evilsivan Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 My D80 is old (4 years) and has about 100k actuations. I have starting getting a battery error which according to internet search was somewhat common. All of the threads on the issue are quite old and inconclusive. The problem is that the camera will show a dead battery and not function even with a fully charged battery. I tried four separate fully charged batteries and they all showed up as dead on the camera. UPDATE: Now the camera will work with just one of the batteries for some reason. All of the threads on the topic suggest remounting the lens or perhaps using a lens without VR (it seems like people were grasping for a theory). But that seems like a silly solution. I need a camera that I know will turn on and work with all my lenses. Does anyone have any experience for this problem? Should I get new batteries or buy a new (used D80) or is it time for a D7000 (yes!)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 <p>NiMH batteries will gradually lose their capacity to hold charge. If your EN-EL3e batteries are over 4 years old, that can be the problem. However, it seems unlikely that all 4 would go south at the same time. We have seen one similar case that turns out the charger is faulty: <a href="00UyDy">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00UyDy</a><br> Do you have access to another MH-18a charger to check that out?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wouter Willemse Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 <p>For what it's worth, the VR 'theory' is not just grasping for a theory. VR requires power to operate, and hence has electrical linkage - maybe the VR unit on a lens is shortcutting and causing the battery to near immediately discharge. Yeah, it's not the most likely, but testing it will cost you nothing, yet give you valuable information. If you'd get a D7000 and the lens indeed causes the issue, your problem would not really be solved. So, not rule it out yet as a cause until you know.<br> Sure, Shun's far more logical suggestion first, but if that's not it, I would indeed check with different lenses.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilsivan Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 Hi Shun That is a good question. I will try to track down a spare charger and will update when I have more info. Couldn't you just write my wife a note saying I need a D7000? ;) incidentally two of the batteries I tried were from a random person's who claimed they were charged that same morning and they worked in his camera. At any rate I will try different charger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter_k4 Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 <p>I've had 2 batteries for my D200 die within a 2 day period. No idea what happened. I assumed it was the charger but my 3rd battery still charged fine. When I could get my hands on a 2nd charger I assumed that would solve the problem, but both batteries were indeed dead.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilsivan Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 Wouter, you are right that theory cannot be discarded but I was seeing the problem with two non vr lenses and I didn't try mounting my 70-200 vr1 lens yet. Peter's comment is interesting and I will try to track down another charger and try it. Batteries do fail after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_halliwell Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 <p>Not sure, but was there ever a firmware update for the D80 to address power issues? Seemed to fix a similar issue of the D300.</p> <p>What is it with Nikon 'Power Management' issues?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig_meddaugh Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 <p>Probably the battery contacts inside the battery housing have some corrosion. Higher resistance means less voltage and less voltage means your camera won't turn on, even if the battery is full. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliot1 Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 <p>It is time for a D7000!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilsivan Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 Elliot, thanks for taking my hints :) but seriously I'm going to pick up a friend's d80 batteries and charger tonight and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_ Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 <p>...For What It's Worth: if the D7000 seems pricey for your budget, you might consider finding a clean Nikon D90 body. A whole lot of upside over the D80 body.</p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray House Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 <p>And yes...check the upgrades for the firmware.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian_gordon_bilson Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 <p>Have you tried a camera reset ? Page 129 in the manual.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_halliwell Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 <p>This would appear to be the firmware fix required..</p> <p><a href="https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/25869/~/d80-firmware-update-1.11---windows">https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/25869/~/d80-firmware-update-1.11---windows</a></p> <p>Obviously, if this<em><strong> is </strong></em>your current version of your firmware, it's something else......:-)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilsivan Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 Hi guys I have not tried the firmware update or a camera reset. Will try that next. Using my friend's D80, Charger and battery has yielded nothing conclusive. My batteries showed full charge in his charger and on his camera and his camera started fine with both my batteries and his. My camera worked fine with his battery but was showing errors with my batteries. I will do the firmware update and camera reset now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 <p>Ofer, just swap betteries with your friend. Save you a lot of money from buying a D7000. :-)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilsivan Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 My totally disorganized and unscientific testing has yielded that the problem has seemed to have gone away. I did a firmware update. Didn't try camera reset yet. For now all batteries seem to work in both cameras. If I don't see any problems I'll probably end up buying my friend's D80 as a back up. If I do see any problems I will update the thread in case a single other person on the internet is interested in what happens here :) Thank you all for your inputs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_halliwell Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 <p>Oh Ofer, never fear, we're all interested! When I got my D300, I 'donated' my D80 to the better half. If her's does this, I'll know where to look.</p> <p>Seems like the firmware fixed it...............I love it when a plan comes together!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilsivan Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 I'm not sure the firmware is what did it, the problem seemed to go away before I did the update, mostly just by pushing the batteries in extra a little bit. Like I said, inconclusive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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