D800 aborting issue

[ABPiecka]

Well here I am again...sorry.  My D800 with a Nikon lens attached still aborts when I start a sequence of exposures and does not capture an exposure.  If I do a single exposure it works fine.  If I take off the Nikon lens it works fine.  If I put on an older Nikkor lens it works fine.  ( auto focus and Mup are off )  If I use my D800E it works fine under all the above.

 

I sent the camera back to Nikon to have them check it out and it was returned saying no issues.  They claim it is the software.  I tried to explain, apparently to no avail, that the software works fine with the D800e which , with the exception of the filter is the same camera.  I also tried to tell them that other users have had no reported problems with the D800.  I also told them to download a copy of BYN and try it on a D800 there.  It almost seems as they have a book of stock answers and that is as far as they can go.

 

With the exception of not using the camera for astro imaging any suggestions?  

[admin]

The issue is the lens in conjunction with the Nikon SDK for the D800.  Do not use that lens is not only recommendation at this time.

 

Regards,

[ABPiecka]

Guylain,

 

Is  there a difference between the 800 and 800E ?  Are any other users having the issue with the 800?  

[astroman133]

You can search the BackyardNikon forum for information and comments from other users about their use of a D800E. 

 

From what I read the D800 and the D800E are 99% identical.  The difference is that the 800E has had the anti-aliasing filter replaced with clear glass. I'm not sure why you would have both cameras.

[ABPiecka]

My wife asked the same question!!!   No good answer other than they were there.  I do freelance work and really was going to test them and ended up just keeping both.  When on a shoot it is nice to have a spare body as "stuff" happens...how's that for justification!!

I did a little research and think you may be right about  SDK as the issue and it almost appears Nikon is aware of it but doesn't want to admit it.

 

[astroman133]

The good news is that if it is an SDK issue it stands a chance of getting fixed, even if they don't admit that they fixed it.

[admin]

Guylain,

 

Is  there a difference between the 800 and 800E ?  Are any other users having the issue with the 800?  

 

Yes to both your questions.  I have several users with a D800 and D800E and most are having the same issue with specific lens and not others.  All (or most) have reported no issues using a telescope (no lens).

[ABPiecka]

Thanks for all the comments.  I am going to take another run at Nikon and ask about a possible SDK issue and see where they go with that.  Will let you know if I get a response.

 

You are correct in that there has been no issue using a scope or old manual Nikkor lenses.

[admin]

Okay, no point contacting Nikon IMO.  It is not their fault IMO and the Nikon SDK is provided with no support and warranty, implied or not.  I'm very grateful they make it available free to people like me.

 

I believe the actual issue is not the Nikon SDK but rather the C# wrapper I'm using where it reads from the camera the possible values for a given property and then limits the possible values to only and only these values.  My best guess is that with some lens some aperture values are are not made available when you are zoomed in.  f4 might not be possible at 300mm but may be possible at 50mm.  

 

To test this theory set your lens at the faster speed, f4 or f2.2, whatever the faster speed.   Then zoom out your lens to the maximum; so if you have a 85mm to 200mm zoom lens set it to 85mm.  Do not touch the lens anymore.

 

Try BYN and see if it will work.  Long shot but worth a try.

[ABPiecka]

I tried several lenses with no success.  

 

I will use the 800 in manual mode up to 30 sec exposures with a  wide angle lens for meteors etc.    It will work fine in the observatory on one of the  telescopes for anything else. 

  It was just frustrating as a camera is a lot easier to run around with than a scope...the fall back is always the D800E.

Thanks again ...it's been a good education.  

 

Did find out that my old 500mm AI-S works with it.