D300 DBS and Firmware 1.03 Question

[Baywing]

Now that version 1.03 firmware has been out for a week or so, has anyone experienced DBS since upgrading?

 

[Elliot73]

I am just to old.... What is DBS?

I loaded the new firmware and I notice no changes. My assessment is that the autofocus is to slow for certain action shots.

Elliot

 

[Gary7770]

I am just to old.... What is DBS?

I loaded the new firmware and I notice no changes. My assessment is that the autofocus is to slow for certain action shots.

Elliot

What type of action shots?

Gary

 

[Baywing]

DBS is the dead battery syndrome. Camera will lock up, top display will show low/out battery, but checking menu, battery is fine. It has frustrated many D300 owners, maybe Jim Fenton worst of all, hitting 3 or 4 of his D300s.

 

[dem86]

Being a tech guy I always like to wait a little bit before uploading new sw. Since I was not having DBS I am going to wait a little longer. I would be interested in hearing if it actually fixes anything else.

 

[Allan]

I read each new post because I have a D300 and had some dbs. I have had none since the upgrade but I can't say I have been out shooting enough to be sure it is cured.

 

[snerkdergen]

how to remedy?

What has been the remedy when DBS hits a camera? Does it require a trip to service or is it user correctable?

 

[jfenton]

Elliot

I've only seen 2 posts anywhere where folks claim to have uissues after installing 1.03 and I'm not at all conviced that those were legit posts.

None of the folks I've been corresponding with have seen any additional issue as far as DBS goes.

 

[Elliot73]

I never had the DBS, my battery never lasted as much as Nikon claims it should last. It was acceptable. Sometimes my camera will not focus when using the 60mm lens.

Action Shots..... I like taking pictures of planes on final approach.... My biggest frustration is that sometimes while using the 70-200mm 2.8 VR, I just press the button and the camera will not focus fast enough... It is very frustrating..... I had an F22 on the final turn of an overhead pattern..... kept pressing the shutter and the camera would not shoot.

I have noticed that when I use the SB-800 it also does the same thing.... I posted this before and they gave me a ton of suggestions.... I tried them all, the problem is still there. My conclusion is that I am faster in focusing than the camera will ever be.... :smile::smile: My eyes are quite old and have not had a firmware update.....!

Thanks
Elliot

Jim

On the 1.03 update..... No issues here. I just don't see any improvements, specially on anything related to focusing.

 

[gelliot4]

Slow focus...

Elliot, I had similar issues with my 80-200 AF-D, along with it simply refusing to try to focus.

After cleaning the mount and contacts it did work better but the fail-to-focus came back and I sent it off to Nikon. I suspected the mount since the rotational play was more than my D70 which had no similar issues with the same lens.

Nikon changed the mount and it now locks firmly in place. The focus is as fast as ever with no new fail-to-focus issues.

If you have not already done so, you might give both the camera and the lens mounts and contacts a good cleaning. I used (very low voice) DeOxit, but you could of course use any of the many better recommendations that have been tossed out :smile:

Gary

 

[Elliot73]

Gary

Thanks for your response. My lenses do not attach to the camera on a tight manner. Perhaps this is the problem.

Where do you get the cleaner? I notice my mount has the black oily substance everybody is reporting.

Interesting thing that at only 7,000 this camera should need repairs. I will keep looking on this. The same lenses on the D70, D80 and D200 do not show the same problem.

Thanks
Elliot

 

[Desert Rat]

Well, I installed firmware update and finally used the camera last Saturday with both my 200-400 and 70-200+TC17 and did not have any DBS issues for the day...

 

[gelliot4]

Loose mount...

Elliot, my mount does have a very slight amount of play, but nothing like it had before sending it in. This is the play you would get wiggling the lens up and down. From what others have said, some play is normal, it's the excess you have to worry about. It's the "rotational" play that I had an excess amount of. You could rotate the locked lens clockwise and counter clockwise far more than seemed reasonable and far more than on my D70. The lens-to-body focus and aperture information is exchanged through those tiny contacts and if the lens can rotate off slightly you can get a poor connection leading to odd issues like not focusing or even hunting.

As for the DeOxit, do a google search or stop by Radio Shack. If you have the grease-like residue on your mount now, clean it off. You can use any cleaner now and hunt down DeOxit later. Get this stuff off before it works its way into the contacts. Clean all the lenses you have mounted on the D300 and clean the D300. Don't forget the contacts on the camera, around the 12 o'clock position.

After cleaning, if your focus does not seem improved you should try it on another body - a friends or maybe the dealer. This might help isolate it further.

Gary

 

[Elliot73]

Gary

Thanks for the information. I do have a small amount of play but nothing really that much. I tried the 70-200mm 2.8f with the other camera bodies and it works OK. I will get the cleaner.

Thanks
Elliot

 

[Anthony747]

So far so good!

 

[rezmole]

I suffered from DBS all the time when using mt Sigma 500mm f4.5 and Kenko Pro 1.4x teleconverter. It was impossible to use this combination with AF. Since installing the latest firmware, the DBS has stopped. We shouldn't have had to wait this long, but at least it has now fixed a quite major problem - and suddenly the D300 is a fantastic camera instead of just a great one.