Viewfinder SOS (Nikon D6)

harpistic

harpistic

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Hi all,

This problem happened at 11pm today, so I’ve spent over three hours trying to read up on what it could be, and I’m still stumped.

I bought a secondhand Nikon D6 from Wex late last year. Had endless problems with it which Wex couldn’t diagnose, and which turned out to be a wonky mirror. Got it fixed elsewhere, largely because I needed the camera to be fixed by a specific date.

On Friday night, I cursed the wretched camera by telling my mother that it’s still a novelty that the camera actually takes photos now without any hassles… this evening (Saturday) it started playing up again - with it not wanting to take shots - which I assumed was due to the horrible lighting, plus the typical challenges of trying to shoot a mostly-unlit ceilidh up very very close. At the end, the band did an encore, so I took the lens cap off again, and I now have the can-only-see-black-through-the-viewfinder problem. Live View is fine. The only things which happened between the viewfinder being fine and it no longer being fine was me turning it off, putting the lens cap on, taking the lens cap back off again, and turning it back on again.

I’ve tried different lenses to see if it’s a lens issue. It’s not a lens issue. I’ve tried different shutter speeds, ISOs and apertures. I’ve turned it on and off again. I’ve taken the battery out. I’ve tried the sensor cleaning (via menu, not manual). I’ve tried the mirror lock a few times. The AF/M button was sticking a lot this evening, so I thought it might have something to do with that; the button is no longer sticking. I’ve gone through the menus several times. And the shutter is a lot louder than normal.

I’ve also gone through all my emails from Wex, and they have never sent me any warranty details, despite their blurb.

I’ve tried searching through TP but haven’t been able to find any posts on this - could anyone please advise as to what the problem might be, and if it’s something which I can resolve myself, or if I’d have to take it to Wex for repairs? I’ve been out of work for several months as the job market is so crap, so I’d held off on getting insurance.

Many many many thanks in advance - I’m so so so fed up with this wretched camera; if it hadn’t lost so much in value, I’d have sold it long ago - after it had been repaired, of course!
 
harpistic said:
Hi all,

This problem happened at 11pm today, so I’ve spent over three hours trying to read up on what it could be, and I’m still stumped.

I bought a secondhand Nikon D6 from Wex late last year. Had endless problems with it which Wex couldn’t diagnose, and which turned out to be a wonky mirror. Got it fixed elsewhere, largely because I needed the camera to be fixed by a specific date.

On Friday night, I cursed the wretched camera by telling my mother that it’s still a novelty that the camera actually takes photos now without any hassles… this evening (Saturday) it started playing up again - with it not wanting to take shots - which I assumed was due to the horrible lighting, plus the typical challenges of trying to shoot a mostly-unlit ceilidh up very very close. At the end, the band did an encore, so I took the lens cap off again, and I now have the can-only-see-black-through-the-viewfinder problem. Live View is fine.
Click to expand...
This suggests to me that the mirror is locked up, either by an action on your part or a new fault with the body.

When you take the lens off and look into the body, with the camera turned off or on, is the mirror down in its normal 'ready' status!

For fear of stating the obvious, on a dSLR for live view to function the mirror must lift out of the way to, with the shutter open, allow live view to function.
harpistic said:
The only things which happened between the viewfinder being fine and it no longer being fine was me turning it off, putting the lens cap on, taking the lens cap back off again, and turning it back on again.

I’ve tried different lenses to see if it’s a lens issue. It’s not a lens issue. I’ve tried different shutter speeds, ISOs and apertures. I’ve turned it on and off again. I’ve taken the battery out. I’ve tried the sensor cleaning (via menu, not manual). I’ve tried the mirror lock a few times. The AF/M button was sticking a lot this evening, so I thought it might have something to do with that; the button is no longer sticking. I’ve gone through the menus several times. And the shutter is a lot louder than normal.

I’ve also gone through all my emails from Wex, and they have never sent me any warranty details, despite their blurb.

I’ve tried searching through TP but haven’t been able to find any posts on this - could anyone please advise as to what the problem might be, and if it’s something which I can resolve myself, or if I’d have to take it to Wex for repairs? I’ve been out of work for several months as the job market is so crap, so I’d held off on getting insurance.

Many many many thanks in advance - I’m so so so fed up with this wretched camera; if it hadn’t lost so much in value, I’d have sold it long ago - after it had been repaired, of course!
Click to expand...
 
Box Brownie said:
This suggests to me that the mirror is locked up, either by an action on your part or a new fault with the body.

When you take the lens off and look into the body, with the camera turned off or on, is the mirror down in its normal 'ready' status!

For fear of stating the obvious, on a dSLR for live view to function the mirror must lift out of the way to, with the shutter open, allow live view to function.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much! Aye, it’s down, and I’ve checked it against the D5’s mirror, just in case.
 
harpistic said:
Thank you so much! Aye, it’s down, and I’ve checked it against the D5’s mirror, just in case.
Click to expand...
If the mirror is definitely down, and there’s no light path to your eye, is there a vf blind ?

Some cameras have a built in long exposure blackout blind for the viewfinder.
 
Phil V said:
If the mirror is definitely down, and there’s no light path to your eye, is there a vf blind ?

Some cameras have a built in long exposure blackout blind for the viewfinder.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much, that was it! I didn’t realise that was it because the view was black and not of the blind - phew! I don’t know how it got dislodged, but one of the kids did run into my camera shortly before. Phew and thanks again!
 
gramps said:
It's on their website: https://www.wexphotovideo.com/help/terms-and-conditions/#t12

However sending it to somewhere else to be repaired may have affected your warranty protection.
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Thank you; at the time, I also had a dysfunctional D5 (MPB) and 70-200mm (also MPB), so it was Wex who recommended Cameratiks; Wex effectively told me that I could either have the D5 body repaired with Wex or elsewhere, urging the latter. I’ll check the T&Cs and get some insurance!

Edit: and thank you for the link; I’d found a different page on their site which explained that some used cameras have extended warranties, so to check the warranty details supplied by email. Although my local Wex shop was somewhat… creative when it came to warranty implementation before.
 
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yzfmike said:
The eyepiece does, indeed, have a shutter. It’s engaged by a small lever to the left of the eyepiece
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Thank you, you star! I’d forgotten all about that; the only other time, I could only see the shutter, which made it rather obvious. Thanks so much!
 
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