likely to disappear, as the any of the auto.semi auto modes will show 'err' if there's an issue with the camera/lens electronic connection.

is the camera responsive to any button pushing at all?

Are there images on the card? if so, upload them to the PC and reformat the card on the PC.

hope it all works out for 'ya.

[matilda]

Oh!

So with the lens off the camera and looking straight into the mirrorbox what do you see?

You should see one of three things:

1. a mirror with very fine lines running across it

2. no mirror, but a blackened back panel

3. no mirror, no black panel, just a greenish looking shiny surface, which is the sensor itself.

If you can see the mirror, maybe it can eventually come good. Is the battery charged. All I supose you can do is keep trying.
If the mirror is stuck in the up posi, and you see the blackened panel at the back of the cameras inside it could be stuck in semi liveview mode or something.
If the greenish shiny sensor is exposed, you may have a problem, or you could be in liveview mode and it's stuck.

I once had this problem with my D70s and all it took to fix was a dismount and remount of the lens that was on the body at the time.

Are you in manual mode, Aperture priority, etc...???

at least keep the camera in manual mode. If it's in manual mode, even if there is no lens the 'err' code is most likely to disappear, as the any of the auto.semi auto modes will show 'err' if there's an issue with the camera/lens electronic connection.

is the camera responsive to any button pushing at all?

Are there images on the card? if so, upload them to the PC and reformat the card on the PC.

hope it all works out for 'ya.

thanks for the reply.

In answer to your questions.

So with the lens off the camera and looking straight into the mirrorbox what do you see?

answer 2.
I see that the mirror is up, but not all the way up. and it's black.

Is the battery charged

sure is and i've tested it with the other battery. have taken the battery out, left it for a while (like 30 mins + longer), put it back in, get same response.

If the mirror is stuck in the up posi, and you see the blackened panel at the back of the cameras inside it could be stuck in semi liveview mode or something.

tried the lv button, i get nothing, the lcd screen stays black, and still get err code.

is the camera responsive to any button pushing at all?

put it this way, the only buttons that do work are for the menu. All butons, that are used for taken a photo, shutter, m, a,p etc etc do not undo the problem.

Are there images on the card? if so, upload them to the PC and reformat the card on the PC.

There are, and they are fine, they have now been taken off the card, and the card is formated, still didn't fix the problem.

The only camera place out this way is camera house... so looks like I have to make a trip to horsham tomorrow *sigh*

[arthurking83]

....


answer 2.
I see that the mirror is up, but not all the way up. and it's black.......

The only camera place out this way is camera house... so looks like I have to make a trip to horsham tomorrow *sigh*

Aha!

The mirror is always at rest in approximately a 45° position when at full rest. if it;s raised slightly higher than that then there could be an issue:
When looking at the mirror directly at it, with no lens attached you should be able to see the viewfinder focusing matte screen entirely. That is, you should be able to see an opaque screen, possibly surrounded by a silver rim. The silver rim is the retaining clip and a shim that holds the matte screen in place. It's about a 2mm border around the opaque matte screen. If this is not the case with your camera ATM, then there is most likely an issue with the mirror actuator, not the shutter.

The mirror is always up or down fully! There's no in between. So that when the mirror is up, you shouldn't be able to see it, and the viewfinder is going to be totally blacked out.

What I would try, BUT!!! with the caveat that you need to be gentle and not use too much force.
If you can get a small footing onto the front leading of the mirror to gently force it downwards a little(or upwards if that's better) using something very soft like a cotton bud. If it takes too much force then stop.

What's too much force? Anyone's guess really and it's just a matter of feel. As an estimate of how much force you may need, try using a cotton bud to lift up a sheet of paper by one corner. There could be something stuck in between the actuator mechanism of the mirror and it won't come down, or go up fully.
The mirror is flaccid, and it basically is sprung so that all force is downward. That is, it needs the actuator to force it up, and then it returns to the downward position of it's own accord. Gently 'forcing' it downward should not break anything, but that of course depends on whether there's anything stuck in the mechanism.
On a perfectly working mirror, you should easily be able to lift it with gentle pressure into the fully up position and then allow it to fall back to it's rest position.

NOTE AGAIN!!! That the mirror is always at rest in approximately a 45° position too. When you look into. There will be a small, maybe 5mm, gap at the very lower edge of the mirror clear of the mirrorbox. Below that lower edge there should be a semi circular cut out in the mirror box.
Note it's quite important that you don't touch the mirror surface with your skin. The oils in your skin smear on the surface easily and make it hard to remove(Eclipse fluid works well tho!) What I do is to use just a small part of my fingernail(not overly long, but just long enough to get enough footing to raise the mirror). It's ok to touch the black edge of the mirror.. but remember not the mirror surface itself.

Also note that if you try this yourself, and I think you really can't do it any harm, so there's no reason not too... if you try to lift the mirror upwards, there may be a slight click sound, and that's perfectly normal. There is a small sub mirror hidden behind the main mirror(it's used for AF) and as you raise the main mirror it raises itself into the back of the main mirror and becomes hidden. it makes a very slight click sound. Just so you know that, if you try it.
Also: When you release the mirror to allow it back to the rest position, always let it drop on it's own. don't guide it.

Hopefully it's just a temporary issue cause by some microflotsam that has lodged itself into the mirror mechanism.
Otherwise as you've described the current condition of the camera, I reckon it's a mirror actuator motor. How expensive these are to replace, I have no idea.... but the camera needs to be almost totally stripped to pieces.

Honestly! I if were you(now) I'd try to release the mirror(downwards if possible) and hope that it sorts itself.

hope that helps.

[matilda]

would it help if I took a photo of it?

[arthurking83]

most likely.

have you tried to move the mirror by hand?

if it's in the correct rest position, it won't hurt to move it by hand.
(note, I've taped up the mirror on my D70s on the odd occasion to minimise the effect of mirror slap it causes with super long focal lengths. Din't really help, but I didn't hurt it either)

post an image of it, as long as it's got some decent detail in it.

[N*A*M]

ouch good luck with the fix
ak's steps for diagnosing look to be spot on

[matilda]

i did all that you suggested, but still no luck.

so I rang the camera clinic, and they said it sounds like something eletronical has gone wrong. So I sent it there way. Will cost me $50 just for them to look at it, but if it's covered by insurance, then that will be covered.

I just want it back.

I have to shoot with my old camera (which is now my daughters) which is a fuji s5600 which is not a bad camera if you want a point and shoot, but it got nothing on my nikon.
I can shoot raw with it, so that's a plus.

[dmdigital]

Whilst I don't think it will help... have you tried the RESET operation on the camera?

[matilda]

dm, i tried that, didn't work

[aurora]

Hi Matilda
I just bought te D90 6 weeks ago to take to Europe with me and the same thing happened. There didn't seem to be an reason. Once minute it would shot the next it would freeze. I had it on P mode but when it froze I decided to change modes to see if it would shot but found it wouldn't shot in any mode. I then turned it on and off, as you do, took out the batttery, as you do, but still froze. Next time I turned it on (a minute or so) it decided to shot. Have taken it back to the shop, but am very disappointed as it is the first SLR I own.

DID you find out what was the problem??

[dmdigital]

dm, i tried that, didn't work

Oh well I just couldn't see that mentioned in the previous posts.

Sounds like it is going to be a repair job. Not good. If it's any consolation I just got a lens repaired and the slowest part was my insurer. It took them a week. Nikon Australia were excellent and the lens arrived back today from Sydney.

[Jhpomyzen]

I have been reading with interest what has been happening to some of the D90 cameras. Well I had a simular problem only last week with my D60. Working well one day on Manual then could not get any much vision to view what I had taken. Then it all locked up the shutter opened and stayed there for 1/2 minute absolutely nothing happened no photo no shutter just a white screen. Took it to Andersons at Capalaba Qld they front counter person could get no joy, took it upstairs to the tech it came back within a few minutes working correctly did not know what had happened.
Did it once more within the week then it is back to its old self working perfectly. Its a mystery so far, but managed to get over two pics yesterday no probs.

[Viper]

From what I have seen around the traps the err msg seems to indicate imminent shutter failure sorry to say.
This happened to my D 80 once about two years ago, but after a hard reset it worked and has worked fine ever since. Admittedly my D 80 has been my back up camera for a while now and does not get used that often.

[matilda]

well still no news from the camera clinic, but they did say 5-10 working days.

I just miss my camera... my fujifilm is so slow when shooting in raw it's a serious PITA